30 Skulls in 30 Days

A 30 day animal skull drawing and painting project.

Completed in October 2016, this project profoundly changed me personally and artistically.

I had been drawing and painting skulls and bones for ten years and was looking for a new challenge. Two thoughts kept colliding as I planned: it was going to be difficult, and it had the potential to change me as an artist.

It. Was. Really. Hard.

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Day 1 / Heron

12x9 inch oil on unstretched canvas / SOLD
I love the elegance of this skull. It's long, sleek, unbelievably delicate. Imagine what this beautiful bird must have seen flying over the landscape and standing in shallow water hunting fish.
An alla prima study in a monochromatic palette.
Day 2 / Leopard

8.5x11 inch white chalk, pastel and charcoal on card stock. NFS
The leopard, I am in awe of this majestic mammal. I often look at the canines and wonder what all they have sunk into. Terrifying, but amazing. How did this beautiful feline break one?
Day 3 / Woodchuck

8.5x11 inch graphite, heightened with white prismacolor on card stock. NFS
Woodchuck. Groundhog. Eater of my garden. We have an endless supply. This skull is heavily damaged, it contains a bullet hole.

Thirty animal skulls from my personal collection were painted or drawn from life—one each day. Although some were studies, each required significant time, focus, and quiet observation. Not a single day was missed, and every artwork was completed on the date it was created.

Beyond the personal challenge, I wanted viewers to see past the macabre perception of skulls—to pause, reflect on each one, consider the life of the animal, appreciate the beauty of the skull, and imagine the stories the bones might reveal.

It’s in these quiet contemplations that I discover metaphors for life.

Metaphors that challenge complacency. To seize the day by facing one simple truth: I will eventually die. On a day and time unbeknownst to me, I will face my final moments in a way that will most likely not be as expected.

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Day 4 / Feral Cat

9x12 inch oil on paper. NFS
Painted quickly at the end of a hectic day, this alla prima oil study was a lesson in discipline and focus to create without overthinking. Oil on paper is not as forgiving as panel or canvas. I made marks carefully and was happy with the outcome.
Day 5 / Fox

9x6 inch graphite/water soluble graphite on cold pressed paper. NFS
Study of the underside of a found fox skull a friend gave to me. Most of the teeth are missing. Drawing the underside was a different perspective that was both fascinating and challenging. I always find working in graphite to be very calming.
Day 6 / Pig

9x12 inch oil on paper. SOLD
Alla prima sketch of a domestic pig skull with a bullet hole. This skull was recovered from the bone pile of a working farm. A humanizing realty of where our protein sources come from.
A monochromatic oil study painted with titanium white and ultramarine blue.

As I quietly observed each skull, this truth permeated my thoughts. These animals never saw their end coming. I knew the fate of few of them—obvious wounds told the stories of others—but most sat quietly leaving me to wonder. Falling down rabbit holes at the intersection of life and death. Quiet observations. Making marks.

Acknowledging my own impermanence is the greatest motivation and gift that I can give to myself. Inspiration to live in the moment and without regret, every, single, day.

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Day 7 / Button Buck

6x9 inch watercolor on cold pressed paper. SOLD
This found skull is a testament to nature and the cycle of life. My heart hurts when I find juvenile skulls. The remaining bones had all been scavenged. The death of one ensures the lives of others. A harsh reality.
This was a quick study I lightly sketched then painted using the complementary colors of purple and yellow.
Day 8 / Beaver, mandible

8.5x11 inch graphite on card stock. NFS
I've painted this beaver skull before, minus the mandible. When I went to draw it, I found that the mandible told more of the story than the skull itself. A slight deformity caused the lower teeth to grow at an angle and wear improperly. The skull itself has unusual wear caused by improper seating of the mandible. Based on the length and uneven wear of those lower incisors, I can only imagine the discomfort this poor animal must have experienced.

I love being an artist. I love seeing the world through uniquely colored glasses and painting that story.

When I set my brush down on day thirty, after completing the very last painting, I cried.

Thirty days of making deeply thoughtful marks, honoring the life and death of beautiful animals, and searching for the stories within the bones.

This project forever changed the way I see, think, and paint.

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Day 9 / Goose

11x8.5 inch charcoal and white chalk on card stock. NFS
Goose skulls, with their large bill are interesting to draw compared to the delicate heron skull from day one. A very quick sketch, completed in 15 minutes after a long day at my daughter’s soccer tournament.
Day 10 / Doe, damaged

8.5x11 inch charcoal/chalk on card stock. NFS
Less is more. I found this skull on our very first walk through the woods when we moved in. It is heavily damaged from long term weather and being gnawed on from other critters.
With each artwork, the goal is to play with both medium and technique.
Day 11 / Coyote

8.5x11 inch ball point pen on card stock. NFS
Coyotes move through every so often and we hear them at night down in the lower woods yipping and carrying on. It's eerie sounding. My dog does not like to be outside when she hears them. I'm convinced she'd take off and leave me to fend for myself if confronted by one.

Day 12 / Civet

8.5x11 graphite on card stock. SOLD
If you don't know what a civet looks like, google it. It's a pretty crazy looking African/Asian mammal. I drew this during my daughter's soccer practice as the sun was setting, sitting on the ground, using a folding chair as a table. It was very cold. You can burn a lot of calories shivering. I was multi-tasking.
Day 13 / Caracal

8.5x11 inch pastel and derwent drawing pencils on card stock. SOLD
If you don't know what a Caracal looks like, google it. This feline has the most glorious wispy ear tip hairs. I like how the canines are still visible from a top view. Wicked.

“My floral paintings aren’t really about flowers and my skull paintings aren’t really about bones.

Somewhere between life and death sits the human experience.

Through nature I seek to understand it.”

~ Christine Mercer-Vernon

a duotone oil painting of a goat skull, lying upside down. the colors are a deep paynes grey blue and yellow green color.

Day 14 / Goat

9x12 inch oil on unstretched canvas. NFS

Goats are so darn adorable but they have the most wickedly evil looking skulls. I painted this all prima with two colors (plus white): Schminke Mussini Translucent Golden Green and Paynes Grey.

These colors created this eerie glow, highlighting how the skull was lit from behind. I enjoyed creating each artwork, but this one is a favorite.

Day 15 / Raccoon

12x9 inch oil on paper. NFS
I have two raccoon skulls, this one is my favorite, I have no idea what busted that hole into the skull, but I can guess it was a bullet. A moment to pause and reflect.
Two blacks plus white were used to create this study—mineral black and ivory black—on paper toned with yellow orange and pink.
Day 16 / Badger

9x12 inch oil on unstretched canvas. SOLD
A weird little duotone study painted alla prima with some leftover paint, hence the color choices.
This was the very first animal skull in my collection.
Day 17 / Squirrel

9x6 inch watercolor on paper. SOLD
Squirrels. I have a love/hate relationship with them. They play with my dog through the window, it's cute. They also hang from my bird feeder—awkwardly staring me in the eye as I pound on the window and tell them to get the @#$% off my feeder like a crazy person.

Day 18 / Rabbit

9x6 inch watercolor on paper. SOLD
This was a found skull, it's in poor shape. The teeth have fallen out and the underside of the brain cavity is completely gone. Still there's something quite lovely about it. I managed to paint this after dinner despite all our usual evening chaos.
Day 19 / Otter

9x6 inch watercolor on paper. SOLD
Seeing the skull of an animal you know well is often a surprise. It’s never what you think it would be shaped like. Otter skulls are like that for me. Flatter and wider than I imagined.
I will forever love letting water flow to create unexpected play in the cast shadow.

A secondary part of this challenge was to explore each skull through a variety of mediums and angles. It didn’t matter if it made sense. Discovery comes from play. These artworks were never meant for a gallery, which allowed me to be ok if one turned out less than perfect.

Day 20 / Dog

9x12 inch oil on paper. NFS
Monochromatic study done for time. Dogs are so cute yet their skulls reveal how fierce their teeth truly are. I have deep connection with dogs, painting this skull was a quiet, reflective time.
Monochromatic studies remove the pressure of color allowing for a deeper understanding of structure and form.
Day 21 / Bear

12x9 inch oil on paper. SOLD
As a child I lived in northern Pennsylvania where seeing a black bear was a daily occurrence. One of my favorite animals, studying this skull is always a joy for me. It’s so beautiful.
Day 22 / Deer, spike

9x12 inch oil on unstretched canvas. SOLD
Found this skull in our woods, it’s was chewed on quite heavy but is still pretty intact. White tail deer drop their antlers over the winter and regrow them in the spring. Fascinating that bone can do that.
Not my favorite color combination from this series, but still educational. Interpreting value against this color was difficult.
Day 23 / Deer, fawn

11x8.5 inch graphite on card stock. NFS
This day was a lesson in perseverance. I didn’t feel well, but took my time and pushed through. I felt a line drawing best represented how delicate this skull is. None of the skull bones have fused because of how young this little deer was. A sad reflection of how fragile life is.
Day 24 / Baboon

12x9 inch oil on unstretched canvas. SOLD
The most intriguing, if not unnerving, skulls that I have. While it is not large, it definitely gives reason to fear the awesome power these primates have in their jaws. That canine is a whopping 1.5 inches long, longer than any of the other carnivore skulls I have. It also has front facing orbitals, just like a human. It makes contemplating this skull a thought provoking process. It's beautiful and fearsome, but deserves respect and admiration.
Day 25 / Deer, doe

8.5x11 inch pastel, charcoal on card stock. NFS
Charcoal sketch of one of my favorite doe skulls. Not sure why I like this one so much, I just really enjoy drawing and painting it. Tried to resist going crazy with detail, just enough to suggest.

I purposely saved the animal skulls I wanted to paint the most for the very end—my reward for persevering.

Day 26 / Cow, female

22x14 inch watercolor and graphite on aquabord. NFS
A study of the underside of a female cow skull. Unbelievably fascinating. The intricate and sometimes delicate bone structures that lie on the underside of a skull makes a large, heavy bony structure like this one, suddenly feel fragile.
Day 27 / Wolf

18X12 inch graphite on paper. NFS
30 minute timed sketch with Cretacolor 2B thick graphite lead. Loose and fun, and under the pressure of time. Another one of my favorite skulls, it is truly inspiring to be in the presence of a wolf skull. Many, many rabbit holes did I fall down while observing.

Day 28 / Goat with Horn Sheaths

20x16 watercolor on aquabord. SOLD

The largest artwork in this project—painted in one session.

Sketched directly onto the panel, then painted in watercolor. I used a lot of water in the shadow and tilted and shook the panel to set the water free of the boundaries of the shadow edges. The drips grounded the painting into space.

A happy accident that was worth the risk of potentially causing the left horn to run.

Day 29 / Alligator

14x11 inch oil on panel. SOLD

This skull is a work of art.

It is a bleached skull which removes all of the natural bone patina. I took liberties to bring back some of the natural color and add it bit more using my unique bone palette.

Painted in one session, I almost didn’t survive this one. It took hours and finding balance between indicating or suggesting the intricacies required a bit of paint, wipe off, paint again.

Thank you for scrolling this far and retracing the steps of this journey with me, I’m deeply appreciative of your time.

Below is the final painting from day thirty.

If you’re an artist on your own journey drawing and painting animal skulls, spend time with your subject appreciating its sculptural beauty as well as the life lived. Hold a space for respect.

My hope is that you step away with a new appreciation for the beauty in what lies beneath and a curiosity for the life lived.

Oh the stories in those bones.

Day 30 / Elk, cow

12x24 inch oil on canvas panel. SOLD

Another favorite skull of mine. I have painted this one before. It is massive in size and you can't help but be in awe of that.

Despite it's size, it has an elegant profile. Beautiful lines.

Painted in a muted, limited palette. Despite the harsh backlighting, I chose to paint in a high key, (the upper range of the value scale), as a challenge. A solid decision that yielded an interpretation that was somewhat ethereal. I chose to restrict detail and use just enough paint to create opacity in some areas, allowing transparency in others to pick up the tone color of the panel.