Painting the Human Skull

My painting class was investigating colour mixing and in particular the use of ‘neutrals’ (black, white and grey). So they were given a task of drawing a human skull; three of which were generously loaned to us by our science department (the plastic variety of course). As a sideline we talked about the uniformity of most skulls compared to the uniqueness of the human face. Many students had never held a skull in the hands let alone drawn one before, so there was a macabre fascination in the exercise. After creating their initial drawing on buff sheet of paper they mixed black and white paint to shape and follow the contours of the skeletal form, paying attention to interplay of light and shade.