Dissection with Derby Hats

My little group of faces on the left is coming along. I think this might be my last dissection painting. I've been feeling a little more escapist and I'd like to do something more fun and inventive after this. Not saying it won't be creepy, but in a fun and inventive sort of way.

Autopsy with Hats

I'm going to do one more vintage autopsy painting for now. Tentatively called "Autopsy with Hats". I'm trying to have a more limited palette and see what I can do with it. I think limiting the palette makes it have more of a vintage-y feeling.

Anatomy School

I've finished sketching in my studious little bone saws. It was nighttime, which makes my paper look yellow. It is not. This piece is 18" x 24"

Anatomists and some After Dinner Diversion

After Dinner Diversion Numbers five and six.



Some details of my Three Anatomists painting.

The Three Anatomists

Proceeding in a somber palette. This painting is loosely based on a very blurry vintage photo of some medical students dissecting a corpse. I have taken the composition and am filling the faces in with inventions. Though I am inventing the portraits, I have paid a lot of attention to the faces of young anatomists and compared several photos. There is sometimes a look of fear, disgust, coldness, haughtiness.... a lot of visages you would associate with a postures of antagonism.

The Three Anatomists

I spent a very brief time on my Three Anatomists painting. This will be doctor number one. I need to get this paper mounted on a board, though. It is very hard to paint on paper, even when it's gessoed. It gets too warpy.

The Three Anatomists

It was fun to work on a bigger painting. The way I built up the skin tones of the cadaver is similar to the way I go into a forest painting. It's a bit loose. There are no right or wrong colors. I just build it up. Then I decided on a sallowy, greenish pale hue, a bit shiny. I took some care to make the shapes of the hip bones come through. I wanted to have rents in the skin without getting too dramatic. The real focus is going to be on the faces of the anatomists, but this was a fun warm up.