Skull Painting

Well, it is Halloween.

Painted for the fun of it and because I wanted to try a few things out. It is bigger than my more usual work at 36x41cm and is the first painting in which I really work with the possibilities of using medium and lead white. It will be going on show at The Glasgow Art Club award winners show (saturday 8th December, more details when I know them.)

Also I have been thinking about the stories we tell ourselves and how they affect our understanding of the world. And how the magical is always with us - if we look for it.

It seems to me that there are a limited number of symbols that are used again and again in these tales - roses, skulls, keys, tall towers, deep forests etc - and it is fun for me to imagine that all these people and things are still with us. (I know the idea is in Fables Graphic Novels ).

My journey to New York has inspired all this, resulting (so far) in The Little Mermaid and these Skulls - they are based on the skulls on display at The Evolution Store and very much remind me of the Baba Yaga tale.

Fred Hatt over at his Drawing Life blog has posted a very interesting piece about previous skeleton/skull paintings which really illustrates the flexibility these kind of symbols have.