By Christopher Sanchez for the Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer
New Mexico Lottery artist Dominic Sedillo calls himself a nondenominational horror film lover.
He enjoys them all: the classics, the slashers, foreign and B-rate. Anything with corpses staggering across the screen.
"I like them, because I think everybody deep down inside likes to be scared," he said. "And I find them really interesting — the mythology behind them, whether supernatural or the macabre."
So when it came time to design a scratcher ticket for Halloween, he thought about horror movies. He wanted to create a ticket with ghosts, monsters and zombies. But just like a horror movie, he wanted something hidden beneath the surface.
After months of racking his brain, the West Side resident said he came up with the idea of glow-in-the-dark scratchers, the first of its kind. The characters on the tickets are shaking in their boots. Turn off the lights, and you'll see what they are afraid off.
"It's fear, but with a twist," he said. "I wanted to show all these monsters and ghosts and stuff being afraid about all these other monsters that are hidden. That's the appeal to it. When you turn off the light, that's what you get to see — what they're scared of."
A scarecrow cowers from a flock of crows. Eyes appear behind a mad scientist and his robot. A bug-eyed spider gasps because he sees ghosts looming behind tombstones.
"This is like a dream come true," Sedillo said. "I've been practicing my entire life to do this, to design monster sand spooky things."
Popular design
Sedillo came up with Glowing Ghouls almost a year before Halloween. He started with a few sketches, then pitched it to his boss, Wendy Creel. Creel said she was immediately drawn to the idea.
"It was an innovative idea," she said. "It was one of those aha ideas, like why didn't I think of that?"
People seem to like Sedillo's creation. The $2 tickets, Glowing Ghouls, are a top-five seller in the state. The New Mexico Lottery has even received phone calls from other lotteries across the country asking how they did it. Not long ago, a lottery company in the United Kingdom called in.
Linda Hamlin, spokeswoman for New Mexico Lottery, said about 15 percent of the tickets each year are created by the Lottery's design team.
Sedillo came up with Glowing Ghouls almost a year before Halloween. He started with a few sketches, then pitched it to his boss, Wendy Creel. Creel said she was immediately drawn to the idea.
"It was an innovative idea," she said. "It was one of those aha ideas, like why didn't I think of that?"
People seem to like Sedillo's creation. The $2 tickets, Glowing Ghouls, are a top-five seller in the state. The New Mexico Lottery has even received phone calls from other lotteries across the country asking how they did it. Not long ago, a lottery company in the United Kingdom called in.
Linda Hamlin, spokeswoman for New Mexico Lottery, said about 15 percent of the tickets each year are created by the Lottery's design team.
"I don't think a lot of people know that the Lottery designs of tickets are in-house," she said. "This is completely his baby."
Sedillo draws any chance he gets. He has stashes of 9-by-12 sketchbooks. Everywhere he goes, he has to have one. On his desk. More than a few at his home. One in his car.
You never know when inspiration hits, he said.
"I like (drawing) because it's a tremendous gift to be able to create and just you know just lose yourself in your own little world," he said. "You're never bored if you know how to draw."
Sedillo said there are already plans for next year's Glowing Ghouls.
"Just when you thought it was safe to scratch in the dark ..." he said.
Sedillo said there are already plans for next year's Glowing Ghouls.
"Just when you thought it was safe to scratch in the dark ..." he said.
Artist: Dominic Sedillo
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