FACE OFF: Skull Appreciation Day 2013 Recap

For this year's Skull Appreciation Day Skull-A-Day partnered with Street Anatomy to create FACE OFF a collection of new skull art at the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago, IL.

For those of you who couldn't attend the opening here's a tour...

Emilio Garcia’s Skull Brains

Intricate 3D printed skulls by Joshua Harker

 In addition to the 10 artists that were invited to the show, we asked the public to participate in a variety of ways, including a DIY skull station using the same template we provided the artists...
 

And mail art that was sent in from around the world and created by local Chicago students was on display in the museum's library...

There was also a cool merch table (on a vintage hospital gurney no less!)...

Jennifer von Glahn & Rachel Stork Stoltz

One of the featured items was a custom made pin based on the show poster created by Anatomical Element...

The evening concluded with the destruction and consumption of a gorgeous custom made chocolate skull from Conjurer's Kitchen...

The best part of the opening, however, was getting to meet our fans in person and having the various members of the Skull-A-Day & Street Anatomy communities together in the same room!

From left to right: Lindsey Thieman, Abby Davis, Raquel Ruiz, Rachel Stork Stoltz, Vanessa Ruiz, Noah Scalin, Dan Springer, Becca Levine, Jennifer von Glahn, and Justin “Tatman” Lovorn

More pix from the show can be seen HERE.

You can also see larger versions of the prints in the show and buy them in the Street Anatomy Store.

The show is up through August 25, 2013 so if you're going to be in the area between now and then, definitely stop by and check it out in person!

FACE OFF: Skull-A-Day VS Street Anatomy

May 31 – August 25, 2013

International Museum of Surgical Science

1524 N. Lake Shore Drive  Chicago, IL

FEATURING

Mike Egan

Tom French

Emilio Garcia

Ali Gulec

Joshua Harker

Meyoko

Nicolas Obery

RX Skulls

Dan Springer

Rob Tarbell

Face Off Mashup: Christine Fraser & C. Mehrl Bennett

As a part of our celebration for Skull Appreciation Day we're presenting you with the "Fan Submissions" part of our Face Off exhibit. We asked our readers to submit their own skulls using the template that was provided, then we faced them off against each other, and we now proudly present for your viewing pleasure, the final results.

 FACE OFF: Skull-A-Day VS Street Anatomy

May 31 - August 25, 2013

International Museum of Surgical Science

1524 N. Lake Shore Drive Chicago, IL

Face Off Mashup: Falk and Mark J Alonzo

Every year we do Skull Appreciation Day, we invite our fans to participate in some way. This year, for the Face Off show, we invited the fans to use the same template that the show artists used. We got lots of great submissions. Noah combined the fan submissions in the same split manner that the show work was created. We are featuring all the fan submitted Face Off pieces, as well as the artists from the show.

The below skull features work from both Falk Wieland and Mark J. Alonzo. You can also see each artist's full submission.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 7.2

Bernard Fierro sent us this amazing find

Anonymous told us: "I noticed this by accident and felt it was 'a must.' It is embedded in concrete at the building where I work- been walking past it every day for nearly ten years!  However because of the nature of my work I can not identify either myself or the place any further."

Derailed Cherry #17  from Deadly Rival Roller Derby told us: " I found this rock at the Dunedin Causeway, in St. Petersburg, Fl when my son was down visiting me."

Hard Headed C says:

Thank you all for this new batch of your many wonderful finds.  As we get lucky year 7.0 underway, it is wonderful to be able to feature one of the most popular forms in which our readers find simulacra.

Keep sending those pictures in, we always love seeing what our simulacra 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.

60 Minute Skull Study

This painting comes from Tobias Wilbur with the title "60 Minute Skull Study". I'm not sure if he finished this painting in 60 minutes or not, but it certainly deserves a little bit of your time today.

If this did take merely an hour to complete then I'm even more impressed.  It looks great even if it took all day.  Thanks for sharing it, Tobias!

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Brian Christopher Mighty Wallet from Dynomighty

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating!

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time Friday, June 7, 2013, to enter the the current giveaway. Dynomighty is giving away a Mightywallet with artwork by Brian Christopher. 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+]

Scallops and Skulls

Dan Springer is an artist hailing from Canada. We've featured a variety of his artwork on Skull-A-Day many times. He's even participated in the current Face Off show in Chicago, IL, at The International Museum of Surgical Sciences. You might be familiar with the calendars he creates. Recently, he sent us the new Desktop calendar for June and a matching iPhone 5 background. Feel free to add them to your devices. Make sure you click on the images to enlarge them, before downloading them for use.

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Brian Christopher Mighty Wallet from Dynomighty

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating!

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time Friday, June 7, 2013, to enter the the current giveaway. Dynomighty is giving away a Mightywallet with artwork by Brian Christopher. 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+]

411. Ornamental Skull III

HAPPY SKULL APPRECIATION DAY! In honor of the FACE OFF: Skull-A-Day vs Street Anatomy exhibition that opened this past weekend in Chicago I created a brand new Ornamental Skull using the template we provided for artists...

You can see my original Ornamental Skull HERE and the follow-up one I created for Kenneth Cole HERE.

Face Off Mashup: Brent Griffith & Susan Marino

As another way to kick off our celebration for Skull Appreciation Day we will be presenting you with a "Fan Submission" Face Off exhibit. We asked our readers to submit their own skulls using the template that was provided, then we faced them off against each other, and we now proudly present for your viewing pleasure, the final results. 

  FACE OFF: Skull-A-Day VS Street Anatomy

May 31 - August 25, 201

International Museum of Surgical Science

1524 N. Lake Shore Drive Chicago, IL

HAPPY SKULL APPRECIATION DAY!!!

[CONTEST] Win a Brian Christopher Mighty Wallet from Dynomighty

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating!

Dynomighty Design is a Brooklyn-based company dedicated to empowering personal expression through their products. It is home of the Original Mighty Wallet. A few years ago, a homeless veteran, Brian Christopher, returned a lost wallet to a police station. This honest act made the news. Dynomighty found out that Brian is an artist and invited him to design a wallet. You can see a video of that design process here. Brian likes to use photographs of people and use them as a guide to create skeletal drawings. Since Dynomighty knows you all love skeletons, they are giving away one of Brian Christopher's Mighty Wallets to one lucky Skull-A-Day fan!

PRIZE INFO: One (1) Might Wallet from Dynomighty with artwork by Brian Christopher. The wallet has 2 large pockets for cash and receipts, 2 credit card pockets that expand to hold multiple cards, and 2 quick access business card pockets. Open, the wallet measures 8" wide by 3.25" high by .125" deep.

HOW TO ENTER: Wallets tend to hold a lot of normal things in them like money, IDs and credit cards. However many of them have something odd stashed in them. To enter this contest, comment below telling us what odd thing(s) you carry in your wallet. For example, in my wallet is a drawing from when my daughter was a toddler, some old paper fortunes, and some movie ticket stubs.

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, June 7, 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, Brian Christopher's Dynomighty wallet is available of sale in their shop. Half of the proceeds from sale of this wallet design go to Brian, and another portion go to a homeless veteran's center.

Super Punctured Skulls Saturday

As part of the celebration for Skull Appreciation Day 2013 and the opening of the FaceOff exhibit at the International Museum of Surgical Science, as well as the impending onset of Skull-A-Day 7.0, I figured this would be a great time to flip your wigs with a HUGE Super Saturday post featuring one of my personally new favorite artists, Dionne Marshall. Dionne creates handmade tattooed, tooled, and stitched leather art & artefacts, under the name ‘Punctured Artefact’.  Here's a bit of info that she was obliged to share....

"I live in a tiny, pretty English village, where I have a studio in my garden. Working as a designer/ maker is all quite new after ‘quitting the day job’ within the fashion industry to something I love."

"With a background in textile and accessory design, patterns and flowing lines feature strongly in all my designs. My main inspiration comes from tall things inky… the artistry & imagery of modern tattooing, mixed with a never ending love of death heads, geometry, Japanese motifs, natural & organic forms, anatomy, science, lines & patterns."

"I create using layers of decorative techniques, which are highly detailed and labor intensive. They give my work depth and a textural 3D feel. Premium untreated natural veg tan leather is the base for all pieces. The decorative and detailed line-work is tattooed onto the leather, usually with one needle (with a traditional tattoo machine)."

"To bring out the line-work and beauty of the leather, leather-working techniques are used. These may include; tooling, embossing, engraving, etching & repousse. Book binding techniques such as lacunose, Tudor style, onlay and inlay feature in some of the designs. Each piece is finished by beveling, dying and buffing the edges before being mounted and framed into a 'shadow box' frame made from worn reclaimed wood (created by us!)"

"I use the same processes on all my artworks, jewellery & accessories. I also do custom and bespoke ones offs, including tattoo ideas. So you can wear my designs on your wall or your skin!"

I'm still utterly amazed at the detail and design you achieve, Dionne.  I know how meticulous single needle tattooing can be and combining that with all of your other techniques really enhances the character and persona of each piece.  Keep up the fantastic work and the job you love won't feel like one.  Thanks again!