Spent the morning painting the Buffalo Skull for my new piece. Looks pretty good although the photo really doesn’t show all the colors used. Before starting I checked the skull hanging in the Out West Gallery next door, to make sure I indicated all the major skull details, i.e., plates, nerve holes, etc. As that skull was bleached I did a little research to capture the true colors of a naturally sun bleached product.
I started out by removing the horn caps and then painting the entire skull a light gray (mudstone) followed by yellow ocher highlights, followed by brown (asphaltum) and ending with white on the parts that would be mostly exposed to the sun. I then used straight black for the eye sockets with a little white on the outer edges. For the horn caps I used black and then dry-brushed on some white highlights which really set off the horns texture. Once everything has a chance to dry I’ll paint on the ceremonial decoration but not too much as I don’t want to overdo it.
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(There is a Youtube video series on carving the Buffalo skull. Here’s a link to the first part”: https://youtu.be/vqjQLASWUn8
So far so good!! Comments welcome.
