[SKULL NEWS] Skull of The Year 2008

My friends at Designers Skulls have just posted their 2008 Skull of The Year. Congratulations to Jenz Urzendnik of München Germany who was the winner of the coveted trophy this year with his fun model kit skull...
See the rest of the top 10 winners in the competition HERE.

SKULLS honored by librarians

I am extremely honored to find out that my book SKULLS has been chosen as one of the Top Ten 2009 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers by the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association).

The Quick Picks list, presented annually at the ALA Midwinter Meeting suggests books that teens, ages 12-18, will pick up on their own and read for pleasure; it is geared to the teenager who, for whatever reason, does not like to read.

“The list is overflowing with diverse titles; we have everything from stunning portraits, tattoo revelations to fallen stars and skulls made of soap suds,” said Joy Millam, committee chair. “This list is a true reflection of the teens we serve. Our goal was to put out a list that gives every reluctant reader a book to connect with personally.”

Landscape Skull

Ananaia O'Leary & the Pachakuti Skull Clan in Indianapolis, Indiana says, " I work with stone and crystal skulls (I have about 50.) I've been working on drawing a portrait of each of these skulls. I'm not a trained artist, but this process has been a great way to intuitively tap into the energy and spirit medicine of these skulls."...

Owl Skull

Kenn TwoFour made this awesome print which he is selling on Etsy...

Vans Skull

Artist Dan Springer in Toronto, Canada made these wicked custom Vans. He says he, "cut out a skull, so it looks like you are kicking a skull in the mouth when wearing them... added some paint, and then I made tongues that are switchable so you can change colours... held in with velcro which is sewn to the underside using the "teeth" stitching..."

Screw Skull

Justin AKA Tatman made this fun lag screw skull...

[BONUS] Grid Skull

My friend Brandy made the Grid Skull from the pattern in the back of my SKULLS book...at the size it's printed (which is pretty darn small, about 2 inches on all sides!). It came out a bit funky, but I like the art deco style it's acquired in translation...


Have you made your own customized grid skull? Send me a picture!

Crying Skulls

Rosie Dyer in Portland, Oregon made this fine painting...

Horny Skull

Swampdonkey made this lovely poster...

Sunday Simulacra - Round 24

Rabbit of Boronia, Victoria, Australia spotted this guy hiding amongst the potted plants...



Alice found this friendly fellow in a rental car...



And Melissa from Grand Junction, Colorado discovered a skull hiding in the headboard of the bed where she house-sits. Can you spot it? It took me a while, but once I did it was pretty clear...


UPDATE: Melissa sent a diagram in case you need help spotting the skull...



Found something that looks like a skull? Send in your pix! FYI right now they get posted much faster than other skull submissions.

Controller Skull

David Christiansen made this nifty skull and cross-controllers (24 x 24in)...

Skulls on the Radio

Hey folks if you missed my interview on the radio a few months back, it's just been added to the Wordy Birds website HERE.

Carved Skull Crowd

Kevin Cattell in Chloe, West Virginia made this nifty collection hand-carved wooden skulls...

Welded Skull Buckle

Josh Welton made this spiffy belt buckle! He says, "I started a welding business this year, and belt buckles are one of the items I make. They are stainless steel, and I tig weld the images onto the steel. We call it 'Tattooed Metal' :)". See more of his buckles HERE...

Intestinal Skull

Michael Lindabury of Miami, Florida made this cool 3 color silkscreen print (16 x 20in) which is also available as a downloadable iPhone screen saver on his site!

SKULLS event: Valentine's Dead in LA

Hey folks I've finally scheduled a SKULLS book signing in the Los Angeles area! It'll probably be the only West Coast event of the year so I hope you'll stop by and share some love on Valentine's Day...

February 14th, 2-3pm
@ Dark Delicacies
4213 W. Burbank
Burbank, California
1-888-DARKDEL
1-818-556-6660

I'll be joined by aa bunch of folks who also appear in the latest issue of Girls and Corpses magazine...

ROBERT STEVEN RHINE - Publisher / Deaditor-in-Chief
QUINA FELDSTEIN - GIrls and Corpses Covergirl (The Karate Corpse).
LIANA MENDOZA - Girls and Corpses back covergirl.
Star of the upcoming MTV series VAMPIRE DIVA (Arcana Comics)
VICTORIA DeMARE - Interviewee in The Karate Corpse (Scream Queen "Horrorween 2009," Halfway to Hell," "Bio Slime," "Werewolf In A Woman's Prison")
LAUME CONROY - Writer/Director/Producer "Dawna of The Dead"
KEVIN KLEMM - Girls and Corpses Grave Digger - The Gein Collection
JAMES and CATHEE HEALY - Proprietors of The Museum of Death
HOLLIE STEVENS - Corpsespondant for Girls and Corpses Magazine / Snuff Magazine Covergirl

Heart of Skull

Scott Mitchell and Patrick Irla of Royal Oak, Michigan made this excellent silver pendant! Check out a bunch more great skull pieces on their Etsy page HERE...

[BONUS] Connect The Skull In Use

Dave Harty made a nifty custom T-shirt using a completed version of my Connect The Skull!

Business Skulls

David Geva in Israel made this wicked looking stenciled skull briefcase...

Sunday Simulacra - Round 23

David Navarro of Helsinki, Finland discovered this terrifying sight in his ice cream!...



J from Ektopia discovered this cute fellow while walking to work...



And AlphA said, "Cordelia didn’t want her picture taken, but I snapped a shot anyway. Apparently she sent me a subliminal message to express her appreciation."...



In case you can't spot it, AlphA has kindly outlined the skull for you...


This might be another good LOL skull candidate, anyone up for the challenge? Add your own text and send to the original image and send it in!

Skull Collage

Andrew Thornton shared this awesome giant (3 x 4.5 feet!) skull collage he created! He says, "This is the only remaining image of it in this state, as it has since been "recycled" and cannibalized into other collage art."...

Skulls in Wonderland

An artist which wishes to remain anonymous shared a couple of her terrific paintings...

More Skull Cake

Kate Childers made this delicious looking skull cake for Halloween...


Previously submitted skull cakes here & here and my own here.

Mc Donald's Skull

David Flores shared this excellent piece...

Fashion Skulls

GwE a French fashion designer shared several great pieces she's created...



She also included this image of 2000 little skulls she made!...

[BONUS] Two-Part Stencil In Use

Arthur Haverkamp from Rotterdam, the Netherlands made a lovely (and apparently cat friendly) custom disc golf disc using my Tw0-Part Stencil...


And Rick in Tulsa, Oklahoma made these wicked custom painted Vans with it...

And the "Roving Eye" winner is...

Congratulations to Sleeveless who was randomly chosen (from all of the names placed in a handy skull) as the winner of the Dan Springer drinking glasses! Note to Sleeveless: You didn't leave a contact e-mail so please update your Blogger profile with a way to reach you and drop me a comment so I know I have the right person.

Thanks again to everyone who entered I loved reading your creative entries and am sorry I don't have something to give you all. Stay tuned though, there'll be more contests/giveaways in the near future!

Teddy Bear Skull

Artist Stephanie Metz shared one of her amazing needle felted pieces: Ursulus lenis 4.5”x 6.75”x 5”, 2007. She says Ursulus lenis is her, "made-up Latin name for this particular species of teddy bear, which translates to genus 'Small bear' species 'smooth', so named for the source teddy."

I actually encountered her early on during my year of skull making and I think I was so impressed by how great her work was that I didn't even try doing a needle felted skull of my own! See more of her fantastic work HERE.

Sunday Simulacra - Round 22

Meeri from Finland pointed out the skull-y nature of a moose's nose at a local natural history museum...


Markara in Dallas, Texas discovered the rare and elusive cracker skull...


Helix in Chicago, Illinois found this sneaky snow skull...

Skull-A-Day Press: Girls and Corpses Magazine

Girls and Corpses magazine interviewed me in their recent Winter Issue!














Girls and Corpses
Volume 2 Winter

Alfred E. Skull

Joel Mielke made this great version of Mad magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman...

Reminder: Win "Roving Eye" Glasses

Just a reminder that you have until Midnight (Eastern Time) this Sunday to enter the drawing to win a set of awesome glasses from Dan Springer. Get the details HERE!

Are You A Space Pirate?

Hey folks, at long last I'm able to give you a sneak peek at my new project: League of Space Pirates!




I'll be doing a lot of work on it over the coming year and I hope you'll want to check it out and get involved (and don't worry Skull-A-Day isn't going away, I'll keep the daily skull posts coming here as well). One thing you can do right now is get your very own Space Pirate name! Mine is: Ship's Mate Noah the Often Unusual, seems appropriate. What's yours?

Casual Skullday

My friend Phil Cheney brought my book SKULLS to his work and it inspired a round of creative skull making by he and his fellow employees! He says, "The tin-foil skull was done by Charity Newton an art student at Richard Bland when she is not working Full Time as the Senior Food Service Specialist..."


"...The candy skull was done by myself and is made from skull/bone shaped candy. The candy came from someone in another department who happened to bring it in today..."



"...The Willow Oak leaf skull was done by Sharon Denmark who is a poet by trade when she is not working part-time here as a Retail & Admissions Assistant."


Inspired to have your own skull-making party at work? Let me see the results!