Primae Origines

Origin of the CONCLAVE OBSCVRA

Around the end of June 2025, Pictor Nox had an idea for a casual painting contest centred around horror, brutality, and flesh.

I just want to see all these amazing artists’ horrific skin and gory paint jobs on whatever miniature!

Pictor Nox asked the dark minds behind Black Chalice Studio and Grim and Darker to join him as part of the judging panel. Together, the three began discussing the details, rules, and prizes for what was meant to be a small contest created simply for fun.

Within the next 24 hours of relentless conversation, something much darker – and far more inspiring – began to take shape.

The idea for a community page that could not only host the contest, but also become a place where like-minded artists could share their work , inspire one another through their creations, and help amplify each other’s reach, visibility, and ability to connect emerged.

From the desire of three minds to bring a wider community together, CONCLAVE OBSCVRA was born.

Calix Noctis Tenebricae ·| The Chalice of the Dark Night |· is written across the top of our emblem in homage to its three founders.

Ex Tenebris Artium is written beneath it ·| From the Darkness of the Arts |·

At the centre of the emblem stands a cracked Chalice, from which macabre Creativity flows. Above it, a crescent Moon and watchful Eye represent vision from within the darkness, looking towards the endless possibilities of our Arts.

A crossed Blade and Brush symbolise creation and destruction in all their artistic forms. Vines and Tendrils grow outward in every direction, representing the ever-growing, spreading, and interconnected roots of our Community.

It quickly became clear that there is a shared Desire among Artists working within Horror, Dark Fantasy, Cyberpunk, and other darker art forms to Connect with one another.

A place where everyone could meet openly and as equals, a place to share macabre creations, inspire one another to descend into infinite depths of creativity, and amplify each artist’s abilities, visibility, and voice – as well as the strength of the community as a whole – was needed.

Therefore, the Conclave Obscura was founded as a place built upon these values:

Share · Inspire · Amplify

Through contests, educational platforms, collaborations, commissions, and opportunities to network across multiple creative disciplines beneath the umbrella of wider horror-arts, the Conclave Obscura has grown into a home for thousands of shared artworks and collaborations.

At the heart of this community lives our active Discord server, where Artists, Creators, and Supporters from across the World meet, share, learn, and create together.

We continue to connect artists of many disciplines, as well as Creators, Studios, and Companies. We continue to fight for greater visibility for those creating within the darker arts, pushing back against the void of the Algorithmic Abyss.

What we felt on the Second Day, we have continued to feel with every passing day, week, month, and year since.

We have only just begun.

And now…

Conclave Obscura is everyone.
Everyone is the Conclave Obscura.