Stephanie's Dracula is honestly quite chilling. I feel that since charcoal as a medium by nature has a tendency to give whatever its depicting a sense of brash intensity, its use really sets the tone here. Since her Dracula doesn't necessarily take the form of what I would categorize as a human like any other, it is clear to the viewer that we are looking for something more here. Elements of the earlier version of the film are evident here as well; the shape and structure of the hand for instance definitely reflect a certain level of familiarity on the artists part with the Dracula that has been memed many times over. Further, I felt it to be very creative of Stephanie to choose his medical bag to draw attention to the shroud of mystery that surrounds Van Helsing. This drawing (and its eternal place in cyber land) as an interpretation of the text highlights the many different ways in which a primary narrative can inform so many different forms of art and move through the media to be retranslated.
Lauren's piece, I felt, really captured the essence of the text. We are briefly introduced to a world of doom and tension, warned of danger and ultimately informed that we would inevitably lust for this sanguine attacker. These elements to me are things that we as readers of Dracula pick up on almost immediately so it was interesting to read a literary piece from a different genre, time and place that is still able to capture those emotions in a different way.
Stephanie's drawing of Dracula and Lauren's poem interact on a certain level. My first instinct was to say that they felt opposing since the Dracula depicted here (sorry, Steph!!) is not what I would call lustful at all. However, I now get the sense that despite his creepiness, Dracula's vampireness puts him in a whole other class--"vamp-sexy."
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