Glass Skulls

Artist Scott Darlington working in Seattle, WA handmade these life size glass skulls.

 

Capt. C says:

The liquid looking nature of the red version made me think of what I imagine to be hiding inside  Mark Quinn's "Self".  I am always impressed by glass artists that we are able to feature here.  It is amazing that you are able to have the skill and patience to work with a material that could cause you serious personal harm.  Thank you for sharing this work with us and be safe out there.

Skull Pumpkin Cheese

Sonja Horstman of Downers Grove, IL "made this for a party. The recipe was for the Great White Pumpkin from Southern Living. I thought a skull would be more fun."

I love cheese. I'm like Wallace happily shaking my fists in love with cheese. When going to a party, I always look for the cheese...in fact I'm more likely to go to a party if there is a tray of cheese I can hoard in my belly. I also love pumpkin. This skull creation would have been mostly devoured by me...because it's cheese, pumpkin, and a skull all in one. I'm going to raid the fridge now...

[CONTEST] Win a Baby Bones Clothing $100 Gift Voucher

 This contest has ended.  Thanks to everyone who entered for the great comments.

In my honest opinion, there's not enough kick ass clothing out there for kid's these days. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are a lot more skulls going to elementary schools these days than in the past (my high school actually put a ban on skull tee shirts in the early 90's).  These days it's nothing to see boys and girls alike rockin' some skull wear, and this is where 'Baby Bones Clothing' comes stomping into the kick ass picture.  They want to make your kid one of the coolest in their class with an assortment of their clothing via a most generous $100 gift voucher.  Keep reading for entry info AND a discount for just Skull-A-Day readers.

"After a conversation with other alternative mothers about the lack of alternative inspired fashion available in Australia - for a reasonable price – creative mind, Jess, put together a handful of singlets and t-shirts, uploaded photos onto Facebook and thus, Baby Bones Clothing was born."

"With just 5 items available for sale, the orders started rolling in. Baby Bones Clothing was overwhelmed with orders and interest, and it was increasingly evident that this was going to grow far beyond what was originally imagined."

"Mandy joined Jess when she realized the potential that Baby Bones Clothing had. With her expertise in sewing, she was able to add a whole other dimension to the range that Baby Bones Clothing offered."

"Since the birth of Baby Bones Clothing, amazing things have come to manifest. We are growing and expanding. Our gear is in demand. Our minds are constantly filled with exciting and new ideas for our range. We are living and breathing childrens fashion! Join us in sharing Baby Bones Clothing with the world!"

PRIZE INFO: One (1) $100 gift voucher to be used for some kick ass clothing at the 'Baby Bones Clothing' web store.

HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment below telling us what age you think is appropriate for an introduction into skull art.  My kids have been exposed to it their whole lives so I wanna know what the rest of the world thinks.

CONTACT INFO: If you win, we need to contact you. With your comment, please include your email, or make sure your Blogger profile has a working email link for you on it. Entries are only valid with this information.

WHERE TO ENTER: All entries must be made on this blog post, on Skull-A-Day.com. You can NOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

CONTEST CLOSES: 11:59:59 PM Eastern Time Wednesday, December 5th.

NUMBER OF WINNERS: One

PRIZE SHIPS: This contest is open to all skull lovers around the world.  Think of the children and spread the word worldwide. 

IF YOU DON'T WIN: You can always make yourself feel like a winner by purchasing your own Baby Bones gear or any of the other awesome designs in the online store.  Right now Skull-A-Day readers can receive 10% off by emailing their orders to admin@babybonesclothing.com.au.  Quote the keyword "Skull-A-Day" to make sure you get the discount.  Thanks again to Jess and the Baby Bones crew!

Razor Thin Skull

Anonymous from Anonymoustopia told us: "Used ~200 razor blades as masks, then spray-painted over the canvas."

 2 bit C says:

It is amazing the amount of detail you are able to achieve with this method.  It shows a great amount of skill to be able to spray paint a large collection of separate thin objects and not have it turn into a giant pain blob.  Thank you for sharing this work with us, maybe next time you will let us share your name.

Happy Skullidays!

Just a reminder that we have several great Skull-A-Day products on sale in our store! Order now and you can get this cool skull-y stuff in your hands before the holidays...

United Skull of America Poster

Skull Appreciation Day T-Shirt Black

Skull Appreciation Day T-Shirt Silver

Skull Appreciation Day Button Six-Pack

League of Space Pirates Record & Print

Plus from now through the end of December all orders are 10% OFF with code: SKULLIDAYS10





Be sure to visit the Skull-A-Day store for a few other limited edition goodies that are almost out of stock!

Nesting Doll Skull

Today's skull is the keeper of a diverse set of hand painted Russian dolls from Mel Rudgley in Australia.

The virgin Mary skull is great all by it's self, but this whole set is a wonderful collection. The group is suggestive of how we should all invite variety into our lives. Plus the snowman made me laugh. Thanks again, Mel!

Relief Skulls

Ivailo Kostov is back again with his "latest Skull madness".

One of my favorite types of sculpture is reliefs. There are many ancient buildings covered in these decorative sculptures depicting people of that time period. This one with skulls reminds me of "The Gates of Hell" by Auguste Rodin. It is inspired by "The Inferno", the 1st section of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. If you are in the US, I suggest going to the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, PA to see it. There is also a plaster version at the Musee d'Orsay, and a bronze one at the Musee Rodin in Paris, France. It's truly remarkable. Ivailo's piece reminds me of the bottom where the souls are pushing up.

[BONUS] Skull Mail

A couple of treats turned up in the Skull-A-Day mailbox this week...

We got our official certificate and image for the skull that we sponsored as part of the Mütter Museum's Save Our Skulls campaign! There's still time to pick one of the 139 Hyrtl Skulls to “adopt.” Save a 150+ year old skull & have your name in the Mütter Museum! Details are HERE.

I also got a set of the wonderful edible sugar skulls that were recently offered as part of a giveaway here from the Tierra Dulce Shop and I can attest that they are as delicious as they are beautiful!  Thanks guys!

Sunday Simulacra - Version 6.26

Today's simulacra all come from Skull-A-Day friend and team member, Phil Cheney of Richmond, VA. He was going through some files and found a few that he was compiling for us:

"The first is from a miniature pomegranate tree that we have. It had produced a fruit (actual size is about a quarter coin) that I didn't get to pick before it dried out on the tree. I thought it looked like a skull with a giant head."

"The second is an aerial shot of the High School in Petersburg, VA. This semester I have been look specifically at public land design in Petersburg and found this complex of buildings particularly interesting."

"The third is part of a design on my wife's purse. It looks to me like a sad clown skull with a flower nose."



Thanks for the great submissions, Phil. I hope you're reading this in good skull spirits as well! Don't forget to submit your simulacra for our regular Sunday ritual. We need to remember our skulls!

Super Skullistration Saturday

John MDC is a "bone"ified bad ass skull artist.  Almost everything he creates is of the skull.  He's been featured on our site multiple times (here, here, here, and here) and that should stand as a testament to the multitude of skulls he has to submit. 

John's site is teeming with skull art.  Prints, jewelry, shirts, etc.  I don't know if I've ever seen so much skull art produced by one person, aside from our own Skull Master of course.  Thanks again for the great submissions, John!

"Life and Death"

Artist Darrel Bevan in Birmingham, UK showed off a pencil drawn version of Marko Popadivc's photo "Kutna Hora" done on a piece of A3 paper which he titled "Life and Death".

Hidden C says:

Thank you for sharing this incredible work with us.  The contrast of of light and dark and the revealed surprise is very impressive giving the viewer a sense of haunting and hopeful at the same time.

[Sponsor Shout-Out] Joshua Harker's Anatomica di Revolutis Kickstarter

We're pleased to have artist Joshua Harker has once again become a sponsor of this site to promote his latest Kickstarter!

Josh's beautifully detailed work is created using the latest technology to make something that could never have existed even a few years ago. This time he's created a multi-part sculpture he calls "Anatomica di Revolutis" which is his tribute to the "developing 3rd Industrial Revolution". Watch this video to learn more and see this amazing piece in motion...



Want to have one of these amazing pieces in your home? Check out the Kickstarter page HERE.

Sugar Skull Chocolate Cake

Heather Walker is part of Your Local Market Co-op in Stratford, Ontario. She said "our baker, Katelyn has made a custom Sugar Skull Chocolate Cake for the tattoo studio down the street from us. I thought it was too beautiful not to share!"

I love seeing skull baked goods. In the past, Heather shared with us the skull cookies that Katelyn made in their Co-op. The people at the tattoo shop are very lucky to have such a talented baker close by.

Candy Corn Skull

Kayla Kirkpatrick in Austin, TX sent us this tiny skull of sweetness.

Bagged C says:

You may be on to the next evolutionary step for candy corn.  It would be wonderful to see little designs printed on them or maybe spooky related conversation starters like we see on other holiday candy in the future.  Thank you for submitting your tiny artwork to us for sharing.

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Nicholas Ivins Print and Three Candles

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thanks for participating!

Don't forget you have until 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time TONIGHT, to enter our current contest giveaway from Nicholas Ivins for 3 candles and 1 print. There is only one winner, so don't miss out! Follow the link to the original post HERE, or click on the sidebar ad.

You don't have to wait till the end of the contest to get something from Nicholas Ivins. His artwork can be purchased on his website, in his Etsy shop, and around various events in California.

"Moosebike" Skull

This linocut on birch bark comes from Marnie Blair of Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. The message included this note, "It depicts a skeleton riding an old exercise bike that has a moose skull strapped to the front. The bike is being propelled through the air by an old boat motor. I carved this based on a still life I used to set up for my drawing students at Thompson Rivers University. The students called it "Moosebike" and they loved drawing it."

The linocut it's self is a great piece of curiosity. The collection of images is interesting to say the least. Placing it on the birch bark lends a wonderful wooden quality as if this piece had it's own natural frame. Thanks for the great work, Marnie!

Anatomical Skull Makeup

Daisy Linden created this skull makeup. She explained,  "This year was a departure for me as I ditched my usual make-something-huge-and-unwieldy-from-scratch method for drawing on my face for a few weeks leading up to my favorite holiday. I'm pretty pleased with how it finally came out, which is good, because I've been doodling skulls on every page of notes I've taken for the last who knows how long."

One of my favorite art forms to get submissions for is skull makeup. This is a great anatomical version. I love the shading, which makes the features pop out better. Daisy tried something that wasn't her normal Halloween prep guidelines, which is a great thing for any artist to do.

[BONUS] 405. Skeletube Army II

I'm continuing to experiment with painting vacuum tubes...

This time I created 20 larger size ones in special packaging for the upcoming Bizarre Market Holiday sale here in Richmond, VA. These will be available exclusively at the market November 23 – December 24 after which I will sell any remaining ones through the Skull-A-Day store.

Expect to see the next stage of this project sometime in 2013.

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls: 365 Skeletons?

I was the keynote speaker at the recent Virginia Arts Education Association annual conference, and a craft party following my talk I was gifted this lovely creation by one of the attendees Ruby...

On the back she wrote "I'm challenging you to make 365 Skeletons!" While I appreciate her enthusiasm, I definitely won't be taking on that challenge anytime soon, but hey is anyone else out there is up for it? I'd love to see what you make!

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Nicholas Ivins Print and Three Candles

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thanks for participating!

Don't forget you have until 11:59 PM Eastern Standard  Time Wednesday, November 21st, 2012, to enter our current contest giveaway from Nicholas Ivins for 3 candles and 1 print. There is only one winner, so don't miss out! Follow the link to the original post HERE, or click on the sidebar ad.

You don't have to wait till the end of the contest to get something from Nicholas Ivins. His artwork can be purchased on his website, in his Etsy shop, and around various events in California.

Sunday Simulacara - Version 6.25

Today's simulacrum come from completely opposite sides of life....

flemming from Cambridge, MA. found, "These sweethearts quietly attended our Biodiversity Heritage Library meeting, appropriately."

Herbert Hoover of St. George Island, FL discovered this sponge skull on a sandy beach.

Those sneaky skulls that surround us can be found in any setting. From the clouds in space to the depths of the ocean, they will be where we see them. Thanks, flemming and Herbert!

[BONUS] Jaxin's Coin Skull

My very own 7 year old son, Jaxin, made this skull for me today.

This boy of mine always makes me proud, but it's cool to see him ACTUALLY following in my footsteps. He even helped me edit his picture and make this post. Now, if I could just get him to clean up his room.....

Great job, Jaxin!

Super Small Stitching Skull Saturday

"Mother Eagle"- (a.k.a. Katie) is making a gigantic splash here today with her miniature embroidered skulls. Here's more about Mother Eagle herself:

"I am an embroidery artist, and the skull is my perpetual muse! I have attached images of some of these pieces - both 'in progress' and finished. I am a fifth-generation needle worker and work in miniature scale, mostly in split stitch, which allows me to represent the contours of the skull and give three dimensional, and light reflecting qualities to the embroidery."

These diminutive craniums are amazingly done by hand.  A magnifying lamp and loads of patience are necessary for making such fine stitches, some as small as 1 millimeter long.  I can truly appreciate the finger cramping care you put into these, Katie.  Thanks for a super submission!