![skull_thm_groundcontrol.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmPxTzqTkjYrg7GP3xJTNHyGxJbyKbHZoG3ddXoAacuM2B/skull_thm_groundcontrol.jpg)

Drawing The Skull: An Anatomy Study in Pastel Chalk

Hey everyone, here's a sketch study i made just for Steemit! I've tried to add some progress shots and a bit of info about the process. Thanks to everyone who has shown support so far, it really means a lot.
OK, let's dive in and take a look at drawing a skull!

The Gesture

The first stage of any drawing should begin with a loose gesture drawing. The goal of the gesture isn't to create an accurate detailed start but to capture the feel of the subject, to read it's essence. You're simply looking for key areas you can build upon. Start light with the pencil strokes and don't be afraid to make corrections as you go.
Tip: Don't Trace - Learn to Gesture It can be very tempting to start a drawing with a trace but it's "robbing Peter to pay Paul" - it's solving a problem in a way that makes another problem worse, producing no net gain - it won't improve your draftsmanship. It can also cause problems later in the drawing if your rendering goes askew because you have locked yourself into rendering to strict boundaries and winding back or erasing large areas can ruin the piece. Keep it loosey-goosey, let your drawing evolve, you will gradually learn to read objects as a framework of shapes, dimensions and lines and drawing anything will become a lot easier. ![skull_1_groundcontrol.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZvm2cLzS5hR2csaraSpudkXwEiRLfXJjgbkwPQtshirm/skull_1_groundcontrol.jpg)

Find Some Hard Edges

So we've done our gesture and we're happy with the general shape. Next we want to fill in some dark areas to seperate them from the light areas. We are still keeping it loose, we're not going too dark with our pencil strokes because we are probably going to need to make corrections as we 'evolve' the drawing. Keeping them light at this stage allows us to build and make corrections. In the 2nd image i've identified some parts that i want to 'lock in', these are the areas i'm going to build the drawing around so i've committed to making the strokes heavier. ![skull_2_groundcontrol.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmPghf8cBSBBjbPFoz3WRyiLgopRwmChnuPcbqCYL3DzXa/skull_2_groundcontrol.jpg)

Adding Mid-Tone Value

At this stage i decided to use a 3rd colour to help build the shapes of the skull. Since i was working on a mid-toned paper to begin with, i wanted something that would blend with the black & the white while bumping the paper value up just a little bit to help create a bit more dimension in areas where the black and white would meet. Working with General's Pastel Chalk pencils i decided the 'Van Dyke Brown' would make a perfect choice. ![skull_3_groundcontrol.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSFnB2gsrMWHDDEiovT8yBSH9jM3H5W3rK8qTYw3dgbDz/skull_3_groundcontrol.jpg)

Lost & Found Lines Create Dimension

Here i'd like to point out a tip when drawing curves or lines that depict dimension. They are called 'Lost & Found' lines. In the image below i've pointed out an example in an area of the jaw. In the loose gesture drawing i wasn't worried about adding that dimension but as i moved into darker strokes and 'locking in' areas, i realised this part of the skull is curved and turning away behind our field of view. A simple artistic technique to show dimension in a single stroke is to use lost & found lines to give the viewer a sense of a 'horizon'. As the line comes back around towards the jaw we darken the corner and continue the stroke. ![skull_5_groundcontrol.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYAJyoovrbLs1AmUXCJsMvrawS5iYJecGaFSEodgnLczZ/skull_5_groundcontrol.jpg)

Adding The White Highlights

Now it's time to add some white to bring out the highlights. Even thou a skull is a lot whiter in real life than in this drawing we have started with a mid-tone paper so we just want to add some select highlights to help define the form. Following on from my post 'A Study of Rembrandt's Eye' i'm using the white highlights to define form, so i want to make the strokes follow the shape of the form. This technique allows you to do a lot less work to achieve a lot more information for the viewer. Had i just rendered fully in white i'd probably end up over working it to try and show the complex bumps, valleys and curves - making it a lot harder on myself and spending a lot more time on it. ![skull_4_groundcontrol.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmf2Rn2FnwP6uNkPbFeYNRwWQ9L14Fwq8b4dqprSdGcBxQ/skull_4_groundcontrol.jpg)

Finishing Up

After continuing to add the white highlights, i realised i should add a bit more black to some areas to help define the shadow areas and to strengthen some lines to match the contrast the white added. This helps to balance the entire drawing. We began with a mid-toned paper so balancing the white highlights and black shadows is important so neither overwhelms or controls the image. And here is the finished study.
A nice anatomy sketch drawn with 3 colour chalk. ![skull_groundcontrol.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUL89JGGESDnFW6uofVhXiduh489pyur4BPBZoZPNN47p/skull_groundcontrol.jpg)

Materials Used

The paper was Daler Canford Paper - Dreadnought Grey with a Shellac sizing.
For more info on using Shellac See my post:
Drawing: Women's Face in Profile - Pastel Chalk on Treated Paper
The pencils are 'General's MultiPastel Chalk' in Black, Van Dyke Brown & White. ![skull_pen_groundcontrol.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmV377oQWrwpWKYaoB5vuW9VfztaRGPqLBTxLaczuLdmfa/skull_pen_groundcontrol.jpg) If you liked my post, please leave a comment, vote, re-steem & follow! Thank You. [![thankyou.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZ6QuRLwZEMMofRQcwMDZBMQ8vfsRX17sUob1bBxCrtiP/thankyou.jpg)](https://steemit.com/@groundcontrol)