Halloween painting 2014

I found the inspiration for this painting on a trip to Shelburne Museum this summer.  There is a fairly large antique doctor's office housed with an apothecary and antique dentist's offices.  In one of these rooms I came upon this skull with the anatomical features written on it.  Having taken a year long anatomy and physiology course I was drawn to the 'study aid' but pretty dismayed at it being a real skull with what could be called 'graffiti' on it.  This skull became the inspiration for the painting and I did make an effort to accurately depict both the skull and the labeling.  Unfortunately some of the words were not legible and others I had to search online to determine from the few letters I could read, what the feature's label actually was.  The top of the skull was removed, probably by a fine saw blade, and that is what gives the odd appearance on top.  The effort was to produce something close to photo-realism due to the accuracy required to show the lettering on the skull.  Since this is not the most frightening Halloween painting, just pretend it's ghost is haunting the museum ;)

 

The Physician's Skull
12"x16" oil on linen on board
ckm 2014