Belgium's Philippe Debongnie, previously featured here, returns with some awesome new collages.
These are simply wonderful. Fish are friends, not food (unless properly prepared with some lemon butter). We all need to be more earth aware, especially when it comes to our oceans and earthly supply of water. The second piece looks like an Ikea nightmare. YIKES! Thanks for sharing again, Phillipe!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
Sugar Skull Drawing
Lisa Hawson, from Surrey in the UK, created this Dia de los Muertos inspired skull.
Dia de los Muertos is only a few more weeks away. This festive drawing reminds me of the sweet decorative sugar skulls made for the two day celebration. Though the festival's roots are in Mexico, many people in other countries celebrate it as well. I'm not of Mexican decent, but there is something about honoring my ancestors and heritage that is alluring. I plan on celebrating with my family, and perhaps drawing a few skulls myself. For more of Lisa's work, check out her blog and website.
Dia de los Muertos is only a few more weeks away. This festive drawing reminds me of the sweet decorative sugar skulls made for the two day celebration. Though the festival's roots are in Mexico, many people in other countries celebrate it as well. I'm not of Mexican decent, but there is something about honoring my ancestors and heritage that is alluring. I plan on celebrating with my family, and perhaps drawing a few skulls myself. For more of Lisa's work, check out her blog and website.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Sunday Simulacra - Version 6.12
This week's simulacra are a couple of free loading loiterers who got caught by our ever alert skull hunters.
Shawn Zook caught this creepy soap scum skull planning some dirty work in the lavatory...
...and Marty Busch found this stained skull hanging out on a roof hatch at the mall in West Dundee, IL. He, like I'm sure many more of us, instantly saw the Misfits skull.
We don't issue fines or put up "No Loitering" signs around here on Skull-A-Day. We welcome all of the hidden skulls a chance to show themselves and to be themselves. That's what this sharing thing is all about. Thanks, Shawn and Marty!
Shawn Zook caught this creepy soap scum skull planning some dirty work in the lavatory...
We don't issue fines or put up "No Loitering" signs around here on Skull-A-Day. We welcome all of the hidden skulls a chance to show themselves and to be themselves. That's what this sharing thing is all about. Thanks, Shawn and Marty!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Odoskull
Nick Newton is from Calgary, Canada and he digs skulls AND our site. He's presented us with this smiley skull sketch that he created using odosketch.
I dig the way you kept us in mind once you completed this cranial creation. Plus, the odosketch site is a pretty nifty place for spreading creativity. Thanks for sharing both of them with us, Nick!
I dig the way you kept us in mind once you completed this cranial creation. Plus, the odosketch site is a pretty nifty place for spreading creativity. Thanks for sharing both of them with us, Nick!
Friday, August 17, 2012
Snow and Ice Skulls
Design Student Chessie Rosier from the UK showed off some of the skulls that she likes to create.
Cool C says:
This is a refreshing collection of works to take us away from the “Dog Days of Summer”. While these works are just memories of a past season, they also serve as hope looking towards the next change in season as the cycle of dormant and rebirth continues. Thank you for sharing some of your work with us here as well as the other great work on your facebook page.
Cool C says:
This is a refreshing collection of works to take us away from the “Dog Days of Summer”. While these works are just memories of a past season, they also serve as hope looking towards the next change in season as the cycle of dormant and rebirth continues. Thank you for sharing some of your work with us here as well as the other great work on your facebook page.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Cardboard Safari Vince Skull
Thank you for participating. This contest is now closed.

Of course you don't need to wait till the end of the contest to get your own Cardboard Safari creation. Visit their site to purchase one or more of their "Vince" Skulls available in two colors, or any of their wonderful recycled cardboard designs!
Skull and Bones Jewelry
Janice Byrne is obsessed with skulls. She owns a jewelry company, Jlb Jewellery, where she occasionally makes some skull and bones pieces.
I'm always attracted to highly detailed and delicate unusual jewelry, so when I saw these two lovely pieces, I was drawn to them. These, like many of Janice's pieces, are shiny and the inner magpie in me, loves shiny! These piece are very wearable from a day at the office, to a night out, or a weekend trip. For more of Janice's jewelry work, check out her website and Facebook.
I'm always attracted to highly detailed and delicate unusual jewelry, so when I saw these two lovely pieces, I was drawn to them. These, like many of Janice's pieces, are shiny and the inner magpie in me, loves shiny! These piece are very wearable from a day at the office, to a night out, or a weekend trip. For more of Janice's jewelry work, check out her website and Facebook.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Therapy Skulls
Robert Bianco mentions that he creates art as part of his “daily therapy” and included a pair of pieces for us.
Dr. Jonathan C says:
We all deal with the pressures of daily life in different ways. I myself find the act of creation to be much more fulfilling than other methods. However, this isn’t about me it about you and with that I say- Thank you for submitting some of your daily creations for us to share.
Dr. Jonathan C says:
We all deal with the pressures of daily life in different ways. I myself find the act of creation to be much more fulfilling than other methods. However, this isn’t about me it about you and with that I say- Thank you for submitting some of your daily creations for us to share.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Anti-Gas Skull
Clare Twomey of North Lismore, Australia is an artist who has been using the skull as inspiration for a long time. At the moment she's part of a protest group fighting Coal Seam Gas mining. They're currently using this image on badges, later she'll finish it as a coat of arms for t-shirts and jackets.
The 'Knitting Nannas Against Gas' "peacefully and productively protest against the destruction of our land and water by exploration and mining of Coal Seam Gas and other nonrenewable energy." Knitting with a cause and creative revolution. Who knew that yarn could carry such weight? Thanks for sharing, Clare!
The 'Knitting Nannas Against Gas' "peacefully and productively protest against the destruction of our land and water by exploration and mining of Coal Seam Gas and other nonrenewable energy." Knitting with a cause and creative revolution. Who knew that yarn could carry such weight? Thanks for sharing, Clare!
Monday, August 13, 2012
A Skeleton, a Skull, and a Lobster
These two drawings were done by Caleb Schumm who is 6 years old.
As someone with a young child, I always enjoy the submissions we get from children. These two drawings are very cute and creative. I love all the little details, which shows that Caleb is a good observer. Looks like this skeleton has some fun adventures and probably plenty of graveyard stories to share.
Skeleton picking up a skull
Skeleton being chased by a lobster
As someone with a young child, I always enjoy the submissions we get from children. These two drawings are very cute and creative. I love all the little details, which shows that Caleb is a good observer. Looks like this skeleton has some fun adventures and probably plenty of graveyard stories to share.
[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Cardboard Safari Vince Skull
Thank you for participating. This contest is now closed.
Of course you don't need to wait till the end of the contest to get your own Cardboard Safari creation. Visit their site to purchase one or more of their "Vince" Skulls available in two colors, or any of their wonderful recycled cardboard designs!
Sunday, August 12, 2012
[BONUS] The Gift Of Skulls Extreme!
I received several great skull items for my personal collection recently...
Artist Ted Reiderer, whom we've featured previously, made me this skull from a white vinyl record that I sent to him to use...
Herbert Hoover, creator of the Ring-A-Day project that we featured recently, sent me this ring he made inspired by my 8-bit Skull...
And my friend Josh gave me this wonderful souvenir of his trip to the Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic (which I have yet to visit, so I was extremely jealous!)...
Thanks again guys!
Artist Ted Reiderer, whom we've featured previously, made me this skull from a white vinyl record that I sent to him to use...
Herbert Hoover, creator of the Ring-A-Day project that we featured recently, sent me this ring he made inspired by my 8-bit Skull...
And my friend Josh gave me this wonderful souvenir of his trip to the Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic (which I have yet to visit, so I was extremely jealous!)...
Thanks again guys!
Sunday Simulacra - Version 6.11
Welcome back, skull hunters! It's another "hardcore" version of our Sunday simulacra with some jagged boneheads.
Danny Roberts, AKA "Stickman", spied this loud mouthed cement and rebar skull in Gilbert, AZ.
And Shannon, AKA "Rockgurl", received this stone faced rock skull from her husband to put in her rock garden.
An excellent find and an excellent gift. The sharing of skulls will never cease as long as we have our wonderful hunters and artists keeping Skull-A-Day alive. Thanks to Stickman and Rockgurl for adding to our collection!
Danny Roberts, AKA "Stickman", spied this loud mouthed cement and rebar skull in Gilbert, AZ.
And Shannon, AKA "Rockgurl", received this stone faced rock skull from her husband to put in her rock garden.
An excellent find and an excellent gift. The sharing of skulls will never cease as long as we have our wonderful hunters and artists keeping Skull-A-Day alive. Thanks to Stickman and Rockgurl for adding to our collection!
Saturday, August 11, 2012
All Is Vanity – Exhibition Photos
For those of you who couldn't make it to see All Is Vanity, my recent exhibition of 60+ pieces from my 100 Painted Skulls project at the Clippi Headren hair salon here in Richmond, VA, below are a few pictures of the installation...
And yes, I really did put 2 pieces in the bathroom...
More pix from the exhibition can be seen HERE.
And detailed images of the pieces can be seen HERE.
And yes, I really did put 2 pieces in the bathroom...
More pix from the exhibition can be seen HERE.
And detailed images of the pieces can be seen HERE.
Skull-A-Day by Email
Folks who want to keep up with the latest posts here on Skull-A-Day now have another option: you can now subscribe to this blog via email! Look for the sign-up widget on the right.
FYI we won't receive your email directly, it's just used by Blogger to send out notifications and nothing else!
And of course you can still sign-up for our RSS feed and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, of Google+ as well!
FYI we won't receive your email directly, it's just used by Blogger to send out notifications and nothing else!
And of course you can still sign-up for our RSS feed and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, of Google+ as well!
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!

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!
Friday, August 10, 2012
Watch Part Skulls
Dan, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada typically makes motorcycles, but he shared with us some skulls that he made recently using recycled vintage watch parts.
Tinker C says:
Recently I read an article about Clocky being part of an exhibit at the MOMA so my first thoughts after seeing your designs were about that wonderful prop. It however, made me start thinking about what the skulls of great personified items in our world would look like if we could see inside them. Your designs are probably a good indication of the answer. Thank you for sharing your with us.
Tinker C says:
Recently I read an article about Clocky being part of an exhibit at the MOMA so my first thoughts after seeing your designs were about that wonderful prop. It however, made me start thinking about what the skulls of great personified items in our world would look like if we could see inside them. Your designs are probably a good indication of the answer. Thank you for sharing your with us.
[CONTEST] Win a Cardboard Safari Vince Skull
Thank you for participating. This contest is now closed.
We're happy to offer our readers the opportunity to win a skull from Cardboard Safari. "Cardboard Safari designs, manufactures and distributes home decor products worldwide using sustainable materials and state of the art manufacturing technologies. The tall tales and misadventures of my (owner Chris Jessee) woodsman cousin inspired the design of the first Cardboard Safari product, Bucky the deer trophy. Other trophy heads quickly followed as friends and customers made requests for their favorite animals. Our fun products inspire the soul and imagination of our customers at an affordable price." The folks at Cardboard Safari, are excited to participate in this Skull-A-Day giveaway by offering a Special Edition, "Vince", full-size human skull, to one lucky Skull-A-Day reader!
"Vince" is made of over 50 laser cut layers of recycled cardboard, a non-toxic, environmentally friendly product. Laser cutting makes for a precision fit and easy assembly using layered construction. Packaged flat for shipping; includes detailed instructions. There is one skull per package. This Special Edition includes a highly detail contour box. You read that right...there is assembly required and detailed instructions, because "Vince", is a fantastic 3D puzzle. This 3D skull puzzle is a great skull for teenagers to adults. Since cardboard is flammable, please keep the skull away from open flames and hot lights. Also, cardboard edges are sharp, since they are paper, so handle with care. "Vince" Measures: 6W x 6H x 8D inches
Puzzles are a great way to keep you busy on a leisurely day, and this unique one is sure to entertain you for hours. I normally put puzzles together at a house, but "Vince" deserves an adventure! To enter the contest, leave a comment below answering, where is the craziest place you would put your "Vince" skull together? I might put him together deep in the Paris, France catacombs. I think he would feel at home there.
[NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, be sure to leave your comment on this Skull-A-Day.com blog post if you want to be actually entered in this contest.]
Don't forget to include a way to contact you (either an e-mail in the post OR make sure your Blogger profile has a working e-mail link for you on it). Entries are only valid with this information.
You have until just Midnight Eastern Time Thursday, August 16th to enter so don't delay!
NOTE: Cardboard Safari will pay for USA shipping to the winner. Sorry international folks!
Of course you don't need to wait till the end of the contest to get your own Cardboard Safari creation. Visit their site to purchase one or more of their "Vince" Skulls available in two colors, or any of their wonderful recycled cardboard designs!
"Vince" is made of over 50 laser cut layers of recycled cardboard, a non-toxic, environmentally friendly product. Laser cutting makes for a precision fit and easy assembly using layered construction. Packaged flat for shipping; includes detailed instructions. There is one skull per package. This Special Edition includes a highly detail contour box. You read that right...there is assembly required and detailed instructions, because "Vince", is a fantastic 3D puzzle. This 3D skull puzzle is a great skull for teenagers to adults. Since cardboard is flammable, please keep the skull away from open flames and hot lights. Also, cardboard edges are sharp, since they are paper, so handle with care. "Vince" Measures: 6W x 6H x 8D inches
Of course you don't need to wait till the end of the contest to get your own Cardboard Safari creation. Visit their site to purchase one or more of their "Vince" Skulls available in two colors, or any of their wonderful recycled cardboard designs!
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Dia de la Abby: #79 Tea and Coco Skull
Rummaging through my kitchen for more things to paint with, I chose three types of tea, and hot chocolate, for this skull.
This was a fun experiment. I knew that the black tea (Lipton) would be light brown, and the hot chocolate would be dark brown. The raspberry tea is grey, though it's red-pink in the mug. The chamomile tea is a very pale brown, which was a nice surprise since it was more leaves than color in the mug. I sketched out the skull with pencil, then painted with the tea, like I would with water colors. This painting smelled great immediately, even when dry. The tea smell faded a day later, but the chocolate scent stayed.
You might wonder how I made paint from these items. It's rather simple. I took four mugs, and opened one bag into each mug, so the items were separated. Separately, I heated up some water in a liquids measuring cup, in the microwave. Once the water was warm enough, I poured a little into each mug, and poured the rest in the sink. I only needed enough water to make a concentrated infused liquid. If I had prepared the mugs, as I would to drink the liquids, then the "paint" would be too watered down and sheer. You will obviously have loose tea leaves, but I wanted this, as it adds extra concentrated color to the paper, when I painted with it. This is technique very similar to how I painted my #52 Skull Sculpture, but for that I used layers of just black tea to age it. The most easily seen variations are the bits of undissolved hot chocolate.
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.
This was a fun experiment. I knew that the black tea (Lipton) would be light brown, and the hot chocolate would be dark brown. The raspberry tea is grey, though it's red-pink in the mug. The chamomile tea is a very pale brown, which was a nice surprise since it was more leaves than color in the mug. I sketched out the skull with pencil, then painted with the tea, like I would with water colors. This painting smelled great immediately, even when dry. The tea smell faded a day later, but the chocolate scent stayed.
You might wonder how I made paint from these items. It's rather simple. I took four mugs, and opened one bag into each mug, so the items were separated. Separately, I heated up some water in a liquids measuring cup, in the microwave. Once the water was warm enough, I poured a little into each mug, and poured the rest in the sink. I only needed enough water to make a concentrated infused liquid. If I had prepared the mugs, as I would to drink the liquids, then the "paint" would be too watered down and sheer. You will obviously have loose tea leaves, but I wanted this, as it adds extra concentrated color to the paper, when I painted with it. This is technique very similar to how I painted my #52 Skull Sculpture, but for that I used layers of just black tea to age it. The most easily seen variations are the bits of undissolved hot chocolate.
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.
Paper Skull Latern
Max Rubenacker, from Colorado, created "A little paper craft lantern...to print out and attach to Christmas lights for my Dia de los Muertos celebrations." The design is "inspired by Manny Calavera of Grim Fandango."
It's that time of year where I have Halloween and Dia de los Muertos on my mind every day. I love simple paper craft projects like these. This one was designed to fit over Christmas lights, so they are transformed into skull lights for a Dia de los Muertos celebration. These would be a great project for a group. I can easily see these paint or drawn on, to make them more festive, by people of all ages. Dia de los Muertos is of course about celebration of your heritage and family, so what better way to celebrate than doing a family activity. Noah's Papercraft Skull could also be used as Christmas light covers, with or without the articulated jaw. Feel free to print out both of the paper skulls and use them to decorate your abode. Halloween and Dia de los Muertos only come 3 days a year, but for a skull filled house like mine, having these up year round wouldn't be out of place.
It's that time of year where I have Halloween and Dia de los Muertos on my mind every day. I love simple paper craft projects like these. This one was designed to fit over Christmas lights, so they are transformed into skull lights for a Dia de los Muertos celebration. These would be a great project for a group. I can easily see these paint or drawn on, to make them more festive, by people of all ages. Dia de los Muertos is of course about celebration of your heritage and family, so what better way to celebrate than doing a family activity. Noah's Papercraft Skull could also be used as Christmas light covers, with or without the articulated jaw. Feel free to print out both of the paper skulls and use them to decorate your abode. Halloween and Dia de los Muertos only come 3 days a year, but for a skull filled house like mine, having these up year round wouldn't be out of place.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Flash Card Skull
Holden McCormick sent us this skull "made by a 12 year old" using flashcards.
Old School C:
You know when technology runs too much of your life when the term “flashcards” brings up an image of a piece of some sort of technology. It has been ages since I had the pleasure of working with these old pieces of technology, it however is nice to see that our younger generation is still familiar with them. Then again all those cards are blank, maybe this is a commentary that these have gone the way of magnetic tape or film strips, and this is the fate of another tool of the ghosts of learning past. Thank you for sharing this creation with us.
Old School C:
You know when technology runs too much of your life when the term “flashcards” brings up an image of a piece of some sort of technology. It has been ages since I had the pleasure of working with these old pieces of technology, it however is nice to see that our younger generation is still familiar with them. Then again all those cards are blank, maybe this is a commentary that these have gone the way of magnetic tape or film strips, and this is the fate of another tool of the ghosts of learning past. Thank you for sharing this creation with us.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Lego Goat Skull
This awesome piece of construction is courtesy of "The Scale Works" in Amsterdam. An agreeable note was included, "Lego is a great way to experiment with three dimensional form without getting your hands dirty or having to throw away mistakes. It's the ultimate in recyclable material."
Aaah, legos. We've seen your glory before. How many a young person has benefited from your sturdiness and versatility? Like all classic art mediums, the countless designs are only limited by the imagination. Maybe if we all share this with others then lego art might become the next great stye and we'll see it in museums someday. I'm gonna share this with two lego lovin' guys I know named Matt and Ray for starters. What will you do......?
Aaah, legos. We've seen your glory before. How many a young person has benefited from your sturdiness and versatility? Like all classic art mediums, the countless designs are only limited by the imagination. Maybe if we all share this with others then lego art might become the next great stye and we'll see it in museums someday. I'm gonna share this with two lego lovin' guys I know named Matt and Ray for starters. What will you do......?
Monday, August 6, 2012
[BONUS] 402. Casette Skull II
My friend recently gave me a bag of old audio cassettes and I was inspired to work with that format as an art medium again for the first time since the third day of my original project....
Acrylic paint on Prince's soundtrack to Purple Rain.
Acrylic paint on Prince's soundtrack to Purple Rain.
Wood Skull Ring
The very creative Herbert Hoover, from New York, NY, is back again with a Wood Skull Ring from his Ring-A-Day project.
I'm enjoying Herbert's Ring-A-Day project. He's playing with designs and materials to make quirky and creative rings daily. This is a great one using wood and sharp angles to create a stylized skull ring. To see Herbert's daily creations, visit his Blog and Facebook page.
I'm enjoying Herbert's Ring-A-Day project. He's playing with designs and materials to make quirky and creative rings daily. This is a great one using wood and sharp angles to create a stylized skull ring. To see Herbert's daily creations, visit his Blog and Facebook page.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Sunday Simulacra - Version 6.10
Who knew that our band of skull hunters had it's own aerial unit keeping their eyes on the skies for the skulls reigning from above.
This fantastic cloud skull was captured on the deck of John Angelo's cabin in beautiful Pollock Pines, California.
And one of our most avid hunters, Tom Adams, spotted this "skullset" with his entire family.
The best part of these two isn't their similarities but their differences. One is formed from the clouds themselves, the other is a void of negative space within the clouds. Each has it's own persona so each earns a place in our elaborate trophy room. Thanks, John & Tom!
This fantastic cloud skull was captured on the deck of John Angelo's cabin in beautiful Pollock Pines, California.
And one of our most avid hunters, Tom Adams, spotted this "skullset" with his entire family.
The best part of these two isn't their similarities but their differences. One is formed from the clouds themselves, the other is a void of negative space within the clouds. Each has it's own persona so each earns a place in our elaborate trophy room. Thanks, John & Tom!
Saturday, August 4, 2012
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!
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!
Friday, August 3, 2012
Designed Skull
Designer Jan D. Gillich from Berlin, Germany sent us this illustrated skull.
Archetype C says:
When I saw this piece I couldn't help but see it as perhaps a future design for one of the universal danger symbols- like radiation or bio hazard. My imagination ran away with me and I began imagining a post apocalyptic world in which this symbol permeates the surrounding showing up on almost everything and small bands of survivors try to rebuild a new civilization while trying to avoid the deadly remnants of the apocalypse. Thank you for submitting your work for us to share.
Archetype C says:
When I saw this piece I couldn't help but see it as perhaps a future design for one of the universal danger symbols- like radiation or bio hazard. My imagination ran away with me and I began imagining a post apocalyptic world in which this symbol permeates the surrounding showing up on almost everything and small bands of survivors try to rebuild a new civilization while trying to avoid the deadly remnants of the apocalypse. Thank you for submitting your work for us to share.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Sketchy Skull
Nick Newton from Calgary, Canada drew this skull.
There is something about this toothy smile that exudes happiness. The sketched style reminds me of old cartoons, in particular "The Skeleton Dance" by Walt Disney. It looks like it should belong to one of the skeletons joyfully playing in the cemetery.
There is something about this toothy smile that exudes happiness. The sketched style reminds me of old cartoons, in particular "The Skeleton Dance" by Walt Disney. It looks like it should belong to one of the skeletons joyfully playing in the cemetery.
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Jeweled Skulls
Artist Joanne Davidson from Aberdeenshire, Scotland told us: “I wanted to learn how to cast with resin and after a few practices with resin and marble powder I realised how much like bone it came
out, no surprises that a skull would be the next thing I created. I then sculptured a skull from terracotta clay and took a silicone cast of it.”
Joanne continued: “I love pointillism and monotony so casting plain skulls soon became mundane, I needed something a bit more challenging and like other artists out there I wanted to try the Damien Hirst Jeweled Skull. Using 5000 4mm rhinestones and 20 hours later I finally completed the skull.”

She went on: “Having now made quite few plain Jeweled ones I thought I'd try them with colours. The results were great, so I moved to do a little more complicated one. The leopard print one took a bit longer to do than the plain ones, but I loved doing it.”
Bejeweled C says:
Thank you for sharing your truly inspiring work. Having personally worked with these items in the past on a limited basis on this, I know the frustration and tediousness of how you need to interact with the material. Creating with them on such a scale is a testament to your artistic talents.
out, no surprises that a skull would be the next thing I created. I then sculptured a skull from terracotta clay and took a silicone cast of it.”
Joanne continued: “I love pointillism and monotony so casting plain skulls soon became mundane, I needed something a bit more challenging and like other artists out there I wanted to try the Damien Hirst Jeweled Skull. Using 5000 4mm rhinestones and 20 hours later I finally completed the skull.”
She went on: “Having now made quite few plain Jeweled ones I thought I'd try them with colours. The results were great, so I moved to do a little more complicated one. The leopard print one took a bit longer to do than the plain ones, but I loved doing it.”
Bejeweled C says:
Thank you for sharing your truly inspiring work. Having personally worked with these items in the past on a limited basis on this, I know the frustration and tediousness of how you need to interact with the material. Creating with them on such a scale is a testament to your artistic talents.
[CONTEST REMINDER] Last Day to Win A Set of Spooky Scholasitc Books!
The contest is over, thanks to everyone who participated! Don't forget, today at Midnight (Eastern Time) is the last day to enter to win a wonderful set of spooky books from Scholastic (shown below)!
Follow THIS LINK (or click the bright red ad to the right) for details.
And of course you don't need to wait till the end of the contest to get your own Scholastic books check out their website for hundreds (thousands?) of titles and of course visit your local independent bookstores and libraries and ask for them there!
And of course you don't need to wait till the end of the contest to get your own Scholastic books check out their website for hundreds (thousands?) of titles and of course visit your local independent bookstores and libraries and ask for them there!
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