SKULL DRAWINGS

Skull Drawings! The art of rendering the human skull, skeleton and anatomy is one of the most important traditions for any creative enterprise. As a fundamental drawing skill it formulates the basis for all figurative works and is an invaluable study for beginners and seasoned professionals alike. In addition to being a rock solid exercise in form and structure the skull is also an endlessly expressive symbol. Ranging from Gothic monstrosities to cartoon style tattoos the image permeates as a powerful visual metaphor all throughout history and in every culture.

It is also interesting to note the broad range of symbolic meanings associated with the skull including everything from good fortune to death. For example the Death card in the tarot is often read as “rebirth”. In this case the mystic is referring to the end of something in our lives, like a job or relationship, and the beginning of something new and spiritually uplifting. In the day of the Dead celebrations the skull is colourfully decorated celebrating our ancestors lives while on the frightful evening before Hallowe'en features the face of the grim reaper and dancing skeletons returned from the grave. On the other hand we are also accustomed to seeing this skull as an iconic symbol of disaster and use it to label dangerous substances and devices.

At any rate the object is one of great interest so I thought I'd spend a little time to re-examine the skull through a series of quick sketches. This is something I haven't done since I was an aspiring student preparing my college entrance portfolio so it was really refreshing to step back from my complicated imagery to touch up on some basics. For the studies I decided to make skull drawings using as many angles and a variety of references in order to get the most out of repetitive illustrations focusing on only a single subject. I used a number of source images including photographs, medical illustrations, old ink drawings and 3d models. It was really interesting to take a close look at this form again after so many years of drawing instinctively and before long my research led me to discover the new skulls of strange creatures I probably wouldn't like to meet.