Monday, February 18, 2008

The Deer Skull


Skulls are so very beautiful.... maybe because they are mostly all one color, it eliminates distractions... and shows their delicacy.... their defined lines... the light and shadow creates intricacies for your examination... contemplation ... pleasure..... that directs you to see what you are not used to seeing so you see the object in a fresher way...

which makes them one of the loveliest natural objects to draw.



I have collected skulls for a long time........ crow, sheep, bobcat, deer, sheep, etc ....
porcupines are particularly special, with long curving teeth that slide way back into the skull.... worth investigating...



This skull is from a female Eastern Whitetail Deer.

a watercolor of this skull is on my posting Ready or Not...

5 comments:

Louie In Seattle said...

Lovely skulls. I have an Army duffel bag full of bones in my garage. Mostly domestic animals I found on the prairies of northern Montana where my mom's farm is. One of my projects is to clean them up and make them suitable for display.

woolydaisy said...

hi gwen, oh my god-i just emailed you and then took a peek at your blog-i love skulls too!!!! i have collected for years-especially when i lived in new mexico!!! unfortunately many have been lost over the years from my many moves(gypsy spirit.) but i still have some and i'm always on the look out!!! i love your water colors and jewelry!!-steph

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thanks Louie & Steph, I bet Montana & New Mexico would be fantastic places to find bones & skulls. I'm imagining Montana must have wide open spaces there with lots of animals roaming around. & New Mexico must have them all bleached out. It is always an exciting surprise when you find them though. Thanks, gwen

helen said...

What a fabulous collection of skulls Gwen. I love them too and have a few pieces ~ sheep, magpie, fox, a few sea-birds, a mole. My favourite treasure though is one side of the lower jaw of a seal.

I have put an extra photo at the end of my Samhain post ~ which I had forgotten to put on ~ which shows the skulls we have in our living room.

Your watercolours and poems are incredibly beautiful ~ capturing the echo of the spirit lingering on in these fragile, precious remains.

Happy Samhain to you and your loved ones.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Same to you Helen... I have a couple lower jaw bones, moose and sheep ... none from a seal though ... I am going to start looking for them.. We do see seals occasionally at the rocky outcrop points on the shores here.. one almost bit my son Max when he was a little guy.. got too close and scared the wits out of him.. Thanks and all the best!!