Bird Skulls

Earlier in the year I set myself the goal of finishing projects that had been in progress for quite a while.

I always have a lot of completely different work all going on at the same time.  Sometimes projects come to a halt because I need time to investigate alternative materials, solve problems or just reflect.
Sometimes I have to break off to do urgent commissions or get specific work ready for an exhibition.

This does mean my tiny studio space fills up with precariously balanced piles of work in progress which occasionally get damaged when they all fall down. Plus essential items seem to disappear so I spend a lot of time just looking for stuff, which is annoying and usually leads to even more chaos.

Gradually I'm whittling down the heaps and one thing I have managed to sort out recently is the bird skull paper sculptures.  Since making the originals in February (for the 28 Drawings Later Project) a lot of people have asked if they could buy a copy. And now they can because I am producing archival reproductions via digital printing followed by hand cutting and assembly.

The supporting structure is lovely matte black 300 gsm Canford card and the skulls are on Epson watercolour paper. Dimensions of the black are approximately height 23 cm x width 20 cm, the duck skull 18 cm long and the Godwit 19.5 cm.  The printing uses Epson Ultrachrome pigment inks for sharp detail and rich blacks.

Nothing is ever really finished however and the plan is to create a series. I need to be able to handle  actual skulls to make the drawings properly and I'm hoping to arrange something with my local museum soon.