Sunday Simulacra - Version 6.50

Today's simulacrum come from our very own Skull Master, Noah Scalin.

He noticed this somewhat surprised skull in a paper creation from Charles T. Mayer...

... as well as this skullrific gift box!

Almost 7 years after starting Skull-A-Day Noah still sees those sneaky skulls hiding around us everyday. With your help and watchful eyes maybe we can continue presenting these for another 7 years. Jut make sure you submit them to us and we'll continue to post them. Thanks for showing us your finds(again), Noah!

"Good Friend"

French artist BL67 paints a wonderful picture of a "Good Friend".  This acrylic on canvas painting of a dog who was "man's best friend" has turned 180 degrees on the former master.

Nervous as he may be, he can't turn down the attention.  Perhaps he simply misses the feeling of flesh on his bones, or maybe it's because he can't run away without any muscles.  None the less it's a great painting that we thank you for sharing, BL67!

Ink Skull

Vienna, Austria based artist Michael Tripolt, a member of the Austrian art- and design collective ATZGEREI, sent us this ink-drawing he completed in April 2013.

Sigmund C says:

There is a dream like feeling to this piece, it has part feeling of woodblock print and part feeling of a comic illustration.  I am imagining that this skull as having been discover floating in outer space many millinium from now by a space archeologist. Thank you for sharing your work with us.

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Metal Skull with Brain Pendant from Anatomical Element

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thanks for participating!

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time Friday, May 17, 2013, to enter the giveaway from Anatomical Elements for a Skull Pendant. You can find the original contest post by clicking the side bar ad, or this link.

[NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, you must go to THE ACTUAL BLOG POST HERE to enter this contest! You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+]

Skull Whistles

Howard Kistler of Tabula Retina Studio is "a glass and clay crafter who has recently started making ceramic whistles. The skull whistles have been warmly received, and are a lot of fun to make. Here is a photo of the latest batch, a trio affectionately named Manet, Meau, and Jacques (The Ded Boys).

These skull whistles remind me of the death whistles I read about recently. They were used by various Central America tribes, but the reason for them has been lost. Perhaps they were for some type of death ritual, or possibly buried with bodies in case the people were not truly dead. In Victorian times, many bodies were buried with a bell's string tied to them, or a horn added to the coffin, because they were incapable of determining the difference between dead and comatose. The buried people, if they were actually alive, could ring the bell or blow into the horn to alert the graveyard keeper that they needed to dig up the person. Which ever way these type of instruments are used, the melody is sure to be eerie.

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Metal Skull with Brain Pendant from Anatomical Element

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thanks for participating!

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time Friday, May 17, 2013, to enter the giveaway from Anatomical Elements for a Skull Pendant. You can find the original contest post by clicking the side bar ad, or this link.

[NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, you must go to THE ACTUAL BLOG POST HERE to enter this contest! You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+]

Slashø Skull

Slashø has been a long time fan of Skull-A-Day, but is now here to turn into a contributor for us. This tall sugar skull is a great way to start.

I'm getting a kick out of this elongated fellow. Possibly an animated version of a skull of one of the Nazca people, but definitely something I could see appearing in an episode of Adventure Time(yes, I have kids!).

Let this be a lesson to the rest of you. Slashø shouldn't have waited so long, and neither should you! Submit those skulls for the world to see. Thanks for sharing your skull with us, Slashø, no matter how long it took.

[CONTEST] Win a Metal Skull with Brain Pendant from Anatomical Element

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thanks for participating!

Rachel Stork Stoltz, of Anatomical Element, is a medical illustrator and obsessed with anatomy. She started metalworking as a way to rip herself away from the computer and get her hands dirty. Her very first piece was an anatomical heart and the anatomical skull with brain soon followed (and is one of her favorites!). Rachel made a skull pendant from old roofing copper that she found in her grandfather's barn. She is giving away this skull pendant to one lucky Skull-A-Day fan!

 Close up, so you can see the details.

A perspective view to show the layers of metal

Hanging on a neck, to give you a better idea of size

PRIZE INFO: One anatomical skull with brain pendant from Anatomical Element. The pendant is about 1 3/4 inches wide and 2 1/4 inches tall. It's hand cut and hammered, layered with steel rivets. Bottom layer is copper, skull layer is aluminum, and the brain is copper with a fire scale patina.

HOW TO ENTER: A fancy skull like this deserves to be worn somewhere special. To enter this contest, comment below telling me what special place you would wear this pendant to, if you won it. For example, I'd likely wear it to the International Museum of Surgical Sciences in Chicago, IL, on May 31st, for our Skull Appreciation Day show opening.

CONTACT INFO: The winner, chosen at random, will be contacted via email by one of the Skull-A-Day editors within 7 days of the end of the contest. If that winner doesn't respond, another winner will be chosen. With your comment, please INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!!! Entries are only valid with this information.

WHERE TO ENTER: All entries must be made on this blog post, on Skull-A-Day.com. You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

CONTEST CLOSES: 11:59:59 PM Eastern USA Time Friday, May 17, 2013.

NUMBER OF WINNERS: One

PRIZE SHIPS: This contest is open to all skull lovers around the world.

IF YOU DON'T WIN: Don't fret, her jewelry is available in her Etsy shop, Anatomical Element. Rachel is offering a 10% discount on your entire purchase, if you enter the promo code skulladay13 at checkout. The discount is good from Monday, May 13, 2013 until Saturday, May 25, 2013. You can find out what Rachel is making on her Facebook page.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 6.50

Food is definitely one of the most popular places that our readers find those sneaky little skulls hidden around us daily. These two are no exception...

Dawn Doty writes, "My kids are huge fans, so my daughter was thrilled when she spotted this skull while we were rolling out sugar cookies"....

...and Sarja Hasan found this tasty morsel of a skull in some soup.

Skullicious! I always dig seeing these food simulacrum, but it always makes me hungry. Speaking of which.... Thanks for sharing these, Dawn and Sarja! Don't forget to submit your skull simulacra to share with our readers each and every Sunday.

Stained Glass Guitar Skulls

Megan Geer-Alsop is one heck of a stained glass artist living in Topanga, CA. She makes a lot of different pieces including stained glass guitar ambient light sculptures. Here's are a couple that she did for Dia de Los Muertos.

These are too cool! The stained glass work looks terrific with it's smooth lines and colors. Add that to the fact that it's on a guitar and the cool factor just tripled. Megan has other instruments and shapes to share on her site. Thanks for tuning your axes to the key of Skull-A-Day, Megan!

Honey Skull

Barry Thomson created this Honey Skull using Photoshop. You can see some up close and progress photos on his blog. Prints are available here.

I love seeing amazing digital work that is highly detailed. The shading really helps define the honeycomb and skull shape. The details of the bees makes the really appear to live on this unusual hive. I love the taste of honey. One of my favorite ways to enjoy honey is when it's still on the honey comb. I fondly remember go to the state fair and buying honey combs thick with delicious fresh honey. The glistening honey of this skull makes me want another right now!

SkullFlakes

Melvin Thomas wrote: "My kids were doing snowflakes one day for fun so I decided to make something different and since I like skulls..... went through lots of paper and many folds and cuts later came up with this final design. The eyes can be any shape so I went with the super-star shape."

Starchild C says:

Now that the danger of frost is slowly fading away around my place in this world I feel that this is the perfect time to say farewell for the next six months of this wintery precipitation with this wonderful addition to our every growing skullflake family.  Thank you for sharing this work with us and may your next few months be filled with plenty of skullshine!

PS you can see some more examples of Skullflakes HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Metal Buffalo Skull

Braden Kiefiuk from Enderby, British Columbia is a metal bending man!  He's shared this buffalo skull to prominently display upon our page.

Like a good artist should, Brandon crafts these by hand.  If you think this is impressive then check out this piece of work.  Brandon, you should definitely make friend's with Skull-A-Day friend Larry Pearson.  Thanks for bringing the METAL!!!

Skull Appreciation Day 2013 Open Participation

Skull-A-Day wouldn't exist without our awesome fans. We've come a long way together. Later this month, on Friday, May 31st, we are starting the festivities for Skull Appreciation Day 2013. The Skull-A-Day team is heading to the International Museum of Surgical Sciences in Chicago, IL to meet up with Street Anatomy for FaceOff. It's going to be an amazing show featuring artwork from selected artists. FaceOff is a special type of show were the artists used a provided template to create their skulls. The skulls were then vertically split in half digitally. Two digital halves from two different artist are put together to form one skull. This gives the viewer a different perspective on artists' visions of skulls. These FaceOff creations will hang in the museum from May 31-August 25, 2013.

Of course we don't want to leave you all out. That wouldn't be in the Skull-A-Day spirit. Like the other 2 before we want our fans to participate in the show. There are two ways you can do this...send us some Skull Mail Art, and/or make your own FaceOff creations!

FaceOff template example. See below for where to download the big version.

DIGITAL ART PARTICIPATION

Since the selected artists used a skull template as a guide for their creations, we thought you fans would enjoy using the exact same template to create your own skulls.
To participate in the FaceOff show, you need to do the following:

• DOWNLOAD THE TEMPLATE. The above image is just an example so you know what you're working with.
• Feel free to cover the skull image as you please. Just make sure the general lines of the template are the same, for easy pairing with another artist's skull creation
• Email us a great photo or scan of the finished skull to submissions@skulladay.com
• With that email also include: Your name and your location
• Remember to keep the content kid friendly...use your good judgement!

The deadline is Friday, May 24th. That's 3 weeks away! Noah will digitally split the images and fuse them together using skulls from two different artists, just like the selected artists have their work split. The show poster is a great example of what the combined skulls look like. These fan created skulls will be displayed on a screen during the show opening on Friday, May 31st. Sometime afterwards, they will be shown on Skull-A-Day.

MAIL ART PARTICIPATION

Another easy way to participate is to make a piece of Skull Mail Art. All the skull mail art will be displayed at the show. As per the mail call instructions, you'll be mailing it to the show location! The deadline for us receiving the Skull Mail Art is Tuesday, May 28, 2013. Keep in mind mailing times, so it arrives before the deadline! Since none of the Skull-A-Day team has been able to see the mail art up close, what shows up will be a happy and exciting surprise. Vanessa of Street Anatomy is kindly managing it as it shows up! Mim Scalin will be documenting the mail art after the show is over, and showing it on the Skull Appreciation Day Mail Art blog.



We're looking forward to seeing what you all create! Hopefully we'll meet some of you at the show opening.

[BONUS] 410. The Visible Skull

I created this skull from the pieces of a vintage model kit called The Visible Head...

It was made specifically for the Skull Appreciation Day 2013 exhibition FACE OFF: Skull-A-Day VS Street Anatomy at The International Museum of Surgical Science. As part of the show we asked the participating artists to use a provided template to create a new digital work, that we could cut apart and recombine with other artist's work. Vanessa Ruiz, my co-curator, and I thought it would be fun to take the challenge as well, so I made this piece as my homage to Vanessa's blog Street Anatomy, which is interested in anatomical art that goes beyond just the image of the skull. You can see how our pieces looked mashed up on the poster for the show...

Sunday Simulacra - Version 6.49

We've got 2 HOT simulacra today that could burn you up, 1 externally and 1 internally.

My bro, Matt Kaufmann, up in Elk Rapids, MI was having a good old barrel fire and took a picture of the flames. Later when he checked the photos he found this (look towards the center, just above the board)...

Close up:

Donna Gigout of Fort Worth, Texas was having a spicy lunch and noticed that this fellow joined her for the meal...



These are both great and help us with today's "S-A-D" P.S.A. - If you eat too many jalapenos your skull could feel like it's on fire. Thanks for warming up our weekend with these, Matt and Donna!

Rebel Lady Skulls

Today's bit of "nautical noir" is from the Rebel Lady .  A coupe of drawings for your viewing pleasure.

These make me think of some old school tattoo flash.  I could easily see the skeleton sailors emblazoned across the chest of an old salt who's spent more days at sea than on shore.  Thanks for sharing these, Rebel Lady!

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Skull Snake Scarf from Sasha Berry

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thanks for participating!

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time Friday, May 3, 2013, to enter the giveaway from Sasha Berry. Three Skull Snake Scarves are being given away. You can find the original contest post by clicking the side bar ad, or this link.

[NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, you must go to THE ACTUAL BLOG POST HERE to enter this contest! You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+]

Dynomighty's Artist Collective's Skull Wallets

Dynomighty Design is a Brooklyn-based company dedicated to empowering personal expression through their products. Home of the Original Mighty Wallet, which has spawned numerous Tyvek® Wallets around the world, Dynomighty began when artist Terrence Kelleman turned to product design while working as a photographer in his former day job at the MoMA. Recently, Dynomighty launched it's Artist Collective which is unique crowd sourcing challenge that lets the public decide what will be the next cool Mighty Wallet design. Open to artists, illustrators, designers, musicians or any visually talented creative, the Artist Collective challenges each designer to secure 30 sales in 30 days. Any Artist's design that meets the challenge will be printed and the artist receives 15% of the total sales. The Artist Collective gives every artist equal opportunity to prove themselves and their art and supports them with a step-by-step promotional school that gives them the best chance for success. The motto of Dynomighty is “Be Mighty” a slogan that is meant to encourage other artists, entrepreneurs and dreamers to go for their dream.

Here is a sampling of some of the skull motif wallets available by artists Ali Gulec and kduce.

Skull 4

Lace Skull

Vintage Skull

Skull 2

Neon Skull

I love a site that gives visually creative people the ability to put there designs on a product. These wallets are made of Tyvek which is a very durable material, one of my favorites! For people that carry wallets, you know the woes of a wallet that doesn't withstand daily use. These are not only durable, but a beautiful way to carry around many things you need daily. They are reasonable priced for a wallet, and part of that money goes back to the artists, which is wonderful.

Look for a giveaway from Dynomighty for a special wallet designed by Brian Christopher, in June.

FaceOff: Skull Appreciation Day 2013

I'm very excited to announce the details of this year's celebration of Skull Appreciation Day!

Skull-A-Day and Street Anatomy have joined forces to bring together the greatest collection of skull art, to celebrate the 3rd Annual Skull Appreciation Day! The resulting exhibition of skull inspired art works co-curated by Noah Scalin and Vanessa Ruiz will be on view at the International Museum of Surgical Science, in Chicago May 31 - December 31, 2013.

Featuring

Mike Egan

Tom French

Emilio Garcia

Ali Gulec

Joshua Harker

Meyoko

Nicholas Obery

Rx Skulls

Dan Springer

Rob Tarbell

In addition to showing their existing work, each artist has been asked to complete a frontal view of a skull in their own style using a template we provided. These skulls will then be split apart (digitally) and combined with other artist’s skulls to create a dynamic and unique collection of skull art prints. Each skull will be comprised of the work of two different artists, one from Skull-A-Day and one from Street Anatomy. At the end of the exhibition the respective skull halves will be brought together allowing us to see each artist’s complete skull piece. To kick it off, Vanessa and Noah have created their own original mash-up for the show poster!

The show opens with a reception on Friday, May 31, 2013 from 5-9pm. Hope to see you there!

And stay tuned for more details on how you can participate even if you're not in the Chicago area!

FACE OFF: Skull-A-Day VS Street Anatomy

May 31 - December 31, 2013

International Museum of Surgical Science

1524 N. Lake Shore Drive Chicago, IL

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Skull Snake Scarf from Sasha Berry

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thanks for participating!

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time Friday, May 3, 2013, to enter the giveaway from Sasha Berry. Three Skull Snake Scarves are being given away. You can find the original contest post by clicking the side bar ad, or this link.

[NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, you must go to THE ACTUAL BLOG POST HERE to enter this contest! You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+]

Diablo Sugar Skull

This devilishly handsome figure was made by Michelle C. Stewart of Seattle, WA. She created it from Papier-mâché and acrylic paint with glass eyes.

Sugar skulls aren't always my favorite(sorry), but this bad boy has me grinning. He's got traits of sugar sweetness, but that's just a glossy exterior hiding the true sinister motives inside. Plus, it looks like a pinata and I can make candy a metaphor for "sinister motives". Ha! Thanks for sharing, Michelle!

[CONTEST] Win a Skull Snake Scarf from Sasha Berry

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thanks for participating!

Life is full of art. Sasha Berry chooses to work with talented artists whose perception of the world is so different and avant-garde, it gives life to her scarves. She creates scarves that combine aesthetic creation in a modern style to offer daily the opportunity to bring a piece of art to your body. The scarves are soft and pleasant to wear because they made of fine fabrics. Many of the scarf designs incorporate skull motifs. Sasha Berry would love to giveaway 3 of her wonderful scarves with 3 lucky Skull-A-Day fans!

Full scarf design in cream

Cream

Blue

Pink

PRIZE INFO: 1 scarf in one of the above colors (pink, blue, or cream) with the Skull Snake print. Each scarf measures 90 cm by 200 cm (35 in by 78 in).

HOW TO ENTER: Scarves can be worn with many things and to many places. To enter this contest, comment with an answer to this question. If you were to win a skull snake scarf, where would you wear this scarf? For example, I would tie mine into a vest and wear it in Chicago, IL to lunch with the Skull-A-Day guys, before our Skull Appreciation Day festivities.

CONTACT INFO: The winner, chosen at random, will be contacted via email by one of the Skull-A-Day editors within 7 days of the end of the contest. If that winner doesn't respond, another winner will be chosen. With your comment, please INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!!! Entries are only valid with this information.

WHERE TO ENTER: All entries must be made on this blog post, on Skull-A-Day.com. You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

CONTEST CLOSES: 11:59:59 PM Eastern USA Time Friday, May 3, 2013.

NUMBER OF WINNERS: Three...one scarf per winner

PRIZE SHIPS: This contest is open to all skull lovers around the world.

IF YOU DON'T WIN: Don't fret, Sasha Berry is offering a a free Black London Skull scarf, from the Sport Collection, with any purchase all May till June. Put Skull-A-Day before your name at checkout.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 6.48

Today's skulls were found on pancakes.

Wendy Carney-Hatch's son ate this pancake after she took this photo.

Slashø found a skull in the pancake they were making.

Keep sending those pictures in, we always love seeing what our skull hunters find. Anyone is welcomed to participate, it's fun and it's easy. If you see a simulacra skull, photograph it and send those pictures in to our submissions address with a little something about what it is really and maybe a little about you.

Bloody Gruesome Skull

If you're new around here then you might not recognize the name Matt Gregg, but if you've followed Skull-A-Day long enough you would definitely recognize this and this. Now Matt is back with his latest and most gruesomely awesome painting created with spray paint, acrylic, ink, blood, and xacto beatings on canvas.

Click image for closer detail

Simply put, this is f'ing awesome!  Sinister and determined, this demonic overlord WILL devour your soul!  I don't know if Oderus Urnugus was any kind of influence, but I'll bet he would like this.  Thanks again for sharing, Matt!

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a SATURNS EP Prizepack

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thanks for participating!

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time Friday, April 26, 2013 to make an entry comment to win a EP Prizepack from SATURNS. The Prizepack includes a copy of their EP, a t-shirt, buttons, and stickers. You can find the original contest post by clicking the side bar ad, or this link.

Take a listen to their EP here.

NOTE: If you are reading this on Facebook or Google+, you must go to THE ACTUAL BLOG POST HERE to enter this contest! You CANNOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+]

Bunny Skulls Egg

In early March, Job Fitz Gerald said "They are have a egg decorating contest at work. Going to show them a proper egg." For that contest, he drew this bunny skull covered egg.

I love seeing how people decorate eggs for Easter. This one is very colorful, yet sinister. I love that the skulls aren't regular ones, but bunny skulls. I hope Job won for this great creation!

Ceramic Skulls

Ceramic Artist Lisa McPike Smith of Hep Cat Artworks, told us: "I have been a long time fan of Skull-A-Day since I started my 'career' making and selling skull beads in college so I could afford art supplies. The trend has not died yet and my skull items continue to be my top sellers. I did a 7 deadly sins series of which I have shared and one is a piece that came directly out of a pit-firing and is still in the ash."
 

C. Williams says:

It is wonderful yo see that you have a unique styled skull that you are able to incorporate into some of your work.  I am especially fond of the picture you created with the multiple parts, it reminds me of some sort of backdrop mock-up for a movie that could be taken away or added to tell the story.  Thank you for sending your work to us to share and for being a member of the Skull-A-Day community.