[BONUS] Braaaaiiins!

Last week I took another trip up to the wonderful Mütter Museum in Philadelphia. The first time I was there I was invited to talk about my art, this time I was actually invited there to make some! I spent two days with Anna Dohdy, the curator of the museum, and she gave me access to hundreds of recently acquired brain slices that are sealed in acrylic. While I can't share the image I made yet, I can show you a sneak preview of the wonderful material I was working with (which we kept calling "Zombie MREs"), including one that was a terrific skull simulacra!...

More details about this project soon!

Mural Skull

This ginormous skeleton mural comes to us from a trio of friends calling themselves "the oks". J-e sent us the pic telling us, "We just completed this 55m x 4m(180 ft. x 13ft.) skeleton. There's one of us standing in front of the skull in order to give a size comparison. We did this in two days."



Not only am I impressed by the sheer size of this piece, I am amazed that it was completed in two days. The bright colors do a great job of contrasting the lifeless black and white. The gold tooth lets us know that whoever this skeleton belonged to, they were the life of the party.

Skull-A-Day Press: Girls & Corpses in Germany

The recent German edition of Girls & Corpses magazine featured a translation of an interview with me from a previous of the US version of the magazine. It's funny to read what I sound like in German, especially since I can't speak it at all. I wonder if it makes sense?...

Handmade Paper Skull

Kim Schulze from Shreveport, Louisiana send us this handmade paper and paper shreds skull.

People have been making paper from thousands of years. Now, it's readily available and something so common that we take having it for granted. There is something nice about being able to break down something common to make it your own. I've only made my own paper once, with the Girl Scout troop I was in. I remember loving the gooey feeling of the paper pulp made from ground up bits of paper and seeing the end result of my hand made paper. My mom probably still has it. For this skull, I like seeing the texture of the pressed pulp and paper shreds. The shreds give the effect of hair. I know it takes a lot of time and patience to make paper, so I commend you on making a shaped skull with the shredded paper hair.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 4.7

It's Sunday again and our avid skull hunters are still on the prowl and catching us some great simulacrum.

Enrique Camacho did a stellar job snagging this pic. "Attached is an interesting picture of a butterfly/moth(?) I took while visiting the community garden in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, CA."


Daniel made his discovery during a family moment. "My little sister was playing with some water, making designs on her shirt. As soon as she showed me this one, I noticed how it resembled a skull. Skull-A-Day instantly popped into my mind."


Wendy Ott captured this pic of a wooden skull. "I took this on a dock. Cool huh?"



It looks like the skull hunters have returned from another successful hunt. Don't forget to look for those hidden skulls all around us and submit them. Be sure to get them....before they GET YOU!

Fruit Sticker Skulls

If you like fruits and veggies as much as the Skull Master then you will surely recognize today's skulls. Ainslee Lara sends us some of her sticker skulls that not only look sweet but might actually be good for you too.

"Banana Brains"

"Trust"

*This skull is taken from the Wilco logo with the word "Trust" replacing "Wilco"

"Sweet Reds"

It still amazes me when I see our readers making such awesome skulls out of such ordinary items. We've all seen these before, but Ainslee has put a whole new spin on how I'll look at them from now on. If we keep getting these great skulls in "bunches" then we'll have to "stick" around for a long time to keep sharing them. Thanks, Ainslee!

[Flashback Friday] 118. Skull Chair A.K.A. (Very) Skair(y)

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Azurafae, Tatman, and myself, Citizen Agent, are taking turns counting down our personal favorite 17 skulls from the Original 365.25 Year. So please join us as we visit the archives and add our additional commentary on some of the original pieces.

#12: 118. Skull Chair A.K.A. (Very) Skair(y)

C. Eames says:

I am a one trick pony when it comes to comments on this one, I wrote almost the exact same comment today as I did almost 3 years ago and now I have that song stuck in my head. When I saw this piece, sitting where the photo was taken, I immediately thought of a tombstone. I even went so far as to send in a roughly edited photo of it that was featured here. I don't know what type of chairs your parents have, but the shape of this one accents the skull design so perfectly. Another reason why this one has stood out in my mind for so long is because of your conversion of a functioning everyday object into art that is probably still functioning in its original purpose. Once again I am reminded of the mid-20th Century art movements in which lines were tested taking art off the gallery walls and finding it in everyday usable objects.

**Flashback Friday was a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.o. 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.

Skullstache

Megan Houston, a student from Maryland said: “I made this for a graphic design project this past semester, my professor suggested I submit to your website!”


C Gull says:

You need to thank your professor for us for inspiring you to submit your work, and now that you have found us please pass some encouragement on to someone else you know. Your use of colors and the great exaggeration of some of the mustaches remind me of images from Day of the Dead artwork. I truly like the whimsical nature in which you tackled a subject matter like a skull. Sometimes we may get some rather dark imagery so a piece like yours in very refreshing. Thank you for submitting your work, we look forward to seeing more from you in the future as you pursue your studies.

Dia de la Abby: #7 - Til Death Do Us Part

This was inspired by the two goth weddings I will attend this summer.

Skull Bride

Skull Groom

Silver for weddings is traditional for a 25th anniversary, but for this, I'm honoring new marriages, with hopes that they will be successful long past 25 years. Skulls are a perfect fit for weddings, since traditional marriage vows include "til death do us part"...though of course that isn't true of all marriages. Regardless of the length of any relationship, life is short and you should enjoy each day like it's your last.

I found this etching/scratch art paper and knew it was perfect for a skull. It's been a long time since I've used this paper and it was still finicky to work with, but I like the rough silver outcome. The tool has a pointed end with round edges, but it depends on the angle you use it as to how well it will scratch. Scratch too much and you will tear the paper. Even though it's finicky, I do suggest giving it a try. I don't have a tutorial for this technique, but I did find this video of a Scratch Art show, that does show artists using scratch art to make amazing pieces. There are a few skull pieces in the gallery.

Every week in the 4.0 year, I will be post my own Dia de la Abby posts as well as a tutorial with instructions on how I made my piece. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project.

Muertes Tea Party

Sandra Kane from Brisbane, Australia, sent us this digital print entitled, "Meurte's Tea Party". Here is her inspiration description for this piece, "This vibrant artwork is inspired by the holiday “El Día de los Muertos”. This colourful holiday includes both mourning and rejoicing, woven together into one emotional fabric. Death is as much a part of life, as life itself is. It is likened to welcoming home a dear friend." To see or buy Sandra's other pieces, see her Website, Etsy and Facebook.

I love a good tea party. A Dia de los Muertos one would surely be fun and festive. I like how to the skull is surrounded with flowers and birds, which represent life. The sparkley stars and fascinator (the flower with the feather) make me think this is a glamorous party for a glamorous deceased lady. If you were to throw a party for a skull, what kind would you have?

Vanites Skull

Janreji **, an artist working in Paris, France, sent us and interesting collection of skulls. This skull was made using a detail of Picasso’s painting “Guernica.”

** For non-French speakers, the page is translated into English here.

Tennis Court C says:

This is truly an amazing collection of work you did. I was moved by your blending of the modern digital art techniques with the old styles as if you are commenting on how art styles are only as alive for the time in which they happen. I also admire the art work you choose to work with. One can not turn away from the message that these works have when you link them to the imagery of a skull. Thank you for submitting your work for us to share.

Skulldaisy

Long time Skull-A-Day friend, Larry Pearson, is trying to brighten our readers' day with this totally rad "Skulldaisy". I'll let Larry explain how he made it..."I had a few minutes waiting for a quote on a steel order the other day and decided to try a few parts on my skull idea. Well, I kinda liked how it was going, so I decided to keep going till it was finished. It is made from 1/16 & 1/8 inch stainless steel sheet scraps for the skull and flower, I used 1/8 inch welding fill rod for the teeth. The skull is 3" long, that's as small as I can get with my tools. Over all height 28", width 9"."





As usual I am super impressed with your metal works, Larry. I love the way it shines and the way it brightens your day in a skully kind of way. The details you put into the skull and the petals shows that you really love your work. If you want to see more pics of Larry's work in progress then check here or visit his site here for all of his great metal works(which includes some great skulls). Thanks, Larry!

Magazine Skeleton

Stephen Rowlette sent us this lovely skeleton bust. Here is his description on how he made it,"Made this from a magazine photo. Just painted over the ladies face. As a makeup artist I always look at the bones under peoples skin. Sometimes you can tell exactly what their skull would look like. Thats what inspired this mixed media free for all."


I'm very girly, so of course the makeup artist making a skull on a magazine (hopefully a fashion one) definitely caught my eye. I love the firey red hair and the facial features of the skull. It looks like she is wearing a sequined top. Maybe she is a Siren, that will lure sailors to their demise. Maybe she is the queen of the Underworld, the right hand woman to the king. She looks powerful and sinister...like many women I know.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 4.6

With today officially being a certain frozen slushy drink day, available free at most locations in US and Canada- Today's simulacra reflects some cool refreshing drinks.

First up is Ryan Chapman with a beer who wrote: “Looked down at the bar, saw a skull.”


Next is a “Skulltini” from Ainslee Lara in Seattle, WA


Lastly, Amanda Hicks sent us the after effects from possibly a frozen drink.


Brain Freeze C says:

Over the years there have been many sitings of simulacra in alcoholic beverages, with the traditional vacation season in full swing, I want to remind all our readers to remember to be responsible. Let all these mysterious simulacra act as a warning for you if you don’t. Thank you all for submitting this weeks collection of simulacra and keep your eyes open for any new ones that may surface.

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.

Cube & Sphere Skulls

Vic Panegasser of Las Vegas, NV shares two skulls he recently made with us.

"The company I work for is celebrating our 50th anniversary and put out paper advertisement cubes in each office. Somebody had them stacked nicely but I couldn't resist rearranging them in to a skull. I wanted to make an 8x8 but didn't have enough!"



"The next pic is of a skull I made using "Buckey Ball" magnets. They are very strong and hard to arrange in anything but geometric shapes but I tried my best!"



Vic shows us that you don't need hundreds of dollars of material to be creative. All you need is an eye for seeing things differently than they usually appear. No matter what you have on hand or within your reach, it always has the potential to spawn creative moments. Thanks, Vic!

[Flashback Friday] 237. Plumber's Skull

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Azurafae, Tatman, and myself, Citizen Agent, are taking turns counting down our personal favorite 17 skulls from the Original 365.25 Year. So please join us as we visit the archives and add our additional commentary on some of the original pieces.

#13: 237. Plumber's Skull

Radiant C says:

It is bound to happen that there be overlaps with other favorite lists, and with this one it was featured as #34 of the fan top 52 last year.

I never realized the true size of this piece until I saw a child standing next to it in one of the pictures from the show. This one has always made me think of that old windows video game, that and the other video game franchise about plumbers.

Something I truly admire about this is the full use of stock parts to create it. One could have easily taken the easy way out and just formed bends in the pipes, but you went beyond and used connectors to achieve your features. Also the use of a die to cut threads instead of soldering pieces is also something else that I admire about the piece. I have always liked the idea of constructing this into a fully functioning piece, however studying it, it would be almost impossible unless you add some additional valves to keep sections from mixing or make it a single temp water feature. I wonder what having this installed would do for the potential resale value of a house, maybe a drinking fountain at the Mütter Museum would be a better place to install a food safe version of your work.

**Flashback Friday was a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.o. 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.

Spiral Skull

Chris wrote: “I have recently created a skull sculpture based upon my painting entitled ‘Extension.’ This image has received a huge response and I wanted to make my vision a reality; at least in clay. You can also see some photos documenting the fabrication process here.”

Original Painting “Extension”

Upwards C says:

This is a amzing “Extension” of your original painting. I am reminded of all the memorable artists through the centuries who have honed their skills to be able to master the many different mediums they work with. Oddly, the first one that came into my head while thinking about this is Degas and his works involving dancers. Thank you for submitting this wonderful “Extension” of yourself.

Dia de la Abby: #6 - Skull Brownies (Skullnies?)

This was inspired by a craving for brownies...Cheesecake Brownies!

Unbaked

Baked

I blended both the brownie and cheesecake topping according to instructions. The part I deviated on, in order to make the skull, was the application of the cheesecake topping. You are supposed to spread it all over the top and then swirl it into the brownie batter with a knife, fork or toothpick. I used a fork to carefully put all of the cheesecake topping into a skull shape. It's really thick, but it worked out well because after baking, the face is sunken in the cheeks, which gives a nice effect to the skull. I tried to "draw" teeth in the mouth portion using a tooth pick, but it no longer shows in the baked area. I think using some of the brownie batter to draw teeth, would have shown better before and after baking. This was a great excuse to "play with my food"...which means, I'll probably make more food skulls.

No additional tutorial today, as above is basically that. However, if you don't like cheesecake brownies, you can really use any topping (mini marshmallows, small candies, crushed candies, sprinkles, peanut butter, nuts...you get the idea) to make a design on your brownies of any type. From experience, if you want to use marshmallows, I do recommend waiting until the brownies are almost done to add them. If added before baking, they can cause the brownies to not bake correctly and they also are burned by the time the brownies are done...which isn't very yummy.

My daughter and I like to eat our brownies in a mug with ice cream on top. This works for any type of cake. You can add whipped cream, grated chocolate and a fruit on top if you want to be fancy.

Every week in the 4.0 year, I will be post my own Dia de la Abby posts as well as a tutorial with instructions on how I made my piece. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project.

Folk Art Skulls

Tina Roberts, from Upminster, Essex, United Kingdom, sent us a couple skull folk art acrylic paintings.

This one looks like it might be a ringmaster in a circus. I be there would be lots of death defying feats that are scary enough to chill you to the bone. An eternity of circus acts won't be so bad if it was Cirque du Soleil style. I think they have enough acts to last an entertaining eternity.

This looks like the guy that lures you into the side show "freak" acts. I would love to be charmed by snake charmers, wowed by sword swallowers, feel flexibly inadequate when seeing the contortionist and ponder the pain tolerance of the people who eat fire, hammer nails into their nose and do suspension. A lovely eternity at the circus this would be.

Brik Milk Skull

Pascal Maugein in Paris, France sent us this “Brik Milk Skull” he made.

In Use

Mighty, Mighty C says:

Another great example of upcycling found items into art. It is interesting to see the different local items from around the world that are available to create with. Thank you for submitting your work for us to share.

[BONUS] Skull Stencil In Use

Felipe Venancio Alves has sent us some pics of Noah's #9 Stencil Skull in use. He writes, "Hello. Me and a friend used the stencil skull found at your site to make some canvases and a t shirt and I am sending some pictures of it to you! Thank you for the stencil!





Great work, Felipe! I know that Noah loves seeing his work inspire others. Remember, you can always use any of Noah's stencils for your own works. If you do please submit a pic of your work; we'd love to see it.

Peaceful Skull

Simon Vine of Auckland, New Zealand sends us cheers and this detail of a skull from a painting he has done.



I love how simple yet detailed your painting is. The lack of bold outlines helps to soften the bony structure and making it seem like a warmer, gentler portrait of ultimate demise. Cheers to you, Simon for the skeleton who seems to have met a peaceful fate. Does anyone want to share a story on this skeleton's final happy days? Maybe it dies in it's sleep....or something better?

Miss Hilton Ink's Skulls

These are some of the skulls that Claire Hilton from Worcestershire, UK sent us. Here is a little about her, "I paint under the name Miss Hilton Ink. I love skulls, tattoos and day of the dead. I am an art graduate and I paint what I like these days and skulls feature in that quite a lot. My art blog is www.misshiltonink.blogspot.com and my shop is www.misshilton.etsy.com."

Skullifly in Orange

Skull Ace of Clubs

I love the antique look of these. I looked on Claire's Etsy site to learn about how she made these. They are made using ink and tea on water color paper. With the Skullifly, I like how the colors blend together smoothly and drip down on the tea stained paper. I'm also a huge fan of butterflies as well as skulls, so the combination of the two elements combined with the painting style is very beautiful to me. The Skull Ace of Clubs, makes me think this belongs to a set the Grim Reaper would have. Reminds me of that scene in "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey" where they had to play all those games against him, so they could live again. I love the ink wash on the skulls. Pen and ink has always been one of my favorite painting styles. The other work in Claire's Etsy and Blog are also very impressive pieces, so I suggest checking both sites out.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 4.5

It's Independence Day today in the U.S.A, and we need some things to help us celebrate...

First we need to be somewhere that you can see the fireworks from. This skull rock from Francesco Ragazzi, should do...

Next, we need something to drink. This skull beer from Antero in Finland will work...

Last, we need something to snack on. How about some swiss skull cheese from Mark Conahan...

Now, just add some friends and family, then we will have a great Fourth of July. Happy celebrating to all!

Keep looking out for those simulacra skull and 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 Illusion

We've seen other skull optical illusions here on Skull-A-Day before, but today UK based artist Tom French sends us his own work of genius. This beautiful charcoal on paper measures 70 x 80 cm.

*Click on this smaller pic for a better detailed view

The works you do are amazing, Tom. I absolutely love "skullusions" and this piece you have provided is one of the best. Your work with charcoal is superb and your soft touch with shades shows that you are highly skilled with this medium. Bravo for your excellent work and thanks for sharing these lovely ladies with us.

[Flashback Friday] 308. Lego Skull

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Azurafae, Tatman, and myself, Citizen Agent, are taking turns counting down our personal favorite 17 skulls from the Original 365.25 Year. So please join us as we visit the archives and add our additional commentary on some of the original pieces.

#14: 308. Lego Skull

Zack C says:

I just realized that a number of my favorites have to do with manipulation of a child’s toy into a skull. I let the psychologist handle that that one for me. I have always been impressed by this one by the fact that you were working with a random assortment of bricks and were able to come up with something so perfect. I remember after this one was posted I explored the custom set creator tool over at Lego.com. Perhaps it was me working in a computer program rather than with actual 3-D trial and error, but I never was able to have the same amount of success engineering my masterpiece.

**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.

Pillowy Skulls

Ann Stelzer from Denver, Colorado said: “I have been a fan of your site for a very long time and I look forward to checking it at work when I need a break. I made these pillows to submit last year to a ‘Day of the Dead’ shows that a gallery holds every year. I played with the pattern and what would work best for them. I toyed with using buttons for the teeth; I have a lot of buttons. I finally settle onthe cloth teeth with the black behind it.”

Accent C says:

♫ It lives in the corner at the end of the couch... HA-PPY Skull Pillow ♫ I find it fascinating whenever we get something submitted in which the act of creating the piece takes as much skill as the final execution of it. You need to really be familiar with the medium you are working with in order to be able to go at it blindly and produce such amazing results. Thank you for submitting these, and please remember us when you make your next work for what sound like an interesting annual show out your way.

Dia de la Abby: #5 - Oil Pastel Skull

When I was working on the last skull, this was an image that popped into my head for this week's piece. I wanted to make a skull that looked like it was sinking into a lily pad, surrounded by other lily pads. This idea was inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen tale of "Thumbelina". Specifically, the part where she meets the frogs. The illustrations of that part are always beautiful with lily pads and water creatures.


With this idea in mind, I had to pick a medium to use, so I chose oil pastels. Like last week, this is another medium that I haven't work with in many years. Unlike last week, this is a medium that I haven't found to be easy to work with...and this time was no different. Overall the results are still very rough, but looking at famous pieces of art using oil pastels, that seems to be the general result. Overall, I'm happy with it. The use of my skull model is very helpful to create a skull in different positions and I'll definitely be using it again for more pieces.

For this week's skull, instead of a tutorial, I have a few tips on using oil pastels.

Every week in the 4.0 year, I will be post my own Dia de la Abby posts as well as a tutorial with instructions on how I made my piece. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project.

Two Headed Skull

2 HEADED MONSTER from Castellon, Spain sent us this two headed skull.

I like the swirly psychedelic feel to it. It looks like two skulls being tossed down a Wonderland rabbit hole combined with the glass balls and bubbles that David Bowie was fond of in "The Labyrinth". Those skulls are off on a wild fantasy adventure. Can I come?