*Death Mask Wednesday

I went to the NPG store in Southwark (so really just up the road) to draw some of the incredible death masks that they hold.  I chose Benjamin Disraeli as I wanted an example of a head in wax… here is, looking like a bit of a Hammer horror villain!

I also had a good look at William Makepeace Thackeray, a blurred and indistinct face, I wondered if he had had a stroke as his mouth was contorted. In plaster this time and more like a relief (he had a hook on the top of his head for hanging). There was also a cast of his disembodied hand:

I will go back in a few weeks hopefully to do some more drawing, I find these really inspiring and I most certainly need some real examples for my Georgian story idea.  Great to be left to do a few hours in an air conditioned treasure trove!  Very many thanks to Tim Moreton for all his help, and for showing me many of the paintings in the store – plus the interesting conversation!

Sucker for a Moleskine product!  I just made this for my brother and his girlfriend as a thank you for many things in NZ, lets hope they don’t look at this post before it arrives in a week…

Recently returned from the land of the hobbits – didn’t really get as much done in my sketchbook as I’d imagined as much of the time I was hiking or recovering.  But hey it was an (awe) inspiring place…here’s a few samples:

I really wanted to go and see the funeral effigies at Westminster Abbey as soon as I found out about them.  I love waxworks, death masks, anything which gives an unsettling physical presence – think original Madame Tussaud during the French Revolution rather than a David Beckham.

Anyway, I went to there a little while back after doing a bit of drawing in the main abbey of the tombs, but it was so busy that I retreated into the Museum which is tiny but fantastic.  It’s a low ceilinged and lit place with the effigies, both wooden and wax, displayed in rows in cases – I found the medieval wooden ones more affecting and rather creepy – they have arms lopped off, just a head remaining, elongated proportions, rot, all sorts!  This is my favourite drawing of the day:

I think I may go back at some point again as they were really inspiring.  The later wax ones are rather peculiar as they are totally naturalistic and dressed in the person’s clothes but are only modelled in the places which would be seen – so look like something strangely modern when you see a photograph of them disassembled.  It seems that well-respected artisan women (‘Mrs so and so’) modelled the heads which is intriguing, and its all given me the idea for a wordless story…plus I’ve just seen The Skin I Live In so it’s all whirling around in the sausage machine.  Here’s one of a stone head in the Museum, I’ve just included it because it was a pleasurable drawing!

I went to Lille for the day a couple of weekends ago and to the lovely Palais des Beaux Arts there, they had a great collection of wooden altarpieces and I am rather partial to these: