Dia de la Abby #18 - Leaf Rubbing Skull

This was inspired by Fall and because I wanted to do a project that my daughter could do too.


I have done leaf rubbings as a kid. I think most people have. The technique it's self is simple. You put a leaf under the paper and used a crayon to rub over it. It's a great way to learn about textures in nature. How I did altered the technique was a bit harder. This is because I had to carefully line up the leaves where I wanted them to for a shape. In this case, a skull. Should you want to make your own, see the handy tutorial.

To me, this finished piece reminds me of some type of fairy tale woodland creature, like a wood nymph. It also reminds me that in death, we are returned to the earth. What always remains, is our skeleton. Fall is a time where the trees shed their leaves and though the trees are starting the process of hibernation, the leaves that are shed decompose back into soil. Come Spring, these decomposed leaves provide nutrition for new plants and the trees that are awakening again. It's a beautiful cycle of life that I enjoy observing through out the years.

Every week in the 4.0 year, I will be post my own Dia de la Abby posts as well as a tutorial with instructions on how I made my piece. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project. Need more of me than just a weekly dose, follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook.

Ink Skull Postcard

R W Marshall submitted this post card with an inked skull.

I like the black and white graphic quality this has. The combination of the skull with the star burst make me think of old cartoons where fight scenes would have start bursts with "CRASH", "BANG", "WHAM" and "BOOM" with every punch. This makes me want to watch the Batman TV show from the 1960s. I vividly remember watching the reruns with my great aunt on her black with white TV. I will always love that style of comics and TV.

Kerosene’s Skulls

Kerosene from Montreal, Quebec, Canada sent us a pair of skulls she made.

First she told us: “I've been a fan of Noah's blog since ‘310. Googly Eye Skull’ from the original year and skulls, well forever. One day I decided to carve a skull out of a small potato and stamp it, with white acrylic paint, down the outside seam of a pair of black jeans.”


Next she said: “Well I couldn't resist sending this picture of my just finished (ready to be moved into) birdhouse. ”

Frank C. Wright says:

Thank you for staying a fan over the years. It is always a joy to know that we have inspired someone to go forth and make their own skull art. Since you became a fan later in the original project perhaps you may have missed another of the Skullmaster’s notable creations here. The potato is such a wonderful art tool that is often forgotten. With the bird house I really like your use of the skull and bone motif to accent the lattice work, it would be interesting to try to replicate this with full size lattice. Thank you again for submitting your work and being such a loyal fan.

[BONUS] 381. Luck of The Draw Skull (revealed)

For the second year in a row I was asked to donate a piece of art to the fundraiser Luck of The Draw which benefits the Visual Arts Center here in Richmond, VA. It's a fun event where you get your choice of unframed art for just a $100, but the trick is that you don't know who made the work (since it is signed on the back) and the order in which you get to choose a piece is based on a random selection process. Below is the piece (made entirely of my own fingerprints) which I gave them this year, congrats to the lucky buyer! I really enjoyed the process, so who knows, you may see something else made this way by me again one day...

Welded Nut Skull

There are custom built choppers made from unique parts and pieces out there, and then there are choppers literally made from parts and pieces. Josh Welton gets as original as they come with his custom built statues made from stuff found in most garages. The true artist in him revs the engine when he tig welds a custom skull light.



Josh writes, "This is the final sculpture in my Year of the Chopper project. You can read more about the project on my blog. The skull/headlight was tig welded on a nut. All 52 pieces are sold or are being sold for charity."



You really inspire me to get back into my garage and rummage around for skull art ideas, Josh. You do a great job of not only building these complex pieces, but you also manage to create style and grace with all of your choppers. I feel like I could really see this bike rolling down the highway, looking for adventure, in whatever comes it's way. Good luck with your charity sales, Josh.

If you would like to help Josh support his favorite charities then feel free to stop by his Etsy store to pick out a cutsom chopper statue of your own.

Caveira Skull

Returning artist, Ramon Rodrigues from Buenos Aires, Argentina, brings us a sketch done in a moleskin entitled "Caveira".

The shading and highlights work well to depict the delicate nature of a skeleton. I like how the right arm is a plant that is growing up through the eye in a way that allows the skull to view the flower. The use of a plant growing through and around the skull is a beautiful whimsical way to express what happens naturally when a body is buried in the earth. To be interned in the earth is to be turned into soil. Although a skeleton will not decompose and the plants of the earth will eventually encase it. It's one of the more beautiful processes of the macabre practice of burial.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 4.17

This week's skulls were found in while drinking and eating.

Jason Kidd from Austin, TX said this "cool guy appeared as the beer was almost finished".


John Angelo found this smiley skull in an onion.

John Angelo and his family also, found this skull "while making S'mores in Lassen Volcanic National Park".

Great finds guys, keep up the great hunting work! I suddenly want a beer, s'mores and chili...for the onion to be used.

Keep sending those pictures in to our submissions address. Just keep in mind that since we only post simulacra once a week it might take a little longer than normal for it to be posted.

Inked Skulls

Do you know what's cooler than an old school '80's skull tattoo? 3 old school 80's tattoos! Piet du congo is a traveling Belgian tattooist who puts the needles to skin in a few countries. Piet tells us where you can catch him, "I work in Belgium at "la boucherie moderne" and in Jemelle in my studio. I work too in Paris at "ART CORPUS" and sometimes in other shops like "Scratcher Paradise" in Berlin and soon "la tannerie" in Toulouse."

This 8 bit skull gets down to basics with it's deadly reminder of life's brevity...

I've got a flood of bad memories from this crazy casette tape skull(nothing a pencil can't fix though)...

And this Rubik's cube skull is totally mind boggling

Awesome works, Piet! Just like Ratt sang back in the '80's, "What comes around goes around". I'm sure if tattooing was as advanced back then as it is now then we might have seen a lot more ink like this. Maybe even an Atari tattoo. Thanks for slinging the ink and sharing your skulls, Piet.

[Flashback Friday] 321. Junk Yard Skull

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Azurafae, Tatman, and myself, Citizen Agent, are taking turns counting down our personal favorite 17 skulls from the Original 365.25 Year. So please join us as we visit the archives and add our additional commentary on some of the original pieces.

#2: 321. Junk Yard Skull

Elgin C says:

This one from the original project is one that I think about often. First let me start with the execution of it, nothing was added or subtracted to create this. The finished art material exists exactly like it was before just slightly shifted. A more philosophical lesson here is that art is inside of everything and it is just waiting for an artist to bring it out. Also, doing it inside the natural frame- only a mature artist would see that and use it. The item however that I spend so much time thinking about is the actual fate of it. Here is a piece that was meant to be left behind for others to discover, but at the same time it was created on something that was portable either by purchased or ultimately removed for destruction. Even today I wonder: Is it still sitting there? Did it get sent for scrap? Was it an invitation for more additions, did the image get obliterated by profession of love or profanity? Did a local Skull-A-Day fan venture forth and carry it away back home for display? This is one that I would really like an update on if at all possible.

**Flashback Friday was a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.o. Each week during year 3.0 The Skullmaster posted the 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 3.0, all 52 can be found here.

“Pink Skull Painting”

Artist Patrick Landeck from Chicago, IL sent us this photo of a 24"x 24" acrylic on canvas painting he did.

Suet C says:

I really like the repeating background on this piece, the use of light and dark as well as the cracked natures of those skulls remind me of batik work. I also really like the style of the skull your portray here. The stylized cartoon nature of it draws me in and makes me feel welcomed, it's no wonder a bird found it. I can easily see the skull appealing to many people and someday being made into an actual birdhouse. Thank you for submitting this piece as well as sharing your link with us to the other great work you do.

Dia de la Abby: #17 - Tessellation Skull Scarf

Inspired by M. C. Escher's tessellations and Noah's 32: Interlocking Skull, I decided to crochet a tessellation skull scarf.

This one is taking a long time to make. Unlike my other filet crochet scarfs, it has a lot of closed mesh, which increases the completion time substantially. I have no clue how long it will take me to finish, but I still wanted to share it.

I took a close up photo and turned it, so the pattern would be easier to see. If you look at the pattern in the tutorial, you can also easily see the skulls.

I have crocheted many kinds of scarfs. Last year, I crocheted a grey skull scarf for Fall. I love using different stitches to create different patterns and shapes. This time I used filet crochet, which I have found to be great for creating a clear image. It's also a style that I can use a grid to make a pattern for, which makes the creating process start easy. I chose a bright turquoise color for this scarf. The color choice was based on what color scarf I didn't have yet and also, if I had two matching skeins of yarn. I was going to do a dark purple, but I didn't have enough, so turquoise was chosen. Since my clothing tends to be on the dark side, a bright pop of color suits me well. For this project, I made a tutorial with crochet instructions and a pattern. There is also a pattern for the grey skull scarf, with that same tutorial...2 for 1!

Every week in the 4.0 year, I will be post my own Dia de la Abby posts as well as a tutorial with instructions on how I made my piece. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project. Need more of me than just a weekly dose, follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook.

Farmville Hay Skull

Jessica Pizzp from Portand, Maine explains this creation, "Yep you guessed it, unashamed farmville addict here, but I've decorated my farm with a skull design I made myself out of virtual hay bales."

I'm impressed at this creation. I'm amused that the banner says "Truth". Why, you ask? Because Agent C and I play Farmville. Why, well, you don't need to know that. I do know that making something like this takes a really long time, and a lot of hay bales. I sort of want to shove a lot of stuff into that storage cellar I'm building and attempt something like this myself...but then that would just fuel my obsession to be a virtual artist farmer.

Dice Skull

The Skullclan from “Somewhere in West Virginny, USA” was on a roll when they told us: “There are a dozen dice in this skull that have skulls on them for the number 1.”


Storm Shadow C says:

This skull looks like a freight train with all those boxcars lined up. I truly appreciate it when art is influenced by ones interests. I am going to say that you probably enjoy collecting dice here as well as skulls. I find it fascinating to see all those dice with the skull as the number one, since in most games except Yahtzee, rolling all ones is bad luck. Thank you for submitting your work and say hi to the rest of the family form us.

[BONUS] Steampunk Skull gets a Body

My robotic update to my original Papercraft Skull got a wonderful body from fellow 365er Chris Zeliff as part of his Robot-A-Day project...

You can still download both the original and robot versions of my Papercraft Skull. If you make one and give it a body or do something else creative with it definitely let us know!

Logo Skulls

I thought I'd bring you all another two for Tuesday again with a pair of skull logos. First up is Lauren Conroy of Chicago with this look into the human mind. Her logo is for her web site Iwanttodrawyourbrains.com.

Next up is Skull-A-Day friend Josh Warner with the logo for his GoodArtHlywd jewelry company. Josh painted this logo on the wall of his new shop were he's still churning out kick ass pieces like these.

*p.s.- You can keep up on Josh's new pieces and travels over at his blog*

Each of these is unique yet each is similar. I love the way Lauren's anatomically correct logo makes great use of negative spacing to really dive deep into the human skull. Josh's logo is an awesome example of hard work leading to a desired result of extravagance. The skull is raw and unrefined, waiting to be polished into genuine american luxury by Josh. I hope each of you find lots of success and attract the desired attention with your logos. Thanks!

And the Sin in Linen Winners Are...

Congratulations to Keith, Kerosene and Fivefeettall who were the randomly selected winners of the Sin in Linen giveaway contest!

Thanks again everyone for participating. I enjoyed reading all the creative responses to this contest.

Of course, even if you didn't win, you can still get some great items from Sin in Linen. If you use coupon code SKULL15, you can get a 15% off your purchases until 10/01/2010.

Skull Flower Bulb

Bnko made "a Skull bulb, or flower depending of your point of view".

I like this use of mixed media. There is a skull flower on the multi-tonal wood with the small vase sitting separate. The use of the pink, white and light grey against the hard canvas of the wood, balance the soft and hard of the piece. The glass, though a separate piece, looks almost painted on because it shares similar tones to the paint. To me it looks less like a flower and more like a pink poison has exploded in the lab of some mad scientist, causing a burn on the wooden cabinets. I wonder if this is a love or doom potion....MWAHAHAHA.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 4.16

Sam Snoek-Brown is fastly becoming the most celebrated skull hunter here on Skull-A-Day. Pretty soon we'll have to open a trophy room solely for all of his skull captures. All of this week's finds come from Sam starting off with "A skull I found in my breakfast cereal one morning"...

followed by "A piece of toasted bread my wife and I got with dinner in Rockwall, Texas"...

the third "is a building in Amsterdam"...

and as a bonus "I discovered it on the breakfast table one morning. I’d tossed my sunglasses down after a shopping trip the previous afternoon, and quite by accident, the landed near a pack of new batteries in a way that looked skullish to me".

*with a little help from me*

You definitely have an eye for catching those hidden skulls in all of your world excursions, Sam. Thanks for keeping us in mind during your travels and for sharing your all of your great finds with us.

If you want to join the skull hunt then send us your simulacra pics for posting on Sundays.

Stripeboard Skull

Everyone knows that skaters and skulls go hand in hand and Toronto's Paul McCue performs a 900 around my head with his "Stripeboard". In true Skull-A-Day fashion Paul upcycled this found skateboard and decorated it using some recycled latex paint.



I'm not sure whether Paul uses this board or not, but I wouldn't blame him if he didn't. It would hard to replace a one of a kind board after doing too many grinds. Thanks for sharing this sweet deck with us, Paul.

[Flashback Friday] 223. Recycled Skull Ring

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Azurafae, Tatman, and myself, Citizen Agent, are taking turns counting down our personal favorite 17 skulls from the Original 365.25 Year. So please join us as we visit the archives and add our additional commentary on some of the original pieces.

#3: 223. Recycled Skull Ring

Matrimony C says:

This piece has all the great elements of many of my favorites from the original project, including a friend’s involvement in execution, creating from a readymade, up-cycling, and industrial design. There is no reason why something like this shouldn't exist on the market for sale it is brilliant in its design and execution.

I have always wondered about the history of this object. How did Noah come to aquire it? Was it personal, family, an estate sale? In order to understand a deeper meaning that may exist with the piece I want to know more about it. I am afraid however, that once given the background more questions may surface and I may end up reading more into it then really is intended. So I leave you with this simple thought. By this point in the project one could say Noah was committed to it, a marriage of sorts and every day for better or for worse we got to see his relationship with skulls and the bond that they formed during the project.

**Flashback Friday was a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.o. Each week during year 3.0 The Skullmaster posted the 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 3.0, all 52 can be found here.

22K Skull Ring

Alyssa Vochis, owner of Alyssa Jewelers Workbench and Gallery in Phoenix, AZ told us: “ This skull is 22k gold with Australian black opal eyes, it was carved in the likeness of the ring Keith Richards has been wearing for years. Our store has been catering to the biker community for 6 years now, and we have an extensive collection of skulls. We have shown your website to many people and it does get people thinking. I can see their creativity when it begins to flow, I love it.”

Jumpin’ Jack C says:

One thing I love most about this project is that we get to virtually meet many great artists from around the world. Some of my favorite artists are those who work with gold. What I admire most about them is their ability to transform wax into something precious in a way sort of like modern day alchemy. In the past we have been witness to the extensive process of designing a piece like this, and I admire the dedication you have in perusing the final piece knowing that at any step something catastrophic could happen that would completely undo all those hours of work. Thank you for submitting your work and sharing some of the other skullrific pieces you make at your workshop.

Dia de la Abby: #16 - Arranged "SKULLS"

Photoshop and I are not best friends, so even though this looks simple, it was a challenge for me. This is the 1st digital art that I've ever made and definitely not as intricate as most that I have seen. The Skull Master made one during the 365 project. I would write a tutorial on mine, but I just figured it out myself, so really I'm no help. Thankfully, next week I have two tutorials for you...so that should make you happy.


Every week in the 4.0 year, I will be post my own Dia de la Abby posts as well as a tutorial with instructions on how I made my piece. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project. Need more of me than just a weekly dose, follow me on Twitter.

Dripped Paint Skull

Jennifer Hall "did this painting by taping out a skull and then turning it upside down and dripping paint down the canvas. It took about a week."

I like the dripped paint technique. It reminds me a lot of Jackson Pollock and Abstract Expressionism. I've wanted to try this painting style for a while. I think it would be very therapeutic to drizzle and splatter paint freely on a canvas. I remember watching the Elvis Presley movie "Easy Come, Easy Go" and there was a scene where people were making abstract paintings with their bodies. It's like advanced finger painting. Also, there is a scene in "The Princess Diaries" where the characters Mia and her mom, Helen throw darts at paint filled balloons. That looks like messy fun. I'm sure you had fun making this painting. I like the idea of taping out the skull before painting. I might paint one in one color palette, tape out the skull and then paint over that in another color palette. When the tape is removed, it would be like an optical illusion of sorts.

“Une case en moins” Skull

Arthur Michel from France sent us this digitally enhanced drawing titled “Une case en moins” which he translated as “One Box Less” a term he said is used to describe a “mad” person.


Pine C says:

If I may for a moment jump off topic and say, you have an amazing body of work that is featured on your website, and this piece is easily counted with the rest. I really like how the hand that is springing forth from the skull announces the piece with out immediately overpowering the rest of the subject. Thank you for submitting this work, as well as letting us know about your other work through the link you submitted.

R.I.P. Ross Harman

Ross Harman was a kind friend to me and the Skull-A-Day project and was the impetus for the creation of my 352. Skull Roll.

His involvement in the project really started when he made this skull as a surprise for me when I picked up an order of sushi from the restaurant where he worked...

He was also a fantastic musician and I encourage you to check out his music HERE.

Ross left a lot of very sad people behind, including myself, and will be missed terribly.


If you know someone who is in emotional distress, please make sure they know about the Helpline: 1.800.SUICIDE. Also please consider donating to an organization working to prevent suicide and help survivors of it. Two that come highly recommended are SPAN USA and the Kristin Brooks Hope Center.

Dona Skull

Pascal Maugein of Paris,France, who has made past contributions here and here, is back again with a gourgeous looking table. "The table Dona is covered with a psychedelic skull surrounded with a semainier of prayers and incantations of the Mexican Santa Muerte. Polychrome lacquer inlaid with mother of pearl, eggshell and silver leaf. Dimensions: 110x75x45 cm."



Thanks to Pascal for adding another table to our Skull Cafe to provide more room for all of our great contributors. If we could share a tasty meal with all of you over a beautifully painted skull table then we would. The only question remains...what would we serve?

Contest Reminder: Sin in Linen Pillow Shams

THIS CONTEST IS OVER. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Don't forget to enter to win a set of Sin in Linen Skulls and Stars Pillow Shams! You have until midnight Eastern Time tonight. Enter here.

Carved Apple Skull

Paula A. Ibey carved this skull out of an apple.

This reminds me of the poison apple from Disney's Snow White. A skull appeared on the apple after the step mother dipped it into the poison potion. I like how the peel of this carved apple looks a bit like parted hair. The core and browning of the apple in the eye sockets look like it's rotting, though since the browning happens quickly, it's still a fresh apple. I like how the juice oozes out of the sockets. With Fall only a few days away and the air quickly chilling, this apple makes me want an apple pie. I might have to learn how to make one of those.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 4.15

Today’s skulls are brought to us full of organic materials.

Brennan Hayes told us: “ I took this picture on a trip to June Lake in California, and could not believe what was staring back at me when I was printing the pictures. I have submitted the full picture showing the skull I saw centered in the picture. ”

Agent C says: To the left of center, is another skull I found in Brennan’s picture.

Atefeh Karabi sent us this cloud skull

Anonymous “4409542035” said: “A bird happened to leave a lovely poo on my path that looks exactly like a skull! Thanks birdy!”
C. Muir says:

I find it fascinating that when you look back at many of the simulacra that have been submitted during the life of this project there are a number of natural themes where skulls appear more often. I wonder why rocks, snow/ice, and bird poo are so prone to developing simulacra. Thank you all for submitting your pictures so that they are conserved for the ages.

Keep your eyes open, and keep sending those pictures in to our submissions address. Just keep in mind that since we only post simulacra once a week it might take a little longer than normal for it to be posted.

Poster Skulls

I know how busy everyone is on the weekends so all I'll say is that you need to check out these kick ass skull posters from Morgan over at dzgnbio.com.







Now that Morgan has successfully started your weekend off full of skulls, feel free to spread the news and make everyone's weekend super skullified.

[Flashback Friday] 3. Sir-Skull-A-Day

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Azurafae, Tatman, and myself, Citizen Agent, are taking turns counting down our personal favorite 17 skulls from the Original 365.25 Year. So please join us as we visit the archives and add our additional commentary on some of the original pieces.

#4: 3. Sir-Skull-A-Day

Rewind C says:

This, for me, has always been and maybe always will be the skull that defines the original project since it was the one that began it for me. As Noah talked about in his post here, I was one of those who received that email announcing the project. I did a little digging and was able to pull that email out of my Skull-A-Day archives to share with you.

While this piece was created a couple of years after this happened, it is hard to think about this skull without putting it into that historical context. Besides, announcing that audio tapes are dead, this piece is representative for being the first in a series of what can be thematically grouped as “dead media” that was skullified throughout the original project year. From computer diskettes, to a reel to reel machine, to a TV, Noah explored the accumulation of objects that our society no longer sees as useful. It is powerful to think about how the objects we use everyday maybe the items that define our current existence one-thousand years from now, are looked to as junk. Will our future selves laugh at our objects and call us primitive, or will they see us as geniuses that helped move human culture to its next evolutionary level. For now however, these objects will survive as art.

**Flashback Friday was a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.o. Each week during year 3.0 The Skullmaster posted the 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 3.0, all 52 can be found here.

Typographic Skull

Jess told us: “I was creating a birthday card for my friend with a layout program. While formatting the text, I was experimenting and hit the 'justification' in type-settings: Surprise! A skull appeared. I have been a skull-addicted for a long time, and was inspired by your blog. So I decided to format that skull a bit further and more clear.

The text is by Johan Wolfgang Goethe (German philosopher): ‘Keine Kunst ist's, alt zu werden; Es ist Kunst, es zu ertragen.’ Translation: It needs no art to age; but to bear it, is an art.”

Original Version

Alternative Version on suggestion from the Skullmaster.

As an added bonus, Jess has kindly shared a pdf version of these works in postcard form for you to download from here. (The Creative Commons License is at the bottom of the right sidebar.)

Enlightened C says:

I am a big fan of picture typography. I really am awestruck by this piece. This worked is packed with so much symbolism that one can easily view it though the multi-facets that Goethe himself might have done. Thank you for sharing this piece with us, both the original. and the alternative version. This truly is a wonderful birthday gift for anyone who loves skulls or just art in general.

Dia de la Abby: #15 - Skulls with Lilies Shoes

Inspired by the end of summer, I decided I wanted to redo a pair of shoes. I adorned with with skulls and tiger lilies...two of my favorite things on my favorite style shoe.

On my feet. I tend to cross my legs a lot, so that is why the skulls face towards the inside. When I cross my legs, they will easily be shown.

Another reason for the skull placement, is for when I am standing, the skulls sort of match up in back forming 1 skull. It's not perfect, but you get the idea.

This project took many days to complete. Surprisingly, painting the black background took the longest. If you would like to learn how I redid a plain pair of shoes into these beautiful ones, read the tutorial. The tutorial can be used for any type of fiber shoes, (not leather, vinyl or PVC) so feel free to adapt it to a different style.


Every week in the 4.0 year, I will be post my own Dia de la Abby posts as well as a tutorial with instructions on how I made my piece. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project. Need more of me than just a weekly dose, follow me on Twitter and my blog, Crafty Lady Abby.