Man and Beasts - Bones

Camel Skull - 04/16/16, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Wade Schuman opened up his collection and there were 5 boxes of animal bones, taxidermy heads and other animal talismans. It was like an odd buffet of animal parts, visually interesting and fascinating.

I was kind of enthralled by the skulls and bones; and yes I sort of felt creepy writing that last sentence.

"What would you like from Texas?" my father asked me, while preparing for a conference.  I remembering pondering for a moment before asking my dad to bring home a cow skull. I guess I was a weird kid.

So working with two color ink,  Burnt Sienna and Cobalt Blue i began to draw the bones that caught my attention

Above is a Camel skull it was the first of these I did. I was kind of surprised how large it was, but then again Camels are very large animals. 

Moose Jaws - 04/16/16, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

This was the second bone I drew, a moose Jaw.

I put the objects on the floor to give a more intense and shadow to the object. I think it adds a lot giving the form almost an outline. I also like how the edge of the paper crops the shadow.

The croping of the shadow is something i have been thinking about looking back on these drawings after the fact. The Camel skull drawing reads a complete study and object. where as the other two drawings feel a little disjointed because of the cropped shadow. I may have to play with this a little more in the future.

I remember debating how to much of a wash to cover the drawing with. 

Bison Bone - 04/16/16, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Above is a petrified Bison bone and the last drawing I did in the morning before heading for lunch.  The petrified bone was very textured and remarkably hefty. It did not feel delicate at least initially, It felt very sturdy especially in comparison to the other bones on the table.

Despite the petrified bone being very dark, I focused the wash nearly exclusively on the shadow of the bone. I was debating going back into it but decided that this drawing works.

I had a good morning.