Tuesdays With Tatman #4

I was inspired by the Skull Master's 211. Etched Skull so I thought I might try it myself as something new that I've never done. So in true Skull-A-Day fashion I present you with Glassman's creations.


This candle holder measures 4 1/2 inches wide and deep by 4 1/4 inches high. I tried to make all four sides appear like they are viewed from that perspective. Similar to Noah's 216. Copper Cube Skull.


This bud vase is only 3 1/2 inches tall and each skull is only 7/8 inch across.

Each Tuesday in the 3.0 year will bring a new Tuesday With Tatman. As a tribute to the Skull Master's astounding feat let's all get creative and try something new(and hopefully skull related).

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Sketchy Penskull

Artist, web designer, and self professed skull lover Brian 'eEL' Albright sends us a pen sketch that he did way back in 1993. Sixteen years later he wants you to "harness the powers of dARkness" at his dARKBRAin Design web site.


Ink pen has such a classy texture to it. Great work, Brian. I'm sure your entry for the June flag contest is sitting in your out box already mailed to us, right. Today is the last day.

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C-Rations: 0C100

I tossed away the classics this week and returned to the unconventional.

This week's offering is Charcoal Briquettes


"Candescence Casualty" Approx 18" x 22" mixed use of heated and new briquettes.

Nerdy C says:
The Summer Solstice marks the longest period of daylight for the year, after the Solstice daylight begins to decrease each day as we move towards the Winter Solstice where the daily move reverses. The start of Summer marks the decline of daylight hours. This year, Summer began officially at 1:45 am EDT on June 21, 2009 . In 2009 something special took place- The First Day of Summer was a day earlier June 20, 2009 in Western North America. Why you ask? So glad you did... because 1:45am EDT June 21st is June 20th 11:45PM MDT, 10:45PM PDT, and so on back to the international dateline.

PS: [bonus] this week the fate of C-Rations: 0C10

Remember each Monday during the 3.0 year I am posting an original skull design. My weekly offerings are nothing compared to the one-a-day massive project done by the Skullmaster in 1.0, but hopefully you will find some nourishment in these weekly offerings.

Stepping Skulls

Daryle Dickens writes: "Greetings: I made these two stepping stone skulls out of concrete..."

A close up
Olmsted C says:

21st century artists make sure you check out Daryle's blog. Thanks for submitting your work. I like these very much. It looks as if you may have some Poison Ivy on the fence in the back, having these skulls where they are, makes me feel that you are communicating danger in the area. The sense of danger is further demonstrated by the exploded flower pot. You never know when those things will go off. Watch out!

Sunday Simulacra - Version 3.4

Once again our readers turn bounty hunters and search out the skulls hiding amongst us.

Birthday Girl Dawn tells us, "My birthday was in February and some of my co-workers decorated my car with chalk, happy b-day etc. This was a happy face on the driver's side window and after 3 months of not washing the chalk off the result was an accidental skull in the right eye of the face! How can I wash my car now?"

Ummm, you can't.

Pub attendee Matt writes us, "Hello. I just stumbled on your great site. Here's an image of a skull in a pint glass that I always liked. Cheers."

That might explain the "stumbling".

And of course, yours truly has the skull eye. This guy showed up on my foot after my new flip flops got wet.



Okay now, all of you would be skull hunters, we can't do this without you. Get your skull eyes open and submit your hidden simulacra. Just remember, we only do this once a week so it may be a while before we post the face of your fugitive.

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Doodle-Zook Skulls

Creative theorist and solution engineer Shawn White shares with us, "A few designs I worked up and am anticipating screen printing onto t-shirts". He adds, "I've never considered myself an "artist" but have always had that burning need to create. After having attempting to placate my need to create by doodling for the past decade, I've decided to start screen printing as a creative outlet. I'm also planning to sell these on-line".





Thanks to Shawn for sharing his creativity with us . He will have to let us know when he adds these designs to his store. He has a few other things to choose from for now. Maybe he's busy making a flag for the June contest? Or maybe he anticipates what next month may bring?????

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[Flashback Friday] 167. Skull By Numbers

Flashback Friday is a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.o. Each week I'll be posting an original skull along with some additional commentary in order from lowest to highest rated, with the #1 skull appearing in the last week of year 3 of the project...

#49: 167. Skull By Numbers



The book Paint By Number was an inspiration and reference for this one. I'd actually made a paint by number image for one of my clients a few years back, so I had an idea about how to go about doing this (at the bottom of the original post I explain the whole process), but I decided to take things one step further and actually disguise the image that you are painting. So if you think you're going to get a painting of two skulls you're in for a surprise...

You can download a hi-res PDF of it HERE to do it yourself. Please send us a picture of the results!

NOTE: You will have to mix your own colors, use the swatches at the bottom as a guide, but feel free to experiment with different palettes. I recommend acrylics or tempera, but anything opaque will work.

And if you're impatient you can cheat and see the end result HERE.

[UPDATE] This skull has now been added to the Facebook Send-A-Skull application!

Night of the Living Skull

Meg from Texas said: "These are pictures of my Halloween costume from last year, I just found out that you can send photos into this website, I hope you like them!"


Facebook C says:

We do like them very much Meg. Hope you had fun that night as a skull. Since we will never get a chance to meet most of the fans out there, it is nice to see you with your best skull forward. Are there any other fans out there want to share your skull face? We would love to see you done up with your best skull on.

Faux Embroidery Skull

Dallas area artists Tom Sale and Judy Vetter, a.k.a. The Tom & Judy show, bring us a faux embroidery skull full of vibrant colors. What is faux embroidery you might ask? It's a non stitched thread piece on dyed vintage fabric. Tom & Judy are collaborative artists who use their own art skills combined together to make unique pieces. A real team effort.



I really like the multi-colored look of this piece. Of course, it does remind me of another thread skull done long ago, but the colors of this piece give it a whole new life.

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After Life: A Skull Exhibition

Just a reminder that my art show which features 100+ of my original pieces from Skull-A-Day as well as several new works based on the project opens the first weekend in July here in Richmond, VA. If you're in the area I hope you'll stop by! There are several events that will be happening during the two months the show is up, so you've got lots of opportunities to meet me and see the skulls this summer...

AFTER LIFE: A Skull Exhibition

Quirk Gallery
311 W. Broad St.
Richmond, VA 23220
804.644.5450

OPENING: Friday, July 3rd 7-10pm (during First Friday Art Walk)

THROUGH: August 22
10-5 Monday - Friday & 11-4 Saturdays


ALSO Save The Dates:

BOOK SIGNING: Saturday, July 25th 1-3pm
I’ll be signing copies of my book SKULLS at the gallery.
Copies will be available for sale in the Quirk shop throughout the run of the show.

SKULLS FOR KIDS: August 8th 10am-noon
A great opportunity for kids to engage with the project by making their own skulls from a wide range of craft materials. I’ll be on hand to talk about the project and document the results.
FREE for kids of all ages.

TEA PARTY: August 15th 2-4pm
Enjoy a spot of tea while giving the show another look before the closing.
I will give a short talk about the history of the project and be on hand to answer questions.

Also if you're a gallery owner and would like to bring some/all of this show or large photographs from the project to your town please get in touch.

image: #312 Quilled Skull

Animatronic Skull

Jim Boulden, President / Creative Director of Animal Makers Inc., in Simi Valley, California submitted this design for a skull he makes.

Small World C says:

This picture doesn't really do this piece justice, check out the link to see all the amazing things Jim does in his work. If I could ever afford it, I would love to have a piece like this to answer the door with to get rid of pesky solicitors. I see a lot more skulls in our future, cause it's a Skull World after all.

Remember the deadline for the June Contest is less than a week away, don't forget submitting an entry is your only chance to win this prize.

[BONUS] Skull Stencils In Use

Several great examples of my stencils in use, featuring my original #9 Stencil Skull, #232 Stylized Stencil Skull, and #319 Two-Part Stencil...

Staffan says, "I built a stereo system from some junk I found. I found the speakers (made by Philips) earlier and this weekend I found an old amplifier. It's a DUX SX6391 and from what I can tell it's a piece of quality equipment. The cover was badly scratched and rusted so I sanded it down and gave it two layers of black paint. The speakers got stenciled skulls on them using your skull stencil."


Keith in Wisconsin says, "Pictures of my mud truck used some of your stencils to make a kind of skull camo . Stencils are nice will be using them again. thank you."



Yann Roirand in Sunderland, England says, "Here's my newest piece : Stay Away From Me (Or Set Me Free). It's my Final Major Project for my Foundation year. It's on display @ St Mary's building in Sunderland until the 26th of June 2009. I did this one using acrylic & spray paint on a wooden board measuring 2m44 * 2m. I used a couple of images I found on your website on it (one of the skull templates that I slightly modified, the death moth, the love/death iceberg, the Gorillaz skullboy head stencil, ... ) so I thought it's only fair I send it to you :-)."

Tuesdays With Tatman #3

Each Tuesday during the 3.0 year I will follow in the great shining path of the Skull Master and present a new weekly skull of my own.

Today's post is all about the newest season, Summer. One of the best things about Summer is being able to use the grill out on the deck. Whether it's a choice steak or a vegetable kabob(for Noah) few things beat cooking food outdoors accompanied by a good beer. I hope you all get a chance to enjoy it for yourself this season.



All pieces of this are from an old charcoal grill. Cut, bent, and painted. Fire 'em up!

Check Your Calendar Skull

Apparently Naimad spends a lot of his time, just like a lot of our readers, making and drawing skulls. As a matter of fact he spends so much time doing this that they are now showing up on his daily calendar. He tells us, "I'm sending you a strange skull that appeared in my calendar table." If you see skulls showing up in your daily schedule then there are 2 things you need to do. 1. Submit it for Skull-A-Day. 2. Take a long vacation.

C-Rations: 0C11

This week's offering is colored pencil on cardstock.

Civil Conflict: 8.5" x 11" colored pencil and gold-flecked handmade, colored paper on colored, textured cardstock in honor of those who have died in the Iranian protests and those fighting for their voices to be heard

Caspian C says:

Today's skull represents both the tragedy of the Iran's violence against its own people and the danger of a society in which people are unable to exercise the right of free speech. The color green is being used in the protests to show solidarity with candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi as well as to symbolize Islam.

Remember each Monday during the 3.0 year I am posting an original skull design. My weekly offerings are nothing compared to the one-a-day massive project done by the Skullmaster in 1.0, but hopefully you will find some nourishment in these weekly offerings.

Skull Couture Accessory

Kimberly Hart - Toronto, ON said: "I have some skulls to show you - take a look! Their all made from polymer clay."


Home Shopping C says:

Since yesterday was all about manly energy, I thought it would be nice to bring balance back to Skull-A-Day with a post full of feminine practicality. Before our beloved Skullmaster posted 109. Jumbo Lace Skull during 1.0 I had never heard of this thing called "Etsy". Now I can't imagine a world without it.

Thank You for submitting the skull treasures you have to offer. I am proud to suport the work of independant artists on Etsy, and I encourage everyone else to do similar.

[BONUS] Skull VS Cat

So I've been going through a lot of old files in preparation for my upcoming art show at Quirk Gallery in July and I found this sweet photo of one of my cats posing with my #71 Paint Scratch Skull. I just had to share...


You might recognize him, since he was the model for this skull as well!

Sunday Simulacra - Version 3.3

Lets get ready to Simmmmm-u-laaaaaaaa-cra.

Bout 1- Microwave Morris vs. Peeps

Brandon said: "I was melting peeps in the microwave and this is what came out..."


Bout 2- Crazy Choma vs. Toronto Oldest Prison

Brad wrote: "The oldest prison in Toronto is this domed Victorian gothic structure. It's been closed forever, but it's been opened for potential events by a holding company before it's retrofitted into extra space for a nearby hospital. Myself and two business partners are snagging it to throw a huge Halloween party there, and we got a behind the scenes tour. While on the tour, I found this one piece of wall damage that looks like a skull to me. I could be crazy."


Bout 3- The Richmond Kid vs. The Church Hill Tunnel

James Butler said: "This photo was taken by me at the western entrance of the Church Hill Tunnel. It was taken of one of the lintel blocks on the top of the western tunnel entrance capstone. The Church Hill Tunnel was a C&O train tunnel which collapsed on Oct 2, 1925 killing a still unverified amount of workers! I just looked down, and saw this skeletal looking face, comprised of a wild vine, broken glass, a wayward leaf, and 2 drilled holes in the lintel block."

Announcer C says:

Great job boys, looks like we have some winners here. You really gave the folks their money's worth.

Bout 1- Morris for the win! Man that skull looks angry, you bet there is going to be a rematch.

Bout 2- Chroma with the K.O.! It was a 1-2 punch with this skull look at how that second smaller one snuck up on all of us.

Bout 3, Butler on top! You can tell Butler was hitting the heavy blocks before his match up with this skull.

Thank You all see in two weeks.

Keep sending those pictures in to our submissions address. Just keep in mind that since we only do this once a week it might take a little longer to have it posted.

[BONUS] Pop-Up Skull In Use

Lysithea did a great job making my #343 Pop-Up Skull as a gift for a friend...

Paisley Skull

Kurt Marlow from the U.K. presents us with his beautiful "Paisley Skull". He tells us, "I’m an Artist/Tattooer and I would like to submit some skulls pics. I sell my work through a wicked company called thecanvaslounge. Please take a look if you get chance!!" Check out Kurt's own site or buy any of his awesome works at The Kurt Marlow page on thecanvaslounge



Tatman wishes someone would buy Kurt's stuff. Just don't "Eat Your Paisley" if you do.

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[Flashback Friday] 245. Reel-To-Skull

Flashback Friday is a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.o. Each week I'll be posting an original skull along with some additional commentary in order from lowest to highest rated, with the #1 skull appearing in the last week of year 3 of the project...

#50: 245. Reel-To-Skull

After the first hundred or so skulls I really had to start reaching outside of my home to find inspiration. Frequently I would go to a drug store, grocery store, or in this case thrift store for inspiration. Sometimes I had something specific in mind, but very often I had no idea what I'd find. That was definitely what happened when I spotted this lovely old reel-to-reel recorder. The two big reel eyes, seemed perfect for a skull, but I wasn't sure how I'd make the rest of the features, without totally destroying the machine. A little time spent with a couple reels of old tape solved the problem. Oddly enough I actually worked a bit with these machines in college doing sound design for theater. We were probably one of the last years to learn it this way and not on a computer/sampler.

British Skulls: for illustration only

Edward Crutchley from London, GB sent us this first illustration called "Baron Samedi".

The next comes from Ian Pyper who included the following label:

{Ian Pyper, English, Outsider Artist
'Future Primitive'/'Paleolithique Moderne'
"Skull Tank" Image: Ink on Grey A4 Size Paper - 2005}



Matchmaker C says:

It was only after I was putting this post together that I realized that both of you work in Southern England. If you haven't met each other yet let me introduce you to each other here. Edward - Ian / Ian -Edward. Thank you both for submitting this work. In the age of computer illustration, it is great that there are artists out there that are still working in this medium. If you two end up collaborating on a project in the future, please send it in to us.

Bringing artists together, just another service we provide here at Skull-A-Day.

Skulls From The "Graves"

Tattooist Allan Graves sends Skull-A-Day a couple of gems. Writes Allan, "I've been following your blog for quite a while now and I still get impressed with some of the works you post here. I'm a tattoo artist and illustrator living in London,UK and I have here 2 pics for your site."

Kiss Of Death is a 7" x 12" watercolor


And Spray Skull has a bit of story. Allan shares the fun with us: "This is my first ever try with spray paint. It was my birthday party and I was very, very drunk at my friends roof and I thought:let's give it a go...and here it is! I'm quite happy with the result."


Tatman here: While I don't recommend for anyone to get very, very drunk(but don't let me stop you), I do recommend that everyone try something new. Don't be afraid to step outside of your own comfort zone and get your hands dirty in the name of creativity. You can also see some of Allan's tattoo work on his MySpace page . Thanks for sharing these, and your story, Allan.

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[BONUS] Two-Part Stencil in Use

Kari in Vermont did a fine job using my #319 Two-Part Stencil Skull to make a T-shirt: "I was searching for a skull to use as a freezer-paper stencil on a t-shirt for an 11 year old boy. Your 2 part stencil was perfect. I also added the word "skull" using the Black Adder font. Although I messed up the overlay of white just slightly I think it looks pretty great. I use straight acrylic paints as I have found they work great and last forever."

Embroidered Skulls

Carol wrote:" Here are 2 embroidered skulls that I've made a few years ago...Whilst completing some textile research of an aspect of WW II, I came across the phrase "I am become death - the destroyer of worlds" (relating to the Nuclear bomb).** This became the original idea for the main mask/skull & mirror. For your interest, more explicit working details of this particular project will be on my blog..."

"BroochSkull" is a brooch made from a bird skull (found in UK), painted then embroidered with metallic thread, made to verify 'samples' of selected embroidery techniques being used for the full-sized skull/mask. In total, it's appx 7cm tall.

"MirrorMask" is a lifesize mask-style skull made from handmade lace (using metallic threads) & small pieces of transparent plastics, mounted on a painted & embroidered mirror frame. NOTE: The pictures of the mask were taken in outside to enable natural light to reflect into the eye socket panels as this is mainly the only way in which the eyes 'light up and look at you'.


Eye of the Needle C says:

This is truly amazing work. I recommend checking out Carol's blog, it is full of many interesting topics broken down into monthly themes.

Speaking of monthly themes... remember the deadline for the June Contest is the 30th, don't forget submitting an entry is your only chance to win this prize.

** For those not familiar with this quote, see the third paragraph in "influence", for a twitter version of the answer.

Tuesdays With Tatman #2

Hello again, friends. Welcome to the second week of "Tuesdays With Tatman". Each Tuesday during the 3.0 year I will follow in the great shining path of the Skull Master and present a new weekly skull of my own.

As spring turns to summer here in the Northern hemisphere we all get a chance to enjoy the benefits of warm weather, sunshine, and outdoor activities. Taking part in summer sports and leisure time fun is a large part of what I like about this season. A part of my fun time includes swinging my sticks at a local golf course. The smell of the grass, the beauty of a well groomed course, and the sound of my obscenities make any golf outing an experience. So in honor of this great time I present you with my golf ball skull. He keeps a smile on his face since he knows that he will never be lost in the woods after one of my drives. Tom Hanks had his Wilson, so my friend" Spalding" will always be in my bag.



One golf ball, carved with my Dremel tool, and painted. As a note, if you try this at home, turn down the speed of your carving tool. This will prevent liquefied plastic from being splattered on your clothes and face. Trust me, it happens.

As an added bonus we have another offering for the Skull-A-Day faithful contributors union. It's your very own S-A-D Contributors Union card:



As suggested by Citizen Agent, roughly designed by yours truly, and fined tuned into .pdf form by the Skull Master. Carry and display it proudly. It's just another way of us saying, "Thanks for being a member!" Feel free to download the free .pdf HERE. The .pdf is card sized for ease of printing. Don't worry, even if you haven't contributed (yet) or are going to, you can still get it (we won't tell).

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Doodle Skull

Jessica Ray from Knoxville, TN submits her skull doodle. She says, "It was a doodle that started out in a dark car at night, then evolved into a bit more over the next few days". You can see more of her doodles and art on her blog http://dottheeye.blogspot.com/


Tatman is "drawn" to this one. ALL of my doodles wind up being skulls.

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Skull-A-Day Press: Blogs, Mad About Design

The new book Blogs: Mad About Design, from Spanish Maomao Publications features a spress on Skull-A-Day! It's a bit of a time warp since books take so long to be produced, so the images come from very early on in the project and feature the a hand drawn header that was used well before the current one...

Ides of Skull Fanatic: Cris

Welcome to another successful Skull-A-Day feature from our beloved Skullmaster, that Tatman, and myself, Citizen Agent, decided to continue for another year. As you can tell from the title, on the 15th* of each month during year 3.0 we will be featuring another fanatic who makes Skull-A-Day so special for all of us. Sit back, grab your favorite soothsayer and enjoy a part of Skull-A-Day that even Caesar himself would not be fearful of.

Cris, a Sacramento, CA area based artist who has been doing art in one form or another for over 20 years, is the latest addition to the Skull Fanatics series.

Cris wrote: "I actually have about 2x as many skulls are shown here, I just have them boxed up, ready to take to my kid's school to show and teach them about bones. I have collected skulls for about , um, 22 years and have many many, probably about 40 or so. All in the pic are real, from animals that died of natural causes (except for the bear, I am unsure of his/her death, but I am afraid it was not natural). I have always liked skulls, not just in a goth sort of way. I am also very interested in biology and am currently applying for nursing schools. My bone collection came in quite handy while studying anatomy and physiology :) I used to do photography with them, but now they just sit around, grinning at me. "


Kiln C says:

Thanks for sharing your fanatical ways with us Cris. My favorite part of this collection is the large mug sitting on the table. Cris has more original clay pieces featured in an Etsy Shop here.

Are you a certified/certifiable Skull Fanatic? If so, send an image or two of your personal skull/skeleton collection and tell us a bit about what makes you so crazy for skulls, how many skulls you own, and whatever else you think is pertinent!


*Before all you SPOR-o-philes write in with corrections- We are taking some liberties here so cut us some slack. SPOR-o-noobs FYI: The word "ides" is derived from the Latin: "to divide." In ancient Rome, the "ides" fell on the 15th day in March, May, July and October, every other month, the "ides" fell on the 13th. (Notice something superstitious here?)

C-Rations: 0C10

This week's offering is a Chocolate bar.

7" x 4" Large chocolate candy bar carved and filled with chocolate fudge.

C. Bucket says:

Not quite a golden ticket, but maybe it means I have won a trip to the Skull-A-Day studio to visit the Skullmaster. Can't wait to meet the skull-a-lompas.

Remember each Monday during the 3.0 year I am posting an original skull design. My weekly offerings are nothing compared to the one-a-day massive project done by the Skullmaster in 1.0, but hopefully you will find some nourishment in these weekly offerings.

Skulls with Style (Gift Box included)

Anna ** from Italy wrote:"I am an artist and i work in the world of cartoons,i have a little blog me too.I have the passion for the art and am so very very happy to find your blog,very interesting and full of inspirations."

"I leave you my recent works (some creations of mine): A necklace with a small bag and a pendant,a pendant and also a box."

The wonderful box: Outside on the left/Inside on the right

May C says:
If I received a present in this box I would not be sure what the real gift was suppose to be. Multi-talented in all you do, thanks for sharing this with us and I look forward to seeing more of your work.

**English translation using Google