Mythical Skulls

A year ago we featured a skull by Artist Ken VanCourt creator of Darque Art in Utica, NY. We are happy today to feature another pair of his mythical skulls.

Bigfoot skull

Demon skull with horns made from cast bondo.

Imaginary C says:

Once in a while I come across pieces like this, and I enjoy this genre of skull creation. The imagination that one needs to embrace a mythical archetype and create a tangible work is highly respected and a wonderful talent. Thank you for sharing this new pair of skulls, and please keep us in mind as you explore deeper into this realm.

[Flashback Friday] 5.7- Historical Daredevil Skull

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

Historical Daredevil Skull

I was recently thinking of this sweet piece or art from Dan Springer of Skulluxe. It's a great tribute to the daredveil motorcycle riders of the early days, more specifically Lillian La France.



I recently purchased my own two wheeled mode of transportation that I have found a new love for. Motorcycle riding is something I should have gotten into a looong time ago, but hey, better late than never. Still, I only enjoy a smooth comfortable ride and I'm too old for the daredevil ways that used to thrill me. That's probably a good thing. I'll leave those thrills to any of you adrenaline junkies out there who have the guts to to do the stunts. More power to ya!


**Flashback Friday was a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.0. 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.

The Skull Quilt Project: 7 Quilt Auctions

The Ebay auctions for the 7 quilts from the show went live today. The auctions will run for 7 days. You MUST have an Ebay account and a Paypal account to bid and pay for the quilts. You can follow the steps for set up, if you don't already have those accounts. For information on each quilt, please see the auction listing. Proceeds from the sales of all of the skull quilts will go to Becky's Fund, which is a DC based organization that helps victims of domestic violence.

Auction 1

Auction 2

Auction 3

Auction 4

Auction 5

Auction 6

Auction 7

To see all the auctions go to Azurafae's Ebay store. The remaining 6 quilts will go live next week, after this set has ended. So, if you don't see your favorite yet or your own block, don't fret, they will be up next week! Thanks for participating and buying these quilts!

Abby Davis - "Freshly Dug Up"

On June 4, 2011 Skull-A-Day celebrated Skull Appreciation Day with an exhibit of over 100 skulls at Gallery 5 in Richmond, VA. If you didn't have a chance to make it to the gallery while the show was up, we now proudly present: "Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition".

Abby Davis - "Freshly Dug Up"

Abby Davis- “Freshly Dug Up” $400.00

As I explained in the post for this piece, Dia de la Abby #52 - Skull Sculpture, this is made of paper, plaster fabric, paper clay, tea stain and water color. It's inspired by the elongated skulls found in Nazca, Peru and Mayan art.

The 2011 Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition was a collective art show celebrating the 5th anniversary of Skull-A-Day.com and its tremendous audience of artists and readers.

Throughout year 5.0 we will be featuring artwork from the show a few times a week. This is a chance to see all of the excellent skulls that were on display, and FOR SALE. Some of these pieces may still be available and this is a wonderful opportunity to own an original piece of skullriffic artwork. There are many well known artists who have contributed very reasonably priced works and many of them have donated their portion of the sale to benefit a great charity, the Richmond Peace Education Center.

Please take a moment to view all of the remarkable work that was created for the onset of this annual festivity. Your skull will appreciate you for showing it some love.

Skull of Flowers

Douglas Considine submitted these photos of a skull made of flowers and the Christmas tree they came from. He explains about the two pieces. "After spending much of 2009 collection artificial flowers to construct the 2009 Christmas Tree' I found, once yule time had passed and the tree deconstructed, I had a garbage bag filled with post Christmas blooms. I chucked it into storage until February this year when I thought it was time to unpack the posies and construct a Blooming Skull...hope you like it."

Indeed, I do like both pieces. I love flowers. They are one of the most beautiful things on this planet. I love how versatile they can be in creating with them. These pieces remind me of the Rose Bowl floats that are made of flowers and other plant materials. I'm always amazed at the uses of texture and color to create amazing images. For these two pieces, not only is the color variety amazing, but the use of shapes to fill in all the void areas to make compact pieces. The tree is a refreshing take on a traditional pine tree. Winter can be very gloomy, so bright spring like colors are a welcoming sight. I like that since the flowers are artificial that they can be reused for many things...from tree to wall hanging. I can also see these flowers strung together for a colorful Dia de los Muertos celebration.

Citizen Agent- “C-Note”

On June 4, 2011 Skull-A-Day celebrated Skull Appreciation Day with an exhibit of over 100 skulls at Gallery 5 in Richmond, VA. If you didn't have a chance to make it to the gallery while the show was up, we now proudly present: "Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition".

Citizen Agent- “C-Note”

Citizen Agent- “C-Note” $60.00

Debt C says:

It is rather fitting to be able to post my skull this week with the looming "Debtageddon" on many people's minds. My work here took on two parts the first being the currency covered skull with rhinestone words on it. These words, come to mind when I think about the large amounts of money that a small minority is using to suppress and possibly encourage the future death of some our American ideals or institutions. The second part represented by the pins was an exploration of giving back to the masses. My job as an editor here at Skull-A-Day puts me in a type of corporate management position, and I decided I needed to give back to those who help keep me here.

“C-Note” is for sale here if you are interested, it only costs a L-note and a X-note.


The 2011 Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition was a collective art show celebrating the 5th anniversary of Skull-A-Day.com and its tremendous audience of artists and readers.

Throughout year 5.0 we will be featuring artwork from the show a few times a week. This is a chance to see all of the excellent skulls that were on display, and FOR SALE. Some of these pieces may still be available and this is a wonderful opportunity to own an original piece of skullriffic artwork. There are many well known artists who have contributed very reasonably priced works and many of them have donated their portion of the sale to benefit a great charity, the Richmond Peace Education Center.

Please take a moment to view all of the remarkable work that was created for the onset of this annual festivity. Your skull will appreciate you for showing it some love.

Skull-A-Day Press: The Hired Guns

I've started writing a monthly post for The Hired Guns about unlocking creativity and the first article Make Something Every Day. And Change Your Life. is up now...

Read the entire article HERE.

Outboard Skull

Brendan Duggan from Gravenhurst,ON Canada told us: “I run a small metal fabrication shop called Get Bent Metal. I have enjoyed your web site for a while. Skulls were some of the first things I started drawing when I became interested in art. To this day I still draw and sculpt them. This is an assemblage sculpture I did recently made from an old outboard and other mechanical detritus.”


Forged C says:

I really like this piece. I am drawn in by the retro nature of this piece. It reminds me of something that may have been created during the art deco period, as part of our thoughts on what the future would be like. Thank you for sharing this work with us, and may your future be free of robot overlords.

Also check out some more one-of-a-kind items at Brendan’s Etsy shop.

Justin Lovorn- “Primitive Peace”

Now that the Skull Appreciation Day exhibit is over we proudly present a new site: "Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition".  If you didn't have a chance to make it to Gallery 5 while the show was up then here's your chance to see all of the excellent skulls that were displayed, and FOR SALE. Not all of the pieces have sold and this is your chance to own one (or more) of the pieces of skullriffic artwork. There are many well known artists who contributed very reasonably priced works that are also benefiting a great charity, the Richmond Peace Education Center. It just so happens that mine was placed first in the show order. Thanks for checking them out.

Justin Lovorn- “Primitive Peace” $75.00

Justin Lovorn is a typical tattoo wearing, motorcycle riding, fun loving Dad & Brother who just so happens to currently be one of the editors at Skull-A-Day.com. Is he lucky you ask? Yeah, you could say that.

Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition was a collective art show celebrating the 5th anniversary of Skull-A-Day.com and its tremendous audience of artists and readers. Please take a moment to view all of the remarkable works that were created for the onset of this annual festivity. Your skull will appreciate you for showing it some love.

Skull Wall Pattern

Albert Leon Sultan is the creator of this stylish skull wall pattern that adds a touch of "skully" class to this lavish living room.





The regal purple is the perfect color for the feeling of luxuriosness that this room gives. Of course I love the subtle skulls included in the design, Albert, but I also love all of the extras that give your design so much life. Thanks for inviting us in.

Mariner's Skeleton

Pat Henzy is an illustrator based out of Philadelphia.

This reminds me of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". It's a story that depicts a sea voyage in which Death wins the lives of all the crew and Life-in-Death wins the Mariner's life in a game of dice. This is punishment for killing an albatross. Unlike the tale of the Mariner's voyage, the skeleton in this image did not live to tell the tale.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 5.7

Today's skulls were left over from liquids.

Anny Nachtigall in Chandler, AZ, said "I dumped the grounds from my espresso maker and looked inside and voila! A little skully appeared to make me smile."

Kenneth C Martin found this "While cooking  on April 25, 2011,  I happened to look down at a droplet of water on a glass top stove and caught this image of a skull. Quite honestly it unnerved me for the moment, so I decided to take some pictures and post them to my site on Facebook."

Michelle in Monticello,  AR said, I was pouring some old buttermilk down the drain and noticed this skull clinging to "life" on the side of the jug!!"

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.

Skull Shrine

In honor of this passing week I'm paying homage with this skull shrine from Lisa Vollrath, artist, designer and writer from Euless, Texas. She writes, "Here's an assemblage piece I finished this week. It's mostly found objects, in a wood shadow box that's about 10 inches tall."



I found this piece on Lisa's page of shrines with more wonderful commentary. Being from Texas I can totally feel you with your funny heat stroke comment, Lisa. Thanks for the great work and hearty laugh!

Shrines are an excellent way to pay tribute in an artistic way. I want to know who you would build a skull shrine for. One rule though, the Skull Master is too obvious of a choice so he's my nomination.

[Flashback Friday] 5.6- 316. Black Velvet Skull

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

316. Black Velvet Skull



I've decided to revisit one of my favorite pieces that features my favorite color, black of course, and what better way than with black velvet. In traditional Skull-A-Day fashion Noah upcycled this frame and velvet which previously featured a faded painting of some ducks. This piece gets renewed life from the symbol of death.


**Flashback Friday was a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.0. 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.

Tattoo Sketch Skull

Laura "Alex" Charlesworth is sketching some support for her friend's desire for some skull skin art. She writes, "Hi there. I drew this skull as a portion of a friend's tattoo. I have 2 more images to create for the whole piece - both of them skulls - for a 3 skull side tat. He suggested I send it in to your awesome site."



A tremendous trio of think tanks will meet the tattoo world for a triple tryst. Consider me a huge fan of the end result that you'll come up with, Alex. Three skulls are always better than one, and that's something I even have inked on my own flesh. Thanks to you and your friend for sharing your work with us!

Skull-A-Day on Tour: Bon Air Library - Chesterfield, VA

I will be speaking about Skull-A-Day and 365: A Daily Creativity Journal next Wednesday the 19th at the Bon Air Library in Chesterfield, Virginia.

Bon Air Library

9103 Rattlesnake Road
Richmond, VA 23235-2939
804-320-2461

Seating is limited so be sure to register for the event HERE.

Dia de la Abby #56: Russian Matryoshka Skull Dolls

These were inspired by a fascination with Matryoshka Dolls from Russia

Detailed photos of each doll can be found on my blog.

If you aren't familiar with these dolls, they are a nesting style doll. This means that each doll fits inside of a larger doll shell. It's similar to if you had multiple plastic Easter eggs in different sizes and you fit them into each other according to size. To give you an idea of scale of these 5 dolls. The largest is 4" tall and the smallest is 1" tall. This set is only 5 dolls, but the largest amount I have seen is 50 dolls that nest inside each other. I purchased this set blank. It was made in Russia, so it is authentic in that respect. I painted them with acrylic paints with a theme similar to what we wear as a family. The dolls are a dad, mom, daughter, a cat and a kitten. I would have made the cat a baby, but we don't have another child. We also don't have a kitten, but that's a more plausible addition to our literal family. Should you want to make your own set of Russian nesting dolls, head over to Etsy to buy a blank set.

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..

Skull Tile

Linda Ellett of L'esperance Tile submitted this handmade tile

For some reason this reminds me of bodies in one of those ancient pits filled with lions or similar dangerous animals. On a less gorey note, I could see this in a back splash of a kitchen or bathroom. It would be a creepy surprise to great guests, or you every time you use the room. Similar, my mom has a relief tile of a face in the back splash of her kitchen counter. It's like a little creepy friend just awaiting you to see it.

100 Painted Skulls: #26

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... 

As promised I'm playing with switching from the face front view to some other directions. Lots of paint on this one!

And hey, if you'd like to own it, you can buy it in the Skull-A-Day store HERE.

Choking Hazard Skulls

Clay Morrow, the creator of Choking Hazards recently helped our Skullmaster map his original Lego skull here. Today, we have the pleasure of sharing one of Choking Hazards original skull design.

If you would like to attempt this skull, the instructions can be found here.


Warning C says:

It is appropriate to have you make a skull out of a choking hazard, they belong together like schrot und korn. I find Legos such an amazing phenomenon. The engineering skill involved in making something that doesn't end up looking like a cube anyway is awe inspiring. Thank you for being a friend of the Skull-A-Day community, and thank you for this wonderful work to share.