Skull Bandana

Masha from Israel has come up with a great way to keep your skull warm on chilly days. This skull bandana was an ingenious idea born from colder days in Toronto. Masha writes, "i made the drawing and stencil myself and willing to share so the stencil cutout is also here. to fit to size i roughly measured my jaw and adjusted the drawing and traced it off the screen on transplant sheet of plastic". This is also easy to altar with any paint/photoshop program.

A pic of the willing model in action

And the original stencil as promised

Thanks a ton for this awesome submission, Masha. Being a resident of Michigan, I know this will definitely come in handy for myself. Now I'll look super skullified the next time I'm out sledding with my kids.

Skull-A-Day News: Mascot! (April Fool's 2010)

Hey folks I'm very excited to announce that we've decided to create a costumed Skull-A-Day mascot for year 4 of the project!

Above is a concept sketch for the costume that is just in the preliminary stages of being built. We've even lined up an initial schedule of events where we would like our mascot to appear and promote the Skull-A-Day project throughout our fourth year:

PurpleHull Pea Festival June 25-25, Emerson, AR
The Great Texas Mosquito Festival June 29-31, Clute, TX
BlobFest July 9-11 Phoenixville, PA
Mondo Croquet World Championships July 25, Portland, OR
North Plains Garlic Festival, August 6-8, North Plains, OR
"Running of The Sheep" Sheep Drive Sept. 5, Reed Point, MT
World Mysteries Conference October 9-11, Tempe, AZ
Cooter Fest October 23-25,  Inverness, FL
PunkinChuckin  November 5-7, Nassau, DE
Frozen Dead Guy Days March 5-7, 2011, Nederland, CO
Hillbilly Days April 15-17, 2011, Pikeville, KY

And many more to come!

So this is where you come in: We need a name for this fellow! So leave your suggestion in a comment below and the winner will be chosen at random from all of the entries at midnight tonight.

Oh and here's the best part, the winner will also get to wear the costume at the events!**

A special thanks should go out to our own Citizen Agent for this fantastic suggestion!

**Please note that since Skull-A-Day has no ads or sponsors, so you will need to provide for your own transportation to, and lodging at, all locations. 

[UPDATE 4/2] APRIL FOOLS!

HOWEVER, after talking with my friend Paul at Dude Craft it looks like we might be making this costume for real later this summer! There definitely aren't any plans to attend the above events though, but who knows where this fellow might show up! More details to come.

[BONUS] Papercraft Skull in Use

 Drew Covert, who recently shared his new Skullphabet tattoo, sent along something else that was inspired by the site. He said...

"Had a bit of a creative streak tonight, decided to make your papercraft skull, I don't have a printer, so while i was making it, the bottom jaw ended up not fitting correctly. Soooo... I decided to "upgrade" the skull. I made the scythe with a chopstick, Attached a mini hand to it, crafted the body from a toilet paper roll, and sketch paper, took the lining from the inside of a backpack for the cloak, used an old shoebox, and 2 chopsticks for the stand, covered it with an old t-shirt, and pinned it to the wall beneath an old painting i had. Also, due to the head being extremely light, it's also a bobble-head. So, i would love to ask you one favor, since it was inspired by your artwork, I want you to name him. :]"

 I told him that I'd ask for your help, so what do you think, what should this fellow's new name be?

Lino Skulls

Faye Scott-Farrington from the United Kingdom sent us this pair of original lino prints.

“Mazebrain”

“Skull”

Speedball C says:

As you may have heard me state in the past, I truly enjoy lino prints. It is partially the monocromatic tones, but it is also the old school look of woodblock prints. Perhaps, it might be the actual art of the art. From design, to carving the block, to actually inking and printing the image, one needs to be trained in the multi disciplines in order to accomplish a finish work of art. I personally appreciate the number of hours that may go into work like this, so thank you for sharing these two finished works with us.

Tuesdays With Tatman #43

One of the best parts of Spring time is being able to get back outdoors for some warm weather activities. The green grass, budding trees, and longer days are great influences on creativity. Even a round of disc golf can lead to new skull endeavors.



Friskull, Skullbee, or Flying Skullcer? Call it what you will, it just feels good to be able to enjoy that fresh Spring air. That probably explains the smile on this skull's face.

Each Tuesday in the 3.0 year will bring a new Tuesday With Tatman. As a tribute to the Skull Master's astounding feat let's all get creative and try something new(and hopefully skull related).

King Of The Dead Skull

This colorful illustration comes from Aaron Wolf of Sweden. His title "King Of The Dead" seems pretty fitting. I suppose the most colorful skull around would be king.



Aaron's blog tells us, "This is a drawing that has sat around for about a year until I realized how I wanted to colour it. Since the beginning I knew that I wanted it to be colourful to juxtapose the image but I was just unsure of how I wanted to do this. Once I started playing with the spotted pattern with reminds me of coral or the markings on tropical fish I started." I do love the vibrant colors you used, Aaron. If this were a real piece of coral I would love to have it in my fish tank. Thanks for sharing it!

C-Rations: 0C101011

This week’s offering is a Card-stock on Construction Paper.

“Supplies!” 16" x 9" cut card-stock attached to black construction paper

Classroom C says:

Random bits of left over projects collect in a central location, the hope is that many parts will someday equal a whole. Picking through the piles today inspired me with this piece.

Remember each Monday during the 3.0 year I am posting an original skull design. My weekly offerings are nothing compared to the one-a-day massive project done by the Skullmaster in 1.0, but hopefully you will find some nourishment in these weekly offerings.

Need more nourishment? You can always Friend or Follow.

[CONTEST] Win Skull Cookies!

Our friend Briannaa from Whimzkulls has kindly offered to give away 2 of her absolutely delicious (and you can take my word for it) hand-"skullpted" original design skull cookies (shown below) to each of 3 lucky Skull-A-Day readers!

To be entered in the drawing just leave a comment below saying whose skull you would share your cookies with if you could [NOTE: If you're reading this on Facebook, be sure to leave your comment on the original Skull-A-Day.com post if you want to be actually entered in the contest]

IMPORTANT: Don't forget to include a way to contact you (either an e-mail in the post OR make sure your Blogger profile has an e-mail link for you on it).

You have until just Midnight Eastern Time April 5th to enter so don't delay! [UPDATE] The contest is over. Thanks for everyone who entered! the winner will be announced soon.]

NOTE: If you are out of the US you will need to pay for the additional postage to ship them to you.

And of course you don't have to wait til the end of the contest to get your own cookies from Whimzkulls! Brianna is even offering a bonus cookie of any design with every order!

Good luck!

Origami Skulls

Anita walked us through her amazing origami creations: “ Here are two pix of my origami skulls: Uncle Skullsy, designed in 1999, was my first effort at an origami skull; I think my favorite is basic skull #3 -- I like the shape.”

Picture one (blue background), in the corners clockwise from top left -- easy skull, basic skull #1, Uncle Skullsy, Mrs. Skullsy; center -- Jester skull.
Picture two (maroon background) clockwise from left -- skull phantom, winged skull, skull gift tag, skull-in-the-box (with basic skull #3), skull '07.

Bone Folder C says:

This is truly an incredible collection of origami skulls. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. I am in awe of the amount of skill and diversity you exhibit in the collection, and I find it interesting to see something universal like the eye sockets handled so differently in each one. Happy Folding!

[UPDATE] Crâne de champignons (Mushroom Skull)

Six months ago Xolth from France was featured here with an amazing Mushroom Skull. At the time we asked him to share the effects of time on it, today we share those results with you.


Walkie-Talkie C says:

Pardon me while I *phone home*. Thanks for remembering to send us an update on your piece. It is currently looking very out of this world.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 3.43

Earlier this week Tatman declared an end to Winter with his post here. Today’s collection of simulacra are shown in a support of that declaration.

To get us started is Kirsten from Ottawa, Ontario who said: “ I was walking home one evening a couple of weeks ago when I saw this fine specimen of a skull formed from slushy snow on the sidewalk. When I saw him I knew what I had to do - take a pic with my cell phone and email it to you!”


Next up is, Anita who wrote: “On Saturday my brother told me about your site and sent me the link to it. The very next day I found this skull in ice and snow in the little stream that runs through my yard. The nose is clearly formed by a raccoon footprint -- the eyes probably are too.”


Lastly, Louis and Katie Mihniak from Lake Lure, NC told us: “Our igloo melted like this all by itself.”


Crocus C says:

Thank you all for submitting your pictures. You have helped us in saying farewell to Old Man Winter for another 9 months.

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.

Chalkware Skulls

These chalkware sculptures are courtesy of Terry Ray Flowers from Sacramento, Ca. Terry tells us, "I got the idea one day to take a Dremel tool to one side of the face and carved it into a skull."

"Life And Death"

"Queen Go-Between"

I really like the way you've combined the traditional image of death into sculptures that exude so much life. Your other works on your site are full of life as well. Thanks for sharing, Terry.

[Flashback Friday TOP 10] 192. Ornament(al) Skull

Flashback Friday is a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.0. Each week I'll be posting an 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 of the project...

#10: 192. Ornament(al) Skull

I had no idea when I was making this one how popular it would be. In fact this image was actually used without my permission and sold on T-shirts at a major retailer! Luckily a fan in Texas discovered the shirt and with his help and the help of my lawyer I was able to resolve the situation positively. I displayed the documents related to the case at my exhibition After Life and you can spot a bit of bootleg shirt in this photo.

Tale of the Skull Cookies

Today’s skull features the creation and a creator.

Texans Sandy Bates Bell & Andy Don Emmons collaborated on this project. Sandy wrote: “We enjoy Skull a Day. We have had friends featured on the site (Tom Sale, skull spoons)... we were sugar skulls for Halloween and we made decorated cookies to pass out as part of our costumes. The cookies were a huge hit, many people did not want to eat them but took them home to keep.”

The Creation
and a creatorThe instructions and recipe can be found here for the chipoltle orange shortbread cookies and the royal icing, with step by step decorating instructions.


Lone Star C says:

Your creation is amazing, and is worthy in its own right. However, knowing the story behind it as well seeing its role in your costume is a wonderful addition. Thank you for submitting your bonus costume picture to us as well as directing us towards the recipe on how to make theses tasty skulls ourselves.

Rorschach Skull T's are Back (For A Limited Time Only)

A few of our last T-skull, featuring the Rorschach Skull art, are available again through World of Mirth, a fantastic toy & more store based here in Richmond, Virginia. There are just a few ladies sizes available and they won't last long, so be sure to get yours before they're all gone! Buy yours online HERE.

Muertos Skull

Joby Cummings is back again with more amazing skull works. His "7 Sins" skull was a great addition to our collection and we thank him for bringing us more, including this "Muertos Skull".



I wish I could post all of Joby's killer skull art here, but that would require a whole new site. Luckily, he has his own located here where you can buy all kinds of good stuff from his collection of prints. Thanks again for the awesome contributions, Joby!

[BONUS] Fellow 365er: A Heart A Day

I love encountering other folks who are doing their own daily project and it doesn't hurt when they sneak in a skull or two along the way! 

Artist/designer Thomas Fuchs is in the midst of his A Heart A Day project and the results so far have been terrific. Below are a few of his skull specific entries, but be sure to check out his site and see the full range of what he's been up to!

p.s. If you're in the midst of a daily project and you've made a few skulls along the way, be sure to tell us about it so we can feature it on the site!

Skully Vida's First Vacation

Day of the Dead artist from the Bay Area, Carmela Chase shared this video she made of Skully Vida's first vacation.



Detail of the Video Star

Uncle Traveling C says:

It is awesome that you took the time to photograph your creation at all those places, but then in turn putting it to music with maps is truly wonderful. I really enjoyed watching it, as well as visiting your etsy site. Thank you for sharing this with us.

Tuesdays With Tatman #42

Pool, or billiards, has always been one of my favorite games. Anytime I play it always takes me back to my younger days of good times with old friends. Smoky pool rooms, discreet wagers, and the subtle trash talk that all come with it are only the fringes of the fondness I have for the game.



I want to dedicate today's T.W.T. to one of my oldest friends, Erick. We've shot more pool then we'll ever remember, and I hope that he'll always know how much I love it when we play. Especially when I win and I can tell him, "Rack 'em, Loser!"

Each Tuesday in the 3.0 year will bring a new Tuesday With Tatman. As a tribute to the Skull Master's astounding feat let's all get creative and try something new(and hopefully skull related).

One Last Snow Skull (for now...)

Here in the Northern Hemisphere Spring has finally arrived. Although you wouldn't know it with some of the snow that recently fell on parts of the U.S.A., including Texas. As a fond farewell to snow filled days here's one last snow skull to help scare away those winter blues. Alex Roman actually made this back in February in West Chester.



You might also recall the snow skulls of Noah(here), Citizen Agent(here), and myself(here)from earlier in the year as well. Thanks for helping us reminisce on the chilly weather, Alex, as we send it off into the past and welcome the warm sunny days of the new season.

C-Rations: 0C101010

This week’s offering is a Cork Coaster.

“Bad Ring to It” 4" round Carved Cork Coaster

Ruined C says:

My public service announcement for the day- next time use a coaster, it just may save your furniture.

A special thanks goes out to Skull-A-Day’s editor and interstate warrior Tatman for the lovely gift that influenced today’s piece.

Remember each Monday during the 3.0 year I am posting an original skull design. My weekly offerings are nothing compared to the one-a-day massive project done by the Skullmaster in 1.0, but hopefully you will find some nourishment in these weekly offerings.

Need more nourishment? You can always Friend or Follow.

Laptop Skull

Kathleen of Portland, OR sent a couple pictures of her upgraded macbook. She said: “I disliked how ubiquitous my computer was on my college campus, so I made him stick out a little.”

Detail

Heartlight C says:

This is brilliant, and not just in a luminescent way. I understand you may want to keep this process unknown to protect your skull secrets, but how were you able to accomplish this skull ? Thank you for sharing your creation with us.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 3.42

It seems that food and drink are some of the favorite subjects for our skull hunters. These simulacra fall in a long line of the edible skulls.

Sam Snoek-Brown sent us this, "drop of coffee that spilled on my way into the living room. Too good to pass up."

I guess you could say it was good to the last drop. (maybe not)

Next, Rafael Zentil shows us what I have always known- tomatoes are EVIL!


And this last bit of toasty goodness comes from our very own Skull Master. Of course we know that he sees skulls everywhere.


Thanks again to all of you skull hunters for the simulacrum. Keep sending them in to our submission address and we'll keep posting them to appease your skull appetites.

[BONUS] Skull Inspiration: Birthday Wishes

I love finding out that this project has been an inspiration to others and I had a great reminder of that the other day when an acquaintance got in touch, saying my book had motivated him to complete a project he had started. The project? Get 100+ random people to wish his friend a happy birthday, and he succeeded! Check out the results (and keep an eye out for a cameo from Skulls and me!...

More Repeating Skulls

You may remember a while back when I posted a group of repeating skulls that made for nice skully desktop wallpapers. Today brings a new addition to that group from Janine Lecour. Janine is a freelance fashion and surface designer from Atlanta who tells us more about this piece. "Currently, I'm looking into starting up my own reusable fabric gift wrap and textiles for the home design company, with the designs digitally printed on the fabrics. These are repeat patterns, 3 different colorways of the same design."



The original pics that Janine submitted were quite large and give more detail than the one posted here so here are the originals (yellow&brown, black&white, red&teal) which are also better for using if you want to make them your desktop wallpaper. I love the idea of reusable fabric wrapping paper also. Recycling, upcycling, and reusable items are some of our favorite things here on Skull-A-Day. Thanks for your submissions, Janine!

[Flashback Friday] 126. Stained Glass Skull

Flashback Friday is a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.0. Each week I'll be posting an 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 of the project...

#11: 126. Stained Glass Skull

I specifically took a two-day class on stained glass making to learn how to do this one. Luckily the teacher was a friend of mine because this went well beyond the parameters of her beginners class (including doubling the maximum number of pieces we were supposed to work with)! The process was made even harder by the fact that the milky glass I chose is actually harder to cut than regular colored glass. The piece is back lit by the sun in the above photo, but you can also see what it looks like lit from the front in the original post.

skullbook

Today’s skulls are created on the living canvases of our readers.

First up is Cheryl Sterling from Chicago IL who said: “Hi, love your site. A late night photo shoot with just me, myself, and I.”

Next up is Jax,who wrote: “My 7 year old Lydia, is just as much of a skull junkie as the rest of our family. She wanted me to paint her face for Halloween. We love your website!”

Last for the day is Dollita from Western Canada, who told us: “First off I'd like to say I LOVE SKULL-A-DAY! I've been a collector of skulls and bone-related things for some time and have them subtly hidden in the decor around my house so, this project really makes me tingle! I've gotten a lot of fun inspiration for both my art and my growing collection! Halloween is my birthday and last year, 2009, I went in a Dia de los Muertos style. I went as a catrina doll... the make up was done by me.”

Cosmetic C says:

It is always wonderful to see the faces of our readers. Embracing the living canvas of the body and adorning it with art is a tradition that spans most of human history. Thank you all for taking the time to share your living art with us, it is because of the submitted work of our fans, like you, that this site is able to feed your passion by providing you with something new everyday. Keep of the great work.

Good Art Hlywd Jewelry Skulls

Dear Skull-A-Day readers,
Please give me a moment to pick my jaw up off of the floor after seeing these AWESOME skulls from Josh Warner at his Good Art Hlywd studio.





Okay, now that I have my parts back in place let me add that I am a BIG fan of Josh's work. These skulls have the detail and beauty that any jeweler would and should be proud of. Josh is a well renowned jeweler in L.A. and has quite the name for himself(obviously). His works can be found on many celebs, including the ring in the second pic. I won't do any name dropping, but the "Sly" character will be wearing this in an upcoming movie. Be sure to check out Josh's site for more of his great jewelry, and if you want to pick something out for yourself and feel like a real celebrity then visit his store. Thanks a million for letting us post these, Josh. Keep up the amazing work!

Green & Gold Skulls

In celebration of the day I was able to trick a leprechaun out of its skully fortune.


For the Green we have Marcelo in Buenos Aires, Argentina who wrote: “Here this skull that I did for my son luca.”

& for the Gold we go to Red from Brooklyn, New York


Blarney C says:

Stay away from me lucky skulls! Marcelo, I really enjoy these skulls, I like how their expressions are very warm and inviting a perfect skull for a child. Red, this skull has so much life to it. It may be two dimensional but the reflection of the light off it makes it come alive. Thank you both for your skullrific submissions, it truly is our lucky day.

Tuesdays With Tatman #41

Let me be the first to wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day(a day early). If Irish eyes are usually smiling then don't ask me what this guy is up to.



I found this shiny shamrock at a local party store the other day and figured it would be a good way to spread a little skul'luck'. I hope you all get to enjoy the celebratory day of feasting and good cheer. Just don't drink too much green beer. Cheers!

Each Tuesday in the 3.0 year will bring a new Tuesday With Tatman. As a tribute to the Skull Master's astounding feat let's all get creative and try something new(and hopefully skull related).

Bead Skulls

Today Tatman is gonna take a page from radio DJ's and give you a 2 for Tuesday. In my best Casey Kasem voice, "Here's a little double shot of some skull bead action".

This first bead skull from DameDEATH in South Africa is sending out a love song to Skull-A-Day readers.



Next up in the rotation comes from a long time and good friend of Skull-A-Day, Abby Davis. She writes, "I thought while you were waiting to see my finished intricate sugar skull, I would make you one out of some of the supplies. These are size 10/0 seed beads, which are tiny, that I poured on the back of the canvas that I will be using for the intricate sugar skull."



Thanks for keeping the good times rolling with your submissions, girls. Abby, we're still waiting to see that sugar skull, but I have a feeling that you'll be back. Until next time I'm Tatman signing off.