Skull Studded Jacket

Masayoshi Yoshino collaborated with leather artist Robert Warner, to create this jacket. Masayoshi made all the studs and buttons, totaling about 700 skulls. Robert is known for making custom leather jackets for rock stars. I love the texture all the skull studs and buttons great. Each one is finely detailed. It does remind me of the stacks of skulls in catacombs. You can see more photos of the jacket, here. I spied some other skull adornments on Masayoshi's Pinterest.

Leather Faced Skull Flasks

Three IS the magic number, and not only do we have 3 skulls on leather clad flasks to share today from Enrique Camacho, but this is also his third time appearing on our site(here are the links to his painted shelf and burned leather bags).  I do have my own skull flask, but this set is way cooler.  Enrique let us know that they were labeled before he put the skulls on them, but it adds a level of vintage that you want from a leather clad glass flask.  Thanks again for sharing your work, Enrique!

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

Leather Skull Wallet

This finely crafted piece of leather work is from Sam Cortina and his King's X Custom Leather in Round Rock, TX.  These are pieces for his new wallet, which had to feature a skull, that will be card pockets for the exterior.  Sam says that leathercraft is one of his hobbies, but I'll bet he could sell one or two of these if he tried.  Thanks for sharing this with us, Sam!

Burned Skull Bags

I couldn't help but post all of the images that we received from Enrique Camacho. He's reusing old leather bags and breathing new life into them with "day of the dead" styled skulls.  Calaveras cases I suppose.  No matter what you call them, I'd call them excellent.  Enrique uses a wood burning tool to "brand" the leather with his designs.  A bold look that maintains a sense of class and sophistication.  Thanks for sharing these with us, Enrique!

*The significance of the time of today's post is in remembrance of the tragedies of 9/11.   Peace be with all of the families, friends, and lost souls.

Super Punctured Skulls Saturday

As part of the celebration for Skull Appreciation Day 2013 and the opening of the FaceOff exhibit at the International Museum of Surgical Science, as well as the impending onset of Skull-A-Day 7.0, I figured this would be a great time to flip your wigs with a HUGE Super Saturday post featuring one of my personally new favorite artists, Dionne Marshall. Dionne creates handmade tattooed, tooled, and stitched leather art & artefacts, under the name ‘Punctured Artefact’.  Here's a bit of info that she was obliged to share....

"I live in a tiny, pretty English village, where I have a studio in my garden. Working as a designer/ maker is all quite new after ‘quitting the day job’ within the fashion industry to something I love."

"With a background in textile and accessory design, patterns and flowing lines feature strongly in all my designs. My main inspiration comes from tall things inky… the artistry & imagery of modern tattooing, mixed with a never ending love of death heads, geometry, Japanese motifs, natural & organic forms, anatomy, science, lines & patterns."

"I create using layers of decorative techniques, which are highly detailed and labor intensive. They give my work depth and a textural 3D feel. Premium untreated natural veg tan leather is the base for all pieces. The decorative and detailed line-work is tattooed onto the leather, usually with one needle (with a traditional tattoo machine)."

"To bring out the line-work and beauty of the leather, leather-working techniques are used. These may include; tooling, embossing, engraving, etching & repousse. Book binding techniques such as lacunose, Tudor style, onlay and inlay feature in some of the designs. Each piece is finished by beveling, dying and buffing the edges before being mounted and framed into a 'shadow box' frame made from worn reclaimed wood (created by us!)"

"I use the same processes on all my artworks, jewellery & accessories. I also do custom and bespoke ones offs, including tattoo ideas. So you can wear my designs on your wall or your skin!"

I'm still utterly amazed at the detail and design you achieve, Dionne.  I know how meticulous single needle tattooing can be and combining that with all of your other techniques really enhances the character and persona of each piece.  Keep up the fantastic work and the job you love won't feel like one.  Thanks again!

Tattooed Leather Skulls

Over in the UK Dionne Marshall is mixing styles with her "tattooed and tooled leather" works of art. She uses untreated natural veg tan leather which she decorates by tattooing individually(with a tattoo machine) before tooling, embossing, engraving, etching & repousse onto the leather. Dionne gets her inspiration from the artistry & imagery of modern tattooing, mixed with a never ending love of skulls, geometry(the first and noblest of sciences), Japanese, lines & patterns.

This is just a sample of the plethora of awesome skulls in her etsy store. Obviously I'm a huge fan of tattoos, but I've never seen anyone use a tattoo machine on leather. The results you achieve are amazing, Dionne. The tooling and embossing add so much depth to the colored lines. Tattoos are forever and well taken care of leather lasts a lifetime so these pieces could be around for eons. Thanks for sharing your artful works of perseverance, Dionne!

Leather Skull Bags

Brian Griffin of Griffin Leather creates remarkable skull purses out of leather. They are the same size as a human skull. He uses a special process he developed to sculpt the leather.

These skull purses are beautifully crafted. Though I am familiar with Brian's work, I'm in awe of his skull purses every time I see them. I own several unusual hand crafted purses, but either of these would be the star of my collection. They are very realistic and always make me think of "Silence of the Lambs", where Buffalo Bill is making human leather for a "real girl suit". Granted, this is far less gruesome, and a beautiful sort of creepy.

Skull Riders

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your warning to watch yourselves around this seriously badass set of leather "skull riders" from Eric at Stronghold Leather.  These menacing mitts look to be capable of a powerful backhand.

Handmade and tough as hell!  I can only imagine someone with a supremely gritty disposition being worthy of wearing these.  Like Leonard Smalls from the movie "Raising Arizona" or Conan the Barbarian.  Come to think of it, I could see any of the members of Gwar rocking these too.  Thanks for sharing your wicked work with us, Eric!

Leather Cyclops Skull

This leatherhead cyclops skull is a custom crafted piece of work from leather worker Donny Mitchem (aka Sir Theas of Gwynedd, aka Donny of Hoodbridge).



And I couldn't pass on sharing this hilarious view...



This piece is as unique as the ancient monster himself. If I had to choose a leather skull for myself, this is the "one eye" would go with. Thanks for sharing your wonderful work, Donny!

Leather Skull Mask

Thomas Kukich, artist and owner of Exile Leather (NSFW) submitted this leather skull mask. He explains about the mask and photo, "I hand mold Mardi Gras and Halloween masks out of leather. The mask is by Exile Leather, the Model is: Acid Grave and the photographer is: Tim Kruskamp.Acid Grave is a friend and has done a couple of photo shoots with local photographers featuring my work. You'd think she'd pick masks that are feminine and pretty; nope she goes for the spooky ones. Somehow she makes them look sexy."

I love that the model chose one of the creepier skull masks. It works really well with her hair color and skin tone, giving her a ghostly appearance. The styling of the shoot helps with the creepy factor. Leather is one medium that I haven't worked in, but am always fascinated by. It holds molded shapes well and can be embossed with details. It's definitely a favored choice for mask makers as its limits are only your imagination.

Adrian's Skulls

Today’s skulls are a collection of work from artist Adrian Vallejo in Amarillo, Texas.

“A wooden sign I designed and painted. It's on 1/2" thick sign plywood and now resides in my workshop / man cave.”

“My leather wallet that I designed and tooled. It represents me and my two daughters. It reminds me to ‘carpe diem’ and how important my girls are to me.”

“This is a doodle I did during a boring office meeting. I had just returned from a week in Italy and was inspired by all the magnificent sculpture I had seen there.”

“Lastly are some stickers I designed & printed back when I was a silk screen printer. They are about an inch tall on clear vinyl like a mini, instant stencil graffiti. I would stick them in random places that I felt needed its ‘skull awareness’ heightened. I found these in a box of old stuff recently and was delighted to see them again.”
Panhandle C says:

This is an amazing collection of talents you have shared with us. If I had to pick a favorite I would have to say the mini stickers are mine. I fully support your quest in raising skull awareness. Speaking of which since you are multi-talented- why not participate in the skull quilt project that is being done for our Skull Awareness Day on June 4th. More details about it can be found here and everyone is welcomed to participate.

Leather Cuff Skull

Graham Tench from Bournemouth, UK wrote: “hi, inspired by your quest a year ago i made this, thought it was time i showed you.”

In Use

Themyscira C says:

I am not so sure if this could “Stop a bullet cold”, but it certainly could “Make the Axis fall.” I am very impressed with your work. The details and coloration are exquisite on this. I am glad you included a picture of it in use, it makes this work that much more tangible to the viewer. Thank you for submitting your work to share.

Bookbinding Skull

This gorgeous looking leather birthday card was made by Nysa for her husband for his 40th birthday(he was born on Halloween). It's a 4" x 6" card that is "Orange French Cape goatskin with onlays of silver, black and white calf. Tooled in Palladium and blind on the back."



She also tells us that , "In hand bookbinding, it is traditional to practice learning tooling and onlay techniques on a leather covered "plaque", which this sort of simulates". You can see pictures of the process that she followed here. Happy belated birthday to the lucky man who received this. VERY nicely done, Nysa!

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