Javalina skull

Here is the Javalina skull that I got from Ebay this is a small skull, very interesting to paint on.

Mia

This is the new addition to the family she is 7 months not 8 months old that I said in the previous post full blooded Siberian Husky and very stubborn. Mia loves water as we shortly found out when we filled the pool with water, she is having a hard time getting along with the other dogs which I think will get better with time. My wife and I picked her up in Rolla, Mo. from an outfit called wolf dogs need homes.

Sissy and Chubby

Here is our two dogs they are mixed breeds this is a photo from our trip to Tennessee, Sissy is part white German Shepherd and Chubby is part Pit, Shepherd, and a few other things. Chubby is ten yrs old and Sissy is three yrs, we will be adopting a Siberian husky that is 8 months old into the family.

New experiment

This is a new process I am doing using undercoating for the back of the skull not sure if this will be streamlined into my process yet. Undercoating works good because it fills all of the rough surfaces on the back of the skull, it comes out in a spatter and swells in a bubble then flattens out
covering every thing giving it a permanent finish that does not need a clear. The undercoating is more expensive than paint, but it will save on clear and give me a much better process in the finishing stage( less accidents from flipping the skull to spray lacquer on back) still in monitoring stage.

My favorite book

This is my favorite book that I read years ago that I just can't forget about and would like to share on my blog It is hard to find a book that you just can't put down, I have a few others that I will share later, I will add to my favorite books link.

Snubbed by art critics and collectors alike, Nicholas Hood sees suicide as his only recourse. His paintings are unique, unsettling . . . and unsalable—graphic oil-on-canvas depictions of violent death set against serene Manhattan backdrops.
But at the lowest depths of his despair, the artist meets Bellisle, a hideously deformed dwarf with bizarre precognitive powers. The strange little man points Hood toward grisly scenes of urban horror—offering the tortured painter gruesome inspiration for his nightmare visions. Hood becomes more and more successful, but he will soon pay a terrible price.

Me in the studio

This is me in my studio I am preparing to start work on the buffalo skull and have been working on the little skulls I just got, getting them ready for paint.I have another project (Prototype) I am going to work on my plan is to paint a skull for out doors the skulls I paint I don't recommend to put outside because they are not treated for that purpose. I have a skull without teeth this will be my prototype and test it with exterior sealant, paint design and seal, hope to have this done before winter.

Memorial skull

This is the Memorial skull that I was working on I decided to take the little vase off it wasn't working for me and went with a picture frame with picture of dad and his dog and added feathers and rabbit fur, this is a cow skull with horns added on to look like a steer.

Cleaning Skulls

This is a pdf file I found from a university for cleaning skulls I used to have some different links for this that I think were a little better , but can not find them so this will work some terms are bleaching skulls means use peroxide not bleach, to degrease skulls is dish soap (dawn) some colored dish soap may stain. Skulls that are split down the middle is a good sign they were not cleaned properly you see this a lot on buffalo skulls, I've used baking soda and dawn to clean and degrease before if you introduce air into the container before it is ready it will stain also I have only done minor cleaning never a full meaty skull, but if one is going to paint skulls this information is critical you must have a clean skull to paint on
http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/natresources/az1144.pdf

Red, White, and Blue

This is my attempt at a patriotic theme, I did this on one of the smaller skulls that I have it measure's 17" x 7", this can be viewed on my website also as I post them here I also put them in my Gallery of Skulls page. I used up the triple coat lacquer on this one thankfully lots of over spray which dulls one area so it has to be done again in the dull area, it's easier to just put more than one coat on it.

Happy 4th of July

I just finished this today, horse painting on cow skull and with real horse shoe formed into the skull.

break from painting skulls

Taking a break from painting skulls to show off my address plaque I made, This is made with Portland cement, sand and cement dye. This is the ingredients for a stepping stone that can be carved, I dug a hole in the ground and poured my mixture in and after it set up enough before it is fully cured I carved the numbers in it and then painted it later when it was fully cured.I am also going to do some Hypertufa to make faux rocks to border my flowers in the yard.
Hypertufa is an anthropic rock made from various aggregates bonded together using Portland cement. from wikipedia

painted hats

Here is some of the hats that I painted when I had my shop in the basement of the Western gift shop.
I also painted shirts at that time, although I didn't have a digital camera at that time so I can't show my work on the shirts at this time but I will convert them over later.