Dia de la Abby: #75 Skull of Triangles

This piece is inspired by various geometric artwork that I've seen recently.

I wanted to challenge myself by using only triangles. Many months ago, I collected paint swatches in 30 shades of blue from a hardware store. I had no project in mind when I collected them. I only thought they would be an interesting medium to work with. I included pieces with the paint color names, so the medium type was more obvious. I used the different shades and tones of the paint swatches to create shadows and highlights in the skull, and make flowers, vines, and leaves.


Every other Thursday in the 5.0 year, I will post my own Dia de la Abby creations   Every Thursday in the 4.0 year, I posted my Dia de la Abby creations and occasionally tutorials with instructions on how I made my pieces. 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  Facebook, Google+ and/or Twitter.

[BONUS] 393. 100 Painted Skulls Skull

As promised here's an image of all 100 of my recently completed 100 Painted Skulls as a group!

Of course I couldn't end the project without making one more skull so I've arranged them into a very, very lo-res image of yet another cropped skull. Since it's basically just 10 x 10 pixels you may have to squint a bit to see it.

Here's a much smaller version that might help...

And since a few people have asked I've made this version of the image available as an art print, which you can buy in a variety of sizes on Society 6 HERE.

Sketched Skull

Steven Davis from Madison, WI, had an idea for a Halloween prop, and was inspired by a skull he found online. He drew a personalized version of it in his sketch book.

Sketching is a great way to work out ideas. It's a way to put your imagination on paper. I would love to see if Steven created a Halloween prop using this skull sketch as a guide. The sketch is highly detailed, which would make the transition into a 3D prop much easier.

Skull Masks

Liz Hoge of Carrion Creations in Las Vegas, NV recently created this pair of skull masks.

Comedy C says:

I am quite a mask aficionado myself so of course I am instantly drawn to these. I admire your limited pallet of colors to create these pieces as well as the amount of fine detail that you put into them. Thank you for submitting your work for us to share.

100 Painted Skulls #100

To celebrate year 5 of Skull-A-Day I've decided to paint 100 skulls on 4 x 4in (10.16 x 10.16 cm) wooden panels over the course of the year... 

For the final one I thought I'd break my convention of the skull being upright so I tipped it on its side. It's been a really fun adventure and I'm looking forward to doing more painting in the near future!

As before I've collected the past 25 into a grid since it's nice to see them as a group...

Stay tuned for a bonus post of all 100 as a group, which I will be putting together very soon!

100 Painted Skulls #99

To celebrate year 5 of Skull-A-Day I've decided to paint 100 skulls on 4 x 4in (10.16 x 10.16 cm) wooden panels over the course of the year...

I wanted to do another fairly minimalist one before the end. I like that this one seems to be sinking down (or maybe rising up).

Skull Appreciation Day Sale

In honor of Skull Appreciation Day this coming Monday, June 4th we've put the Skull Appreciation Day T-shirts on sale... now only $18 each!

Black and Silver are available and printed on high-quality eco-friendly t-shirts.

Look for them and other goodies in our Skull-A-Day store.

And have a very happy Skull Appreciation Day!

Macroscopi​c Skulls

These two tangled treats are courtesy of Berlin based  Meyoko.  Her finely detailed ink drawings take a closer look into nature while keeping the overall picture in mind.    

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice at making skulls out of, "Forests made of luxuriant
hair that are inhabited by tattooed flowers and plants ;by ravens and hummingbirds with strange silky bodies in place of feathers."

These are beautiful pieces that draw you in close to see all of the details. Don't be fooled though, they're featured on our site because they're still skulls. Impressive ink work, Meyoko!

p.s. Meyoko's work will also be featured in the upcoming Hollow Thoughts exhibition!

Skull Birthday Cake

Craig Jacob's wife Alice had this cake made for Craig's 50th birthday. It was made by Blanca Combas. It contains five of Craig's favorite things; skulls, Starbucks, Macallan Scotch, Fat Boy Harley Davidson, and electrical connectors, which are all edible. The skull was made of chocolate mocha cake. The crate was vanilla cake. The coffee and scotch bottle were made of rice krispies cakes.

The ability to make sculptures using cake and icing has always fascinated me. Of course my favorite part of this particular cake creation is the skull. The chocolate mocha cake with the white fondant icing, is a nice and delicious combination. I hope Craig enjoyed his birthday and delicious looking cake.

100 Painted Skulls #98

To celebrate year 5 of Skull-A-Day I've decided to paint 100 skulls on 4 x 4in (10.16 x 10.16 cm) wooden panels over the course of the year... 

One more watercolor style piece with the wood grain of the panel it's painted on exposed.

100 Painted Skulls #97

To celebrate year 5 of Skull-A-Day I've decided to paint 100 skulls on 4 x 4in (10.16 x 10.16 cm) wooden panels over the course of the year...

A fun challenge to make a piece with lots of colors and no black at all.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 5.52

This week's round of simulacra are some of the toughest around. Being made of hardened material only adds to the fact that these are some stoniest faced simulacra that we may have ever seen....

Jess Sand saw this rough looking figure in the side yard near her old community garden and thought of us. You gotta love the way the plants are growing into it. Excellent find!

And Charlton Yu of Everything Burger rolled across this bumpy faced fellow on his skateboard on the street one day in Downtown Los Angeles.  Luckily he went back and snapped a pic for us.

To the victors go the spoils, and we are always pleased to receive the spoils of your skull hunts. That makes us winners because of all of you, who in turn win by getting to see our collection. See how easy it is to spread the skull love! Try it for yourself, I guarantee you'll love the way you feel.  Thanks, Jess & Charlton!

100 Painted Skulls #96

To celebrate year 5 of Skull-A-Day I've decided to paint 100 skulls on 4 x 4in (10.16 x 10.16 cm) wooden panels over the course of the year...

Sophie's Skull Flash

Sophie Adamson has been here before with some great skull sketches, but now she's making her return as a tattoo apprentice at Art and Soul Tattoo in Plymouth UK, and presenting this battered brain case.

I'm really digging this piece because it reminds me of the Black Label Society skull.  The ink splatters give a wonderful blood effect that causes me to question the severity of it's demise.  Bloody and violent seems to come to mind.  A peaceful passing doesn't seem likely.  You're work is getting better, Sophie.  Thanks for keeping us updated, and please continue to do so.

Metal Art Skull Swag

Metal Maestros at THE RAVE 'N' IRON Giselle & Tim from British Columbia, Canada used reclaimed scrap sheet metal to create these skull treasures.

“Freckles are Fun!” Acid-etched and naturally heat tempered to ginger-goodness!

“I vant to suck your blud.” Just a creepy little Vampire pendant for all those fans.

The Iron C says:

I adore your work because it contains one of my favorite components-recycled! I do not think I would have ever thought to use a ferrous material in designing accessories, you on the other hand, do an amazing job with working the material. Thank you for sharing this small example of all the wonderful work you create.

100 Painted Skulls #95

To celebrate year 5 of Skull-A-Day I've decided to paint 100 skulls on 4 x 4in (10.16 x 10.16 cm) wooden panels over the course of the year...

100 Painted Skulls #94

To celebrate year 5 of Skull-A-Day I've decided to paint 100 skulls on 4 x 4in (10.16 x 10.16 cm) wooden panels over the course of the year... 

Spacey Skull

Thomas Powell and Dmitry are back with an amazing sculptured named "Spacey".

The retro space look of this reminds me of classic tales of astronauts and space explorers, from the 1950s through the 1960s. This particular sculpture is reminder of those brave space pioneers that don't always return back to earth, forever lost in the cosmos.

my-skull

Chris Wedge from Reno, Nevada sent us this skull he created on an ipad with the draw free app.


app C says:

I enjoyed your skull very much, what I am most drawn to is the use of the 3 colors you chose. There is a simplicity to it that reminds me of time as a child when TVs were actually built into a piece of furniture, I would put my face right up to the screen and see the dots of colors. Your skull reminds me of seeing those dots of R-G-B colors intersecting with one another during my extreme close-up. Thank you for submitting this skully idoodle with us to share.

100 Painted Skulls #93

To celebrate year 5 of Skull-A-Day I've decided to paint 100 skulls on 4 x 4in (10.16 x 10.16 cm) wooden panels over the course of the year... 

"Still Waters" Skull

"AAAAARRRGGHHH!!!" I had to start off this post with a hearty pirate yell in supreme approval of the enchanted skull paintings submitted by Kay Larch.  Kay covers a lot of subjects from briny deep to the colorful afterlife.

The first piece makes this Trusty Shellback of the U.S. Navy (yes, I have my plaque and card) harken back to days on the ocean and the iconography of the Navy, and the life at sea.  I still love those styles and Kay's painting style adds a whole new effect of stained glass or tile, which is another favorite of mine.  Plus, that octopus is pretty badass, too!  Kudos for the great work, Kay! 

100 Painted Skulls #92

To celebrate year 5 of Skull-A-Day I've decided to paint 100 skulls on 4 x 4in (10.16 x 10.16 cm) wooden panels over the course of the year...

Moss and Leaf Skulls

Shannen Fisher is a Visual Arts Student at the University of Salford, in the UK. She created a sculpted skull surrounded by moss and a skull cut into a leaf.

I always enjoy seeing the same motif made out of different materials. That's sort of the point of Skull-A-Day...skull art out of a variety of mediums and objects. Whether you are a student in school of education or the school of life, experimenting with new techniques and items is a never ending way to learn.

Hollow Thoughts: A Skull Show

I am happy to announce that my work is included in the upcoming exhibition Hollow Thoughts: A Skull Show at Nucleus art gallery in the Los Angeles area.

8 of my 100 Painted Skulls will be featured alongside work by the wonderfully talented artists...

Allen Williams
Annita MaslovBradley JayCharlie Immer
Chris B. Murray
Joshua Harker
Meyoko
Patrick Awa
Peter Vattanatham & Fiel Valdez
Scott Scheidly
Travis Louie

If you're in the area I hope you'll stop by and check it out!

Hollow Thoughts: A Skull Show

June 9 - July 1

Opening Reception: June 9   7 - 10pm

Nucleus Gallery

210 East Main St, Alhambra CA

Sun-Thurs: 12pm-8pm, Fri-Sat: 11am-10pm

Sunday Simulacra - Version 5.51

Our skull hunters are in the kitchen today. Arming themselves with cooking implements and cameras has led to the great payoff.

Sarah Burt of Hurley, NY nabbed this greasy faced fried egg skull...

...and Ryan Alexander of London captured this bubbly skull.

Finding skulls in your food would normally make people think you're a zombie, but it's just another normal Sunday around here. Join in on the fun and submit your simulacra here. Thanks for jumping in on the hunt, Sarah & Ryan!

100 Painted Skulls #91

To celebrate year 5 of Skull-A-Day I've decided to paint 100 skulls on 4 x 4in (10.16 x 10.16 cm) wooden panels over the course of the year... 

Another watercolor style piece. This time I finished it with a clear varnish to increase the depth of the darker sections.

[BONUS] FREE Skull Appreciation Day Stencil

Several people have asked about the potential for a Skull Appreciation Day 2012 poster/T-shirt based on the promotional artwork for the event, and since we don't have plans to make either, and we know that you all enjoy a good DIY project, we've decided to give you a stencil to make your own stuff with it!...

Just click HERE to download a PDF and as always all we ask is that you send us pictures of what you make with it, enjoy!

And of course we want to hear about how you spend your Skull Appreciation Day on June 4th! If you're in the Philly area please come join us at the Mütter Museum for a fun daylong exhibition!