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Learn to Draw a Skull
Ginny is delving deeper into the tunnel system beneath a temple. It's getting rather skully down her in fact. Let's make the most of the place we're in, settle down for an hour or two and draw some skulls.
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The path might seem complex, but every line brings us closer to mastering the structure essential for portraiture. Studies of skulls like this strengthen our ability to control shadows, enhancing accuracy in the overall composition. By understanding the precise way light falls and creates shadow, we improve our ability to depict form and depth, which is crucial for achieving realistic and structured drawings.
​If you don't happen to have a skull in your studio from which to draw from, there are plenty of digital references. This 3D model for instance is pretty excellent! :
This is a Shadow Door Demo - Hard mode. Be on guard, there might be a a trap in demonstration!
Part 1 - The Outline
I have a reference skull placed in front of me while I work. I am also using image references from various skulls other artists have made.
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I begin this skull study by making two horizontal dashes with an HB pencil. One on the right side and one on the left, this will signify the width of the skull. I have made two more dashes on the top and bottom to form the idea of the height of the skull.
The dashes allow me to then generate a box. I cut into this box shape with very long, straight lines that express the largest and most obvious line sections.
I then cut into this shape, rounding off corners and establishing large relationships such as the eye socket and it’s position relative to the outside perimeter.
By discovering more and more important landmarks, the drawing starts to build itself almost. That feeling can lead to complacency, so we must keep a watchful eye on whether these features are being placed correctly. I draw the features as basic shapes so that, if it ever comes time (and it often does) to move something, I haven’t wasted too much time developing that feature that will be rubbed out and reassessed.
The contour becomes more confident, and as such, the lines darken. The darker the line, the easier it is to asses its correctness. This is one of the great challenges of drawing. It’s a good idea to strike a balance between a lightly placed stroke that can be altered easily and one that is drawn in dark enough for us to see clearly if it is right.
Final checks before moving onto to the value phase are: assessing the shapes, their placement, size, and tilt, not as the things they represent but just as abstract shapes. Draw shapes, not things!
Blocking in some value with a 3B pencil helps me to breakdown the whites and also increases the chance of spotting inconsistencies. If a dark line is easier to see as incorrect, then a dark shape is even more so.
Part 2 - Adding Value
I am trying to keep my hatching directions to a minimum. A multitude of different line hatches will spoil the surface and create a scribbly sort of appearance.
The fours sided box helped at the start to get an idea of how to built the line drawing of the skull. For the value stage, I continue to use a sort of conceptual box in my mind as I work. I asses each element for its shadow, middle value, and lighter side. I am constantly asking myself how light from various directions is affecting this or that feature.
Sometimes the shadow or the light side is not readily apparent. No matter how subtle, I try to indicate it, or pronounce it in order to keep the skull having a sense of structure to it.
Tiny details like the teeth are a fun bit to draw in. For those areas I use a mechanical pencil so I can maintain a sense of definition.
Hatching is done in a way that allows one hatch to knit neatly into the next.
I am careful with how much I use the blending stump because really, the task of describing the modulations of the object’s surface should be carried out by pencil. The stump is great for blending large areas of shadow but in the light areas, it can feel a little heavy handed.
Some finishing touches include: selecting where I want some striking, bright, sharp-edged highlights. These are not randomly placed but are usually focused around the place that you want the viewer’s eye to orbit around.
The skull study is complete! It’s so easy to get carried away and overdo things, and knowing when to stop is a skill in itself which if it hasn’t come yet to you, it will with practice! Skulls are excellent subjects for study; the obvious benefit is that it supports things like portraiture. Knowing what is going on beneath the skin will help to fend off tendencies like idealism. Favouring instead to draw the person in front of you based on sound anatomical knowledge.
