The Halloween Nightmare Art Challenge! - The Results!

So, you spooky lot, this is the AMAZING pile of submissions I received for this challenge. Staggering stuff! Clicking on any of the pics will make them larger. Enjoy!

The brief, as you'll recall, was to show me your nightmares. And you did! Often it was all about what scared you as a child, like this Roald Dahl Queen Witch drawing by Chris Woodfield, the madly gurning face of Ken Dodd by Julie-Ann Maddison or the angry, sword wielding skeletons of Ian Dryland.

Slightly more traditionally scary were dreams about spiders by Phillip Groombridge, a scary scarecrow by Zoe Page, and Sarah Pannell's monster emerging from the closet ...

The newspapers can be full of nightmare too, not least this headline from Andy Kerr and the terrifying prospects for the next US president as envisaged by Iain McCulloch. And how would a tabloid break the news of our imminent death by contagion? Stephen Dray reckons he knows ...

Mo McFarland created an entire horror film with her six frame submission ...

And, had there been a poster, I'm pretty sure that Jamie Roberts would be a good person to call on to do the artwork:

Of course, some people's nightmares are REALLY weird, like this zombie Fozzie Bear by Angi Lamb or the Oliver Postgate-themed bloodbath by Claire Chambers, or the monster pink bunny menace portrayed by Brooke Sheldon or even the real horror of a Dora visitation as pictured by Nerys Watts:

Mar Dixon found horror in shop window displays while Danielle Walker found it in a make up box. And I pity poor Christine Bryant who, upon, looking in a mirror, realised she was turning into a fly:

Some really flesh-creepingly spooky stuff here now in two photos by Mark Sunner. He really should have checked out the neighbours before moving in ... zoom in and prepare to be freaked out by what you see ...

Laura Brown wasn't scared of her kitchen though she does find certain academic subjects a nightmare. Charlotte Dixon shows her affinity for pumpkins rather than cupcakes. Just don't let Sarah Hook near the cheese grater ...

Being lost and all alone can be a nightmare, as demonstrated here by Mike Harman. And the last thing you'd want to bump into would be these guys as drawn by Lisa Hunter.

The final joint submission is this movie made from most of the entries that people sent in. My good friends Steve Hills (video) and Terry Bergin (music) pulled this together in an indecently short time despite their very busy lives. Because the only window in which to do it was Sunday afternoon, some of the later last minute entries couldn't be included. But isn't it great?

I'll be contacting all who submitted very shortly to arrange to send them all a unique hand-drawn doodle to say thank you.

Next challenge in a few weeks. Why don't you get involved next time?

Oh, and Happy Halloween!!!

The 'Stay Inside The Lines Challenge' Results!

Finally, the deadline is past and I can reveal the brilliant entries I got in for the latest art challenge. You'll recall that I asked you to complete this picture (below) and then colour it in using any method you like. You were all brilliantly inventive. As usual. Click on the pictures to see a larger version.

First up, we have three sisters and three very different but fantastic pictures. They are (in order) by Emma (aged 9), Chloe (aged 12) and Catherine Williams (aged 14). Aren't they great?

Next up we have a flying robot by Esme Tearle attempting to communicate ... most likely with the dog.

Then there are these two submissions by Mo McFarland drawn while she was on holiday in Greece and with a limited range of colouring pencils. There's dedication for you!

Mikey Fantham put some effort into creating this alien arrival scene. I do feel sorry for the dog who had the hot sauce. Ouch.

Angi Lamb created this extraordinary piece - loving the shiny robot ... and is that a BeeGee?

And there was this collage from Brooke (@eko_orb). What larks!

Terry Bergin created this rather terrifying scarecrow giant and had the clever idea of giving the dog something to distract him. Love those boots and red kneecaps.

Laura Brown put some heart and soul and time into this picture. If this is a fair representation of what night time is like where she lives, she must be exhausted.

I know very little about 'Crazy Dave' other than the fact he was recently on holiday in Greece and got roped into the challenge by Mo McFarland. I'm so glad he was as it resulted in these three pieces - love the 'evil twin/Spock's beard' mirror image:

And, last but very definitely not least, we come to this wonderfully ebullient submission from five year old Alice Porter. Mum Laura tells me that she 'didn’t fully grasp the ‘stay within the lines’ part of the challenge as she was rather ‘freeform winging it’ with her artistic style. The man is looking at black space rocks with stars on them and that’s an alien above his head. The dog is not looking as it simply doesn’t interest him.' So there you go.

Wonderful, wonderful stuff as always and I'll be contacting everyone shortly to see what doodles I'll be drawing for them all.

I think we'll have another challenge around Halloween time ...