Autumn and Winter art

I think I subconsciously getting into a winter mode. I recently wanted to make some new decorated skulls, partly in time to show around The Day of the Dead celebrations, but I think also because it feels like the right time of the year to work with 'death'. So I already finished 3 skulls and I am working on another real sheep skull with horns, probably a Swaledale breed ewe.

But I am also tempted to do some street work as well. For me that fits with the time of the year because I like grim corners for it. Either nature taking over urban objects, which is often in abandoned places or grim corners in general. But Christmas will be taking a lot of my time till January, so I think the effect of this mode of thinking will be next year. It gives me time to think about what to do. I have already got some ideas and will try to make them simple so I that I am able to show them before the new year. Fingers crossed!

Day of the Dead - Dia de los Muertos

It is that time of the year again where the days are getting darker, wetter and colder and we are getting near Halloween AND the Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos. If you know my art, you can imagine that those days have a strong connection with my work, but not just because I decorated real animal skulls or use bones. I have a stronger connection with Dia de los Muertos than Halloween, because I love the vibrant colours and the general style of the celebrations.

I have been wanting to make one or two skulls in this style again for a year. I made two skulls inspired by the traditional Sugar Skulls, but wanted to make some again this year. You may have come across some the vibrant colours and detailed drawings on this blog or my Facebook fanpage:

So I have been used those drawings (left) on a real Fallow Deer skull (right), but I wanted to have a base that looked more like a human skull to get closer to the Sugar Skull feeling and decided to make one of my own. I didn't want to make a realistic human skull, because those are everywhere and I could just have bought a skull replica from Ebay. No, I wanted the skull to be different, manlike and in an urban cartoon style. So I sculpted a master which I cloned and painted. 

Some Sugar Skull art have the coolest elements added to the skull, making the skull feeling like a globe on which all kinds of stuff is happening. So I set about making one with the above type of paint style and one painted more traditionally, but with added elements on the skull:

Title: Flame

Title: Transition Crushed

This one has butterflies on the skull made from plastic from found drinking bottles. Two butterflies are crushed by two piles of money handled by the skeleton.