Austrian Artist Creates Nightmare-Inducing Illustrations And They’re Not For The Easily Frightened (30 Pics)

"I loved to draw and paint since I was a child," Stefan told Bored Panda. "Unfortunately, over the time, I lost track and focused more on video games. There was a point 3-4 years ago when I told myself 'why not try painting again?' It was always my dream to paint as good as the artists on, e.g. 'Magic the Gathering.' So I began learning digital art and painted on a daily base. I am currently focusing on digital art and still love to create new dark drawings every day," the artist tells us.

"I have two jobs," Stefan told us. "My first job is carving Krampus masks out of wood (a really big tradition here in Austria), my second job is painting these scary characters. I wouldn't call myself a full-time freelance illustrator. It's a job and a hobby both at the same time."

Bored Panda asked Stefan how does he come up with themes for his scary drawings and he says that "most of them are random creative ideas. Of course, I'm also searching for a lot of reference material online to give me inspiration," the artist reveals. "I also get inspired by movies and video games, like most of the artists out there."

"I don't want to tell the viewer what he should think or associate with my creepy drawings," Stefan revealed to Bored Panda. "I just paint for fun, if people refer to a certain dream they had it's cool, but no, I didn't dream the exact same thing."