Still Life Project: Pyramid of Skulls

This is Pyramid of Skulls by Paul Cezanne. This is what I will be working on for my project.














I began by sketching out the image. 

 I started by dividing my paper into four sections to help map out where each skull should be located. Then I sketched out the basic shapes.








 

 Then I added outlines for where the facial features should go.










 

 Then I got more specific with the shapes of the eye sockets and nasal bones.

 I gave the skulls more detail as to where the shading would go.







 

                                                                                   This is the completed sketch.

Next I started to add shading and color. 

This is the first skull I worked on. Throughout the drawing, I used black and brown Conte Crayons along with chalk pastels.

 Next, I started on the shading around the skull in the center and shaded the right eye socket.

More progress on the second skull.

The second skull completed.

I then completed the skull in the back.

Progress on the final skull. I decided to leave the part of the skull where I drew through the other one. Leaving it there allows me to complete the drawing and still allow whoever looks at it to see my process.

 The final skull completed.















When I was doing the shading on the cloth underneath the skulls, I filled in the space with the color pastel I wanted and then went over it with a white one to blend it.

My completed Pyramid of Skulls. I darkened the lines I created in my first sketches, so the process I took in creating the original drawing is still clear.











Close-ups of the three skulls in front: