Casein Still Lifes of Dolls

In my studies of the history of illustration I often saw casein paintings, including many originals in the cavernous attic of my friends Walt and Roger Reed's old Illustration House headquarters on Water St. in Norwalk , Conn.. I was eager to try this milk emulsion based medium, but it was obsolete and could no longer be found in art stores by the time I came along.
Recently this medium was reintroduced by the Jack Richeson Co. under their Shiva brand, and I immediately purchased a set of colors and began to play. I love the peculiar handling characteristics and warm matte surface of this medium!
For the past several years I've done an image or two of spooky character dolls for the Halloween window of the Arts Prescott Co-op Gallery . I love the designs of the Tim Burton stop motion characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Corpse Bride films and usually paint still lifes of one or more of the articulated dolls I have. Above are a few of them.