363. Skullusion

Arranged Models & Props. Inspired by several well known optical illusion illustrations. The image was created entirely live. Photoshop was only used to adjust contrast in the image and add sepia toning. Thanks to my friends Shelia and Nathan who were awesomely patient models; Mimi who let me take over one of the dressing rooms in her fantastic store Exile and use her merchandise to dress the set; and Philip who helped with lighting! So what's the story behind this image? What do you imagine these folks might be talking about?

[UPDATE] Skull of Cabbage: Day 4

Despite the humid 90+ degree weather today, the Skull of Cabbage is still surviving remarkably well. I took this shot just as the sun was going down, thus the darker image...

362. (Mmmm) Skull Pie

Arranged Vegan Pie Topping (uncooked). Thanks to my friend Kendra, owner of Ipanema Cafe, one of the best retaurants in Richmond (that also happens to be mostly vegetarian, though non-vegetarians love it too), for letting me play in the kitchen there. They serve the most delicious fruit pies and she allowed me to arrange the crumble topping on this mixed berry one that will eventually get served to unsuspecting customers!

UPDATE: Here's a post baking picture...

...and the first piece being eaten by Erin and Jeff who were more than happy to volunteer for the job!

[UPDATE] Skull of Cabbage: Day 3

The saga of the the Skull of Cabbage continues! The top leaves came off over night, but other than that it's still just shriveling up and not getting slimy and gross yet...

(Band of The) Hand Skull Winner #10 and Runner Up

JohnFR in Spain is the tenth and final (Band of The) Hand Skull Contest winner with cool sequential submission made with photos of his own hands!...

AND

One more entry came in right after I got the 10th winner, so Jos Diaz gets a couple of stickers as a Runner Up with this neat image he made using his hands and a scanner!



Congratulations again to all the winners!

361. Bakery Skull

Arranged Bread. Thanks to Sher at Montana Gold Bread Co., a wonderful local bakery, for letting me come in and play with her delicious products! Thanks also to her employee Mia for suggesting I make something there.

[UPDATE] Skull of Cabbage: Day 2

Since you asked, here's the Skull of Cabbage one day later. It's been sitting outside in a mostly shaded area and actually doesn't smell that bad and has just shriveled a little bit, though the layers are separating so I had to lean it back to keep the face intact.

(Band of The) Hand Skull Winner #9

Brandi Sims of Madison, Alabama is the ninth (Band of The) Hand Skull Contest winner with elegant shot! (FYI I've gotten 10 entries, so there are no more stickers to give away, thanks again everyone)...

[UPDATE] Rock 'N' Skull Redux part II

My friend Phil is at it again with another update of my Rock 'N' Skull!...

Skull-A-Day Press: Style Weekly

Skull-A-Day Featured in Richmond's Style Weekly for Wednesday, May 28, 2008!

In Style Weekly
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 issue

360. Skull of Cabbage

Carved Organic Cabbage (approx. 5.5in x 4.5in x 4in [14cm x 11cm x 10cm]). I figured I had to get at least one last carved veggie in before the end!

(Band of The) Hand Skull Winner #8

couchgirl13 is the eighth (Band of The) Hand Skull Contest winner with two fantastic entries, including the first one made live! (FYI I've gotten all 10 entries, so there are no more stickers to give away, thanks again everyone)...

359. Pretzskull

Cooked Pretzel (5.5in x 6in [14cm x 15cm]). One continuous piece of dough, fourth attempt of four. Thanks to my friend Philip for suggesting this one including the name! And a huge thanks to my friend Carra for helping with all the prep work for this The recipe came from HERE and it really does taste like the real thing (plus it's vegan if you use margarine! Though I added a coating of egg white just to make it darker/shinier in the photo, but it's not necessary for flavor).

(Band of The) Hand Skull Winner #7

The Abominable Cellist is the seventh (Band of The) Hand Skull Contest winner with this sweet little entry! (FYI I've gotten 10 entries, so there are no more stickers to give away, thanks again everyone)...

358. Skull Template

Digital Illustration. Oh, if only I had one of these at the start of this project! Just kidding. Though, I may look into the possibility of having a few of these actually made at some point, we'll see...

(Band of The) Hand Skull Winner #6

Rob is the sixth (Band of The) Hand Skull Contest winner with this lovely entry that he made with cellphone photos that he says is intended to be used as an icon! There are still a couple more sets stickers for me to give away, so don't wait to submit your own entry (be sure you are e-mailing it to me and not just posting to Flickr sometimes they're slow to add tagged images!)...

357. Nude (but Safe For Work) Skull

Arranged Bodies. Thanks to my friends Christi & Shelia for being my models. While I was inspired by the classic Dali image, I didn't want to recreate it, but rather develop something original. I had actually scheduled four models for this morning's shoot, but two didn't show up, so I had to make this image in two shots (top and bottom) with no way to confirm how they would line up until I got home and could combine them in Photoshop! Thanks also to the folks at Art6 Gallery for allowing me to use their space for this shot.

Braincase XXXX: The Final Braincase!

One final batch of old school submissions before the changeover to the reader driven Skull-A-Day 2.0!

Remember that the submissions policy has changed so be sure to visit there before sending anything in!


Another interesting one from my friend Julien in Istanbul. He says, "I just bought this weekly satirical 'paper' with this skull on the front page. It's called 'uykusuz' meaning 'sleepless'. It's a liberal paper and they criticize a lot the actual government. You know, the government recently voted a law permitting the wearing of the [head] scarf inside University campuses. So some young women started to attend classes with their scarf. The front page here says : 'Beware ! There are fascists on the campus'"












...he also discovered this cool bit of stencil graffiti!





















Moose found this nifty T-shirt on Mech Bot!



















Karl pointed out this fun Thinkin' Lincoln comic with a skull punchline!


















Leo Bella spotted this Skull-y parking deck!















Jamie's cool tattoo was done by Chris Culverhouse at Images In Ink in Odenville, Alabama!















Nick Sloff discovered a skull in Boo Berry Cereal! And also shared an image of a carved staff he picked up on vacation a few years ago.




















Kurt Marquart introduced me to his Girl Monsters (several of which sport cute skull accessories). In fact Abby Cadaver and Betty Bones are already Skull-A-Day fans!












Bonnie-Ann Black took this excellent photo at Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris!














Peter Dowker from Quebec, Canada, showed off this lovely piece!

















Matlock shared this incredible oyster simulacra from his friend Sparxxx's Myspace page.













Andy Hurtt discovered a sneaky skull hiding in this logo!













Bruce made this excellent bit of type based Flash animation!




AND

Phaedra Vandenbrun in Calgary, Canada mailed me this lovely fabric postcard she made!


Thanks again everyone!

--

Don't forget to check out our submissions policy before sending anything in!

(Band of The) Hand Skull Winner #5

Kirk is the fifth (Band of The) Hand Skull Contest winner with this clever bit of Photoshop trickery! There are still a few more stickers for me to give away, so don't wait to submit your own entry (be sure you are e-mailing it to me and not just posting to Flickr sometimes they're slow to add tagged images!)...

356. Skull Trees

Arranged Bark on Trees (Big!). Thanks to my cousins who offered me access to the trees in their yard. This was made by marking out a skull in perspective first and then chopping and breaking away the bark along the lines (except for the white tree, which I had to add bark to). The image is really only visible from one vantage point. Here's what it looks like standing to the right...

(Band of The) Hand Skull Winner #4

Brad in Ohio is the fourth (Band of The) Hand Skull Contest winner with this version made from images found online! There are still more stickers for me to give away, so don't wait to submit your own entry (be sure you are e-mailing it to me and not just posting to Flickr sometimes they're slow to add tagged images!)...

355. Ultimate Scooter Skull

Arranged Scooters and Scooter Parts (Big!). You would think that I have some kind of obsession since this is yet another scooter related skull, but really it's just cus my friends Dave and Chelsea keep inviting me back to Scoot Richmond to play! Tonight was actually a "Halloween in May" event at the store so it made sense that I make a skull as part of it. After moving the bikes around and getting my shot, I got to actually drive a scooter for the first time! Afterwards everyone watched Shaun of The Dead projected on a wall in the parking lot, so quite a good night all around.

(Band of The) Hand Skull Winner #3

Julien is the third (Band of The) Hand Skull Contest winner with this excellent version made in Photoshop with various photos of his own left hand! There are still more stickers for me to give away, so don't wait to submit your own entry...


p.s. Couchgirl13 please e-mail your entry to me!

354. Henna Skull

Henna on Skin. Thanks to my assistant Kristin for volunteering for this one! I designed the skull in advance and then basically free-fhanded the rest of it. I've never done a henna design before so this was definitely a challenge (kudos to the folks who do this professionally)! Once it's set I'll take another photo with the paste wiped off.

UPDATE: Here's Kristin showing off the 1 day old henna...

(Band of The) Hand Skull Winner #2

Fat Dumb Dad is the second (Band of The) Hand Skull Contest winner with this excellent image made from a Sign Language font! There are still more stickers for me to give away, so don't wait to submit your own entry...

353. Molded Paper Skull

Molded Tissue Paper (approx. 12in x 8in [30cm x 20cm]) Thanks to my friend Shelia for helping me make a plaster mold and teaching me this technique. I was hoping to make a mold earlier in this project so that I could use it for some other materials, but I just never got around to it. It took several tries to figure out how best get the layers from sticking to the mold (petroleum jelly worked best), this was the fourth attempt. I'll probably make more at some point (when I'm in less of a rush to get it done!).

(Band of The) Hand Skull Winner #1

Phillip of moreism+re is the first (Band of The) Hand Skull Contest winner with these fun collages! There are still more stickers for me to give away, so don't wait to submit your own entry...

352. Skull Roll

Sushi Roll (Rice, Nori, Bell Pepper, Carrots) (approx. 4in x 3in [10cm x 8cm]). Thanks to the fine folks at Sticky To GoGo (the takeout wing of popular local restaurant Sticky Rice) for letting me invade their kitchen to make this one. I don't expect they'll add this to their menu any time soon though, since it took a few hours to make! Special thanks to Ross for helping set this up and Oura for helping with the prep work. They actually made their own skulls while I was at work on mine (Oura's is at the top right, Ross made the rest):

Hand Skull CONTEST Reminder!

Hey folks, just a reminder that I'm giving away sets of 5 "I [heart] Skulls" stickers (shown above) to the first 10 people that send me their version of (or a variation on) the (Band of The) Hand Skull! These are high quality, 5in x 1.5in [12.7cm x 3.8cm], non-vinyl plastic stickers that are currently not for sale anywhere, so don't delay! Be sure to post the photo to Flickr with the tags "skulladay" and "handskull" and also send it to me attached in an e-mail as well. Good luck!

UPDATE: All the stickers have been given away! Thanks everyone!