Day 287

Day 287 of the #365drawingchallenge continues #31DaysOfHalloween with the grotesque skin wearing Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I’m not a huge fan of the scary redneck or extended torture subgenres that often go together, and these movies definitely fall into both. That said, I do kind of like these movies, the first one in particular. There is something so gritty and harrowing about it. And the family is so creepy…gross. Leatherface himself is kind of interesting compared to other masked serial slashers because he seems very animalistic, working off his base emotions and instincts. He isn’t some supernatural being with incredible power, just some confused dolt with a penchant for butchering and dressing up in the skin of his victims. And the variety of skin masks and what they mean is an interesting thing to explore. His angry thrashing around with chainsaw in hand at the end of the first movie is almost beautiful. I wanted to capture some of that grit and raw emotion here. While I was very tempted for a more pulled out pose flailing around or brandishing the chainsaw I ultimately felt like a close up of his face during a chainsaw attack would speak more to his inner turmoil. While he definitely looks scary here you can also see some of his own fear in his eyes, hiding behind someone else’s face.