Dragon Skull Trophy

After my first dragon piece I wanted to create a second that was more stripped back and focused exclusively on the shape and design on a more basic level, but at the same time highlight and present that simplicity in a polished, refined way. Obviously this was a mythical creature but the aspects and details of my design were all taken from real animals to create a more authentic and anatomical look to the skull. Without the flesh, scales etc layering up the surface I would instead focus on the basic underlying shape. While in my previous piece it had been a good opportunity to experiment with different materials and techniques in building up the surface, this time I wanted to focus on a piece that was more basic in terms of surface quality but that rather than have a busy, detailed surface; really highlighted the curves and finishes of a skull.  As I wouldn't be building up the outer surface this gave me more of an opportunity to focus on the skull's details, such as horns, eye sockets, jaw line, etc.

I started by drawing up a few initial sketches to try and lock down exactly what I was going to make. I knew horns would play a major part of the designs having been inspired by a lot of taxidermy antlers and horns I had come across while researching. I wanted to create a different shaped head to what I had done last time, elongating the snout and creating a more fluid shape that flowed up to the horns and splayed out in an ornate and symmetrical way. As the smooth bone would form the outer finished layer it was important that the shape of the skull alone formed a striking shape as it would be fully exposed with no surface detail beyond colour washes and polishing.

The first step of construction was once again to get a rough shape of taped newspaper and build up lots of layers of paper mache to form a strong shell.

 While I waited for the skull to set solid I experimented with horn designs. I made up a number of large twisted horns consisting of coat hanger wire, newspaper and masking tape. Once I had a few I tried out different arrangements and curved shapes.

With the paper mache layers set I began refining and smoothing down the surface of the skull. Like my last piece I  cut the jaw out so both sections fit together seamlessly. I also cut out the eye socket and nostrils. Below you can see where I have removed the top section exposing the newspaper mould, I pulled all this out and neatened up both halves of the skull.

 After sanding down the surfaces to give a more organic look to the shape it was time to start attaching the horns and build up the other details of the skull.