Tuesday with Trudeau

This Tuesday is a special one with a great artist from Winnipeg, Canada(Go Jets!)- Danielle Trudeau. She has submitted a pair of fantastic skulls that may surprise you with their size.  The first is titled "Kiss of Life"; done with ball point pen and acrylics, it measures only 4" x 6".  The second is a gold leafed beauty titled "Glamour" measuring 8" x 10" on a wooden panel.  Great work on both mediums, and thanks for sharing, Danielle!   

We want to share your skull art! Be a part of the Skull-A-Day project. Details are HERE

Fabric Skullptures

Milan, Italy is home to tattoo artist Raffaele Piacente, a.k.a.- Raffo Waffo who submits some skulls that literally stand out.  These 3 dimensional pieces are created with fabric mixed with PVA and acrylic. The canvas truly takes on a life of it's own as it leaps off of the wall and right into your face. These are just 2 of the pieces he submitted so be sure to check out more of his killer work here.  Thanks for sharing these with us, Raffo!

Cubist Skull

We've seen our fair share of blockheads around here at Skull-A-Day, but this pair are featured in a true cubist style.  Raye Mayo of Virginia used acrylic paints on an "upcycled" canvas to create a piece that might very well be "searching" for an identity.  To use a reference that some of the younger readers might not get, I'll let my "fingers do the walking" when I type this thanks to you, Raye!

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!!!

Papa Gede Skull

Seattle's Lisa Glomb, aka- Clevergirl43, is in the midst of her own 365 project of creating monster inspired art. She also found inspiration in an upcoming visit to New Orleans that will include some traditional festivities. Lisa writes, "Our first day there will be the Day of the Dead and we'll be attending a special celebration to honor the dead. I was urged to to bring an offering to Papa Gede, the voodoo trickster spirit whose role it is to "show each man his own devil". Papa Gede traditionally sports a top hat, cigar, and sunglasses with one lens missing, and so I made him this. One thing I'll certainly be asking him for is continued inspiration!"  Made from sculpey clay, acrylic paint, and some assorted objects she found.  I think your level of appeasement should be great, Lisa.  I know it definitely made our day.  Thanks!

Pskullfreak Skulls

Today's skulls come from the opposite side of the Earth(from us here in the US) which is a testament to the global reach of skull loving artists.  Hailing from Abu Dhabi, painter Angie Abbas has 2 wonderful works of completely different mediums.  The first is an acrylic on canvas painting and the second is a photo etched print.  These are both bright and colorful in their own unique ways.  Another supporting argument of the fact that skull art can be as diverse as the people who love it.  Thanks for being with us today, Angie!

"All Hail Stupidity"

Acrylic DJ Skull

This skull has got the party jumpin' with vibrancy and energy. Eliza Monks of Bridgeport, CT is raising the volume on our site by a few levels with this acrylic painting that explodes with movement.  Now, DJ Skull commands you to pump up whatever jam you're listening to and give a huge shout out to Eliza.  Thanks for sharing!

Skelly Heart

Misty Benson, Creator of the Morbidly Adorables™ told us: "I've been following Skull-A-Day since you started the 365 project. It's one of my favorite sites!  I painted this piece called 'My Skelly Heart.' An 8"x10" acrylic on canvas painting, this is for those with a skelly, or skully, heart! Some hearts
bloom with flowers, others bloom with woe, my heart blooms with skellies."

QT C says:

It is always a pleasure to see work from our long time members.  Thank you for taking the time to submit one of your creations with us to share.  With all of us still riding the wave of celebration from last week's Skull Appreciation Day, it is wonderful to be able to share another heart and skull creation.

"Good Friend"

French artist BL67 paints a wonderful picture of a "Good Friend".  This acrylic on canvas painting of a dog who was "man's best friend" has turned 180 degrees on the former master.

Nervous as he may be, he can't turn down the attention.  Perhaps he simply misses the feeling of flesh on his bones, or maybe it's because he can't run away without any muscles.  None the less it's a great painting that we thank you for sharing, BL67!

Diablo Sugar Skull

This devilishly handsome figure was made by Michelle C. Stewart of Seattle, WA. She created it from Papier-mâché and acrylic paint with glass eyes.

Sugar skulls aren't always my favorite(sorry), but this bad boy has me grinning. He's got traits of sugar sweetness, but that's just a glossy exterior hiding the true sinister motives inside. Plus, it looks like a pinata and I can make candy a metaphor for "sinister motives". Ha! Thanks for sharing, Michelle!

Bloody Gruesome Skull

If you're new around here then you might not recognize the name Matt Gregg, but if you've followed Skull-A-Day long enough you would definitely recognize this and this. Now Matt is back with his latest and most gruesomely awesome painting created with spray paint, acrylic, ink, blood, and xacto beatings on canvas.

Click image for closer detail

Simply put, this is f'ing awesome!  Sinister and determined, this demonic overlord WILL devour your soul!  I don't know if Oderus Urnugus was any kind of influence, but I'll bet he would like this.  Thanks again for sharing, Matt!

Thomas' Trio of Skulls

Thomas Maguin is a French skull making artist here to show us his diversity with this trio of skulls.

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength."

True words spoken by someone you know.  Diversity teaches us to appreciate all things, and I appreciate you sharing yours with us, Thomas.  Thanks!  

Painted Skulls

Returning** Artist Natalie VonRaven AKA "Magisterian", from Alberta, Canada showed off a pair of paintings she created.  She wrote: "I am a full time painter and artisan. My primary focus is on gothic/fantasy/surreal themes, portraits and...SKULLS!"

Title: "Joker"  

Medium: Acrylic   Size: 5"x 7" 

 Title: "A Gentlemans Madness"

 Medium: Acrylic  Size: 9"x 12"

Milliner C says:

At this time of the years it is always nice to catch up with old friends. we don't always get sizes that go along with submitted work.  It was nice to get of feeling of perspective on your pieces. Thank You once again for sharing your work with us.

** You can visit another of her posted submissions HERE.

Acrylic Skulls

Adrian Edger, the artist who began 400 Skulls in September 2011 showed off a pair of his paintings to us.

Rolling C says:

Congratulations on such a grand undertaking.  I would have never imagined being able to commit to a project that will take 33 years to complete.  Thank you for sharing your work with us and make sure you check in with us each year so we can watch your progress.

"la Paz felicidad amor (peace love happiness)"

Mel Rudgley from Australia's Sydney's Northern Beaches has stopped by again with a 2m high acrylic painting called "la Paz felicidad amor (peace love happiness)" that has been installed over the fireplace at Deck in Dee Why, NSW.

Summer C says:

I can tell from your own "la Paz felicidad amor" that this is a proud day for you to be able to stand in the shadow of something you created.  Thank you once again for sharing your work with us, it is through the coninued support of our loyal readers that we are able to have this site.

Sabertooth Skull

This acrylic and spray paint on canvas work of art comes from Ashley Montague. Overall size is 48 inches wide by 60 inches tall.

I imagine that this is quite a sight up close in life size.  It carries a mystic quality of perhaps being carried back in time to an ancient realm.  Thanks for the mind trip, Ashley!

Box Skull

Philadelphia, PA artist Josean Rivera sent us “Boxxy”- done in spray paint and acrylic on canvas

Apollo C says:

What a wonderful portrait of the Skullmaster's own 72. Papercraft Skull attempted in a brand new way.  Thank you for sharing this piece with us and reminding me that with a Skull-tastic holiday right around the corner, maybe our loyal readers might want to try their hand at some of the FREE activities from the Skull-A-Day archives HERE.

“Countdown To Halloween”
5 more days and counting...

Minimalist Eco-skulls

Brazilian based artist, James Kudo, submitted these acrylic on canvas paintings that, "I have  developed over the skull icon. A paradigm of the devastation and the individual within the planet and the way he deals with the ecology."

It's always interesting to see how minimal the skull details can be yet still we recognize the skull icon and it's significance.  James raises a good point with these also.  Humans may feel more "Earth friendly" than ever, but there are far less of us working on giving back to the Earth while the population still slowly consumes the planet.  Think about your Mother Earth and take some time to do something nice for her.  We must give back to complete the cycle.  Thanks, James!

Symbolic(?) Skull

Scott Middlehurst is responsible for this superbly detailed sharpie with acrylics skull. 

It may be coincidence, but I see a lot of symbolism in this piece. Of course we see the skull and snake, but the exquisite details are what make the difference.  Like a rich tapestry containing clues to secrets that we don't even know exist.  Take a look for yourself. Thanks for sharing, Scott!

Dia de la Abby #78: Stacked Skulls

Inspired by the connecting Olympic rings, and pop art, I created this painting to play with angles and colors.

If you quickly look up the Olympic rings, you will notice the colors and stacking I chose doesn't exactly match up. Instead of a black skull for the black ring, I chose orange. I flipped the position of the rings, because stacking skulls that way, didn't make logical sense to me. I sketched out the skulls with pencil on watercolor paper, with the aid of my handy skull model. I used five colors of acrylic paint for the skulls, with black and grey for the surrounding area of the skulls. I used only black to darken, and white to lighten the colors. The pink turned purple, yellow turned green, and orange turned brown when darkened. I think my black must be blue based for this to happen. The rest turned out normal...green turned darker green, and blue turned darker blue. This took about 6 hours to complete, with breaks for my back, since leaning over painting for several hours hurts my back. The lighting source went from natural to lightbulb, as the hours passed. This was a fun one to do, as it caused me to experiment with shading and highlights, as well as angles of the same object. I'll play with this some more in future paintings.


On Thursdays in the 6.0 year, I will post my own Dia de la Abby creations. On Thursdays in the 4.0 and 5.0 years, 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. Want to find me elsewhere, follow me on Facebook, my Blog, Google+ and/or Twitter.

Appreciative Pyrography Skull

If these skulls look familiar then you might remember the work of Laura Bartholomew being featured on our blog before. This time she's back with a few more, one in particular being a work of appreciation for her good friend, Tim.

Wood burning art is still some of my favorite stuff. There's something so permanent and unforgiving about the technique that it closely resembles "tattooing" wood. The portrait is a great gift that is totally personal as well as awesome. I'm sure we'll have a few readers wondering if you take requests. Thanks again for sharing your stuff, Laura!