I began this painting with a pencil sketch using a range of Corvid skulls for reference although the main one was that of a Rook. There were aspects of each reference I wanted to include in my final image. I started in the usual way by drawing basic shapes and then filling in increasing levels of detail to each section of the drawing. Here's how the sketch turned out...
Then I began inking the drawing using my Rotring Rapidograph technical pens. I chose these for this task as they provide the lovely thin consistent lines I wanted for this piece. However, I had not used them for some time and one of the thicker ones was slightly gummed up which allowed it to drip ink. It was making lines which were very thick with ink and took a long time to dry. At the same time I was wearing a shirt which had longer sleeves and I ended up smudging the ink - really badly.
The long sleeves...
...and the smudge...
I thought about how to handle this while I set about breaking down the pen and properly cleaning it out. I was very much closing the barn door after the horse had bolted. Eventually I decided to try drawing some fictional shadows and cracks onto my skull like this...
While it doesn't read perfectly the sharp dark shadow just above the eye hole balances the tone of the drawing overall so I was OK with the fix.
Here's the ink drawing...
To finish the image I decided to add a few washes of black watercolour paint. I love the way the combination of black ink and black watercolour work together. Here's the final image...
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