Sadly, Bones is no longer with us. But worry not, he has been replaced and outdone. This is Thrifty, my friend found it on a site that sells these types of things, and since he was the cheapest, his name is Thrifty. He's about 3ft tall, and very flexible... enough on that.
I made this and the following on a ping pong table. A black sheet of paper, some fake plants, and a mirror completed the scene. It's lit with a single hot light coming in from the left, and a reflector disc on the right to fill in a bit of the shadows.
I love making vanitas. In my opinion it's definitely more fun to make a creepy scene than just a standard still life. But more than that, it is fun as an artist to have license to cram in as many secret messages and hidden meanings as you can, and vanitas are all about that. It's no fun to give away too many symbols, but some broad strokes are apparent. In the image above the figure is a skeleton which represents us as humans, the concept of mortality, etc. It is sitting on a small patch of earth otherwise surrounded by a black abyss, this could symbolize seclusion, or maybe it represents the planet. On the patch of earth are a variety of flowers which often represent temporary life, temporary beauty, fertility and all that. And the figure is looking at a mirror which stands for things like vanity, the truth, self awareness, and yhadda yhadda.
Those are the broad strokes, you can look for the finer details in it, and in this next one:
Skeletons are funny to me. Either they are scary or cool. I don't think there's such a thing as a neutral skeleton. It is strange to me that people are afraid of skeletons, how strong could a skeleton be were it to reanimate from it's normally dead state? I would recommend devoting your fear to whatever demonic magic is controlling the lifeless bones. All I'm saying is a skeleton probably can't deadlift that much, so don't be afraid, they're just yucky.
Whoops. I think I hurt some feelings. This is "Leave the Shame Behind" by Chris Peters. From 2007, Chris makes 40's style contemporary paintings with a vanitas twist. I think his work is awesome. Almost all my digital undergrad work could be compared with his, here's one of Bones and his son Slim Jr.
That mini Bible was a gift from a memorable bus dweller. Thanks again, beard man. Compared to this one:
This is "The Two Comedians" from 2007. It makes me wonder what 2nd base would be for skeletons. Up the cage.
Not to appear as if there are only two creepy dudes out there making skeleton art, what we are doing holds a place in art history. Skeletons have been a popular theme for as long as we've had em:
This is "De Humani Corpis Fabrica" from 1543, it's by an anatomist Vesalius (b. 1514). Perhaps this is just as an example of how the bones might look in a common human stance, but I think there is a bit more to this image than just a medical record. Just the fact that there is a somewhat ironic interaction going down in the scene tells me that much.
http://www.chrispeters.com/