Still Life Exercises I

Trying a change of pace, thanks to a Scavenger Hunt challenge I discovered over on the Wetcanvas forums. Aiming for no more than 1h30min sketch time... if only because I don't have the patience to take things further with these digital outputs.

Rail Mortality?

Piranha-cuda?

Page I

I finally dug out the pencils and spent the afternoon christening one of the empty sketchbooks that lie in my cupboard. I tend to impulse buy sketchbooks every now and then so I've now got seven of the swines... plus four or five old ones that I never finished. Let's see if I can fill at least a few during 2013.

DS Skull Studies

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Having fun combining two of my favourite sketch subjects...

DS Dump

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I finally managed to dig out my sketchbooks and do some oldschool scribbling. It feels good to sharpen pencils again. :)

Crowskull Cliff

Having fun combing three of my favourite things (rocks, corvids & skeletons) for a daily sketch group topic...

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Bad Guy

Quick warm up speedpaint...

DS Cat Studies

Two wildcat studies done on my trusty DS. I really enjoyed doing these - to the point where I noodled a little too much. :)

Skulls IV (now with added ribs)

Skulls III

More skulls. Err... It is not that I am in any way morbid – even though my current pastime amusements seem to be focused on painting rather bleak scenes, reading quaint old gothic horror stories and sketching bones – but I do find something wonderful and, dare I say it, emotional, about many aspects that others would quickly label as slightly melancholy, or in some cases even macabre.

I've never really been very good at verbally explaining to friends the subtle, subconscious feelings I have about parched deserts, decayed buildings, arid rocky plains, gnarled trees, rusty machinery, frozen vistas and, yes, bleached bones. My close friends know me as the jovial idiot that I am, but most other people that I come into contact with fairly regularly, tend to view my sketchbooks and paintings (when caught in the act) as indicative of slightly undesirable undertones in my personality.

To be honest, it is rather fun to note these different interpretations on what I myself find appealing as opposed to the boring emotional blueprint that the vast majority of people seem to pin their souls to. This may read as bitterness on my part, but I feel more disappointed than anything.

Having said all that, I do like a little morbidity from time to time. Maybe I should sketch a few pages of real morbid material – on a bright sunny day in front of certain friends. *maniacal laugh*

Skull Horse

I couldn't help but do a speedie of this particular Tomb Raider enemy. The blend of rusty armour, bones and maybe a little of that old Ray Harryhausen charm combine to make a memorable foe.

SKulls II

Another skull for the pile.

Skulls

As a kid I loved skeletons and skulls. I used to bury the odd dead shrew I would come across, and dig it up a few months later to harvest the bones. My triumphant exitement would usually be met with disgust and a mini lecture on hygiene and germs when I displayed my latest acquirement to my parents. The wonderful memories I have of uncovering my pre-buried treasure has, so far, more than made up for any germs I may have caught. Like all other parts of the body, doesn't the immune system need some sort of stimulation/workout to keep it in good shape?

Anyway, the reason I bring my childhood memories to the table with regards to these sketches, is becouse they were done from photographs taken (not by me) at Choeung Ek, a Buddist memorial site in Cambodia - probably the most well known site of the 'killing fields'.

I pulled some photos from my 'reference' folder on my HD and started to draw some skulls, but knowing where the photos were taken kinda hit me with mixed emotions: On the one hand I have my personal love of bones and their wonderful cracks, texture, colour and childhood delvings. But on the other hand I have the weight of knowledge (however sparse) that comes from the simple act of growing older and interacting/assimilating all that is around you.

I began drawing and very soon started to think about the skull I was creating on paper. What sort of person was he/she? I started imagining lifestyles - the little mundane day-to-day stuff (fluff?) that I really enjoy noticing in other people. I began to feel bad about this and started adding fantastical elements (see horns) to bring me back on top of my feelings. Maybe this was a bad move on my part. Maybe I should have delved deeper.

Am I covering myself from deeper feelings by bringing up my childhood memories first as a safety mechanism? I doubt it, but who knows. Right now I think it was importent to me to make that distinction between some kind of morbidity and a simple visual love of bones. I hope nobody thinks I am, in some way, mocking those that died in that regime by adding fantasy elements to my sketches. That was/is not my intent.

I have to chuckle to myself whenever I think about the merciless way in which we lose our innocence to age and experience. Hahaha... someone or something up there/out there is chuckling along with me.