Trust me when I say, I’ve been there… you’re excited because you found an animal skull in the woods, brought it home and tried to draw it. But no matter what you did, it was a struggle to get the proportions right, and you wound up frustrated.

Look your skull over, study all the intricacies, then do it again.

I know this is stating the obvious, but if you look it over, put it out of sight, and I ask you how many teeth it had and you don’t know, how well did you really look it over?

Create anatomical study drawings.

Draw as many views as you want. I prefer to do at least a profile and top view. Sometimes, I’ll draw other views if needed, or just because I want to.

The key to these drawings is accuracy. This is your chance to study every detail, identify landmarks to aid in establishing proper proportions, and understand the overall structure, as well as tiny details that will be important in bringing the drawing to a finish.

Paint an alla prima study.

Alla prima is a fancy way to describe working directly, wet-into-wet, or all at once. Usually completing an artwork in one sitting.

I begin with large shapes and then dial in details while focusing on proportions and ensuring that I’m locating important landmarks accurately. As detailed as the above painting may look, I’m mostly suggesting with simple brushstrokes. It’s the accurate placement of important details that makes the skull identifiable.

Playing with limited or restricted color palettes is another way to take the focus off of color accuracy and place it prominently on proportions. This way you can put your attention into nailing down those shapes and important details without the pressure of having to mix accurate color.

If you struggle with values, use one color and create a monochromatic painting. Simply mix up five to seven values (I prefer five). When you feel more confident with values you can add a second color, then progress to a limited palette (three colors - red, blue, yellow - plus white).

If you love drawing and painting skulls, then these additional efforts will be enjoyable! I love sitting down with a hot beverage and losing track of time while I work on an anatomical drawing. It’s also nice to work on something that is just for me, and not have the pressure of completing a finished, sellable, artwork.

Now grab a skull and get to work!

I hope you found this helpful. As 2025 gets rolling I’ll be filming some skull drawing/painting demos, sign up for my newsletter (please note my main body of work is florals) and info will go out later this year when they become available.

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