Dia de la Abby #62: Skull Nails

This is inspired by my trip this coming weekend to the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, PA and skull nail art by Alice and The Daily Nail.

This was one of the hardest projects that I've done. I've been painting my nails for over 20 years, so I thought I could easily do this. Nope. In fact, what you see is my 2nd attempt at doing this. My other design was too messy, small and cartoonish for my liking. However, my daughter liked it, so I'll paint her nails with cartoon like skulls. If you would like to learn how to do this nail polish design, go to the tutorial.


Every other Thursday in the 5.0 year, I will post my own Dia de la Abby creations   Every Thursday in the 4.0 year, 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. Need more of me than just a weekly dose, follow me on  Facebook, Google+ and/or Twitter.

Smoking Skeleton

John Sokol created this acrylic painting in 1997. He titled it "Thanatos with Cigarette"

If this isn't a clear indication that smoking kills, I don't know what is. Of course, many things that seem normal in life can kill us...standing too close to the microwave, incorrectly operating power tools, overeating,  skiing...etc. The microwave is going to get me. I like the shading of this skull. It gives us and eerie graveyard feel to it. It reminds me of the fantasy of what corpses do when we're not looking...smoking in the underworld. Oh no!


“Countdown To Halloween”
25 more days and counting...

Greig Leach- “John”

On June 4, 2011 Skull-A-Day celebrated Skull Appreciation Day with an exhibit of over 100 skulls at Gallery 5 in Richmond, VA. If you didn't have a chance to make it to the gallery while the show was up, we now proudly present: "Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition".

Greig Leach- “John”

Greig Leach- “John” $250.00

Please visit the artist’s exhibit page for information if this work is available for purchase.

The 2011 Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition was a collective art show celebrating the 5th anniversary of Skull-A-Day.com and its tremendous audience of artists and readers.

Throughout year 5.0 we will be featuring artwork from the show a few times a week. This is a chance to see all of the excellent skulls that were on display, and FOR SALE. Some of these pieces may still be available and this is a wonderful opportunity to own an original piece of skullriffic artwork. There are many well known artists who have contributed very reasonably priced works and many of them have donated their portion of the sale to benefit a great charity, the Richmond Peace Education Center.

Please take a moment to view all of the remarkable work that was created for the onset of this annual festivity. Your skull will appreciate you for showing it some love.

[BONUS] 388. iSkull for Steve Jobs

Skull Shaped Box

“Kiteman” at Instructables.com created this skull-shaped party-favour box, and thought thought we would enjoy it. He also included a template HERE for you to make at home just in time for your next skull party that may by coincidence be happening soon.


Kurt C says:

♫ Hey! Wait! I've got a new compartment, Forever in debt for this priceless device ♫

Thank you for sharing your wonderful creation with us and also for providing us with the template so that we can play along at home.


“Countdown To Halloween”
26 more days and counting...

Jenny Kendler- “Vanitas (for Jan Van Huysum)”

On June 4, 2011 Skull-A-Day celebrated Skull Appreciation Day with an exhibit of over 100 skulls at Gallery 5 in Richmond, VA. If you didn't have a chance to make it to the gallery while the show was up, we now proudly present: "Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition".

Jenny Kendler- “Vanitas (for Jan Van Huysum)” $80.00

In her artistic practice, Jenny Kendler re-invents the idea of ‘the Naturalist’ through the lens of modern ecology, feminism and environmental activism. Kendler presents her intimate drawings and sculptures as a counterpoint to the view of nature as something to be possessed. She suggests instead, that it is we who are possessed by nature.

The 2011 Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition was a collective art show celebrating the 5th anniversary of Skull-A-Day.com and its tremendous audience of artists and readers.

Throughout year 5.0 we will be featuring artwork from the show a few times a week. This is a chance to see all of the excellent skulls that were on display, and FOR SALE. Some of these pieces may still be available and this is a wonderful opportunity to own an original piece of skullriffic artwork. There are many well known artists who have contributed very reasonably priced works and many of them have donated their portion of the sale to benefit a great charity, the Richmond Peace Education Center.

Please take a moment to view all of the remarkable work that was created for the onset of this annual festivity. Your skull will appreciate you for showing it some love.

Skull Face

Hurry up and catch this skull before it fades away. Dale Grimshaw is the creator of this fading figure who writes, "I came across your site and thought I'd submit an image of mine. I have done several paintings or woodcut prints with a skull theme. Anyway, I've attached 'Skull Face' which is oil and woodcut print on paper."



Dissolving, disintegrating, disappearing into the nothing that is the afterlife.
Vacating, vanishing, vamoosing from our presence forever.
Preserved, protected, and put up on our site to live on for your enjoyment.
Thanks for bringing us face to face with your skull, Dale!

“Countdown To Halloween”
27 more days and counting...

CONTEST: Win a Dia de los Muertos Portrait

CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thanks to everyone who participated!

Rachael Rossman, one of our new sponsors, is a portrait artist who has a Kickstarter campaign to produce new Day of the Dead artwork. As part of this project, she would like to giveaway one 5"x7" original portrait of a Skull-A-Day fan!

Rachael paints Day of the Dead skull inspired portraits of real people. She says,  "I work primarily in watercolor on Yupo, a medium which allows me to achieve tremendously organic shapes and textures. In the process, I explore the relationship between the subject and the viewer with a focus on the eyes, emotion and energy. My greatest joy is in watching seemingly incongruous shapes come together to capture the essence of a person, animal or moment in time. I like to think my portraits paint themselves. I am embarking on this Day of the Dead portrait series because I find the imagery paradoxically dark and beautiful."

Since Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is coming up soon, to be entered in the drawing just leave a comment below saying how you would celebrate Dia de los Muertos with a skull.

[NOTE: If you're reading this on Facebook be sure to leave your comment on the original Skull-A-Day.com post if you want to be actually entered in the contest]


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



You have until just Midnight Eastern Time Sunday, October 9th to enter so don't delay!


NOTE: Rachael will pay for shipping to the winner.

Of course, you don't have to wait till the end of the contest to get your own Rachael Rossman Day of the Dead portrait. Help Rachael fund her project and get a portrait in return (specifications based on funding amount). Her Kickstarter project runs until October 27th.

Digitally Dead Skulls

Margaret Nichol, is a graphic designer and Illustrator from Toronto in Canada. She explained about the pieces. "The first titled “dead” is an illustration I did for a local Toronto band named Alectrona. The second is “butterfly splatter” and was just an illustration I did for fun."

I'm not normally a fan of digital art, but I like the vivid colors and cartoon like quality of these. The top one reminds me of Bettie Page, who is now deceased. The red swirls make me think of her sanity leaking out of her skull...which it did in a way. Still love her though. The second one has two of my favorite things in it...skull and a butterfly. I like the shading of the colors on the wings. It's would blend into a fuchsia flower nicely.


“Countdown To Halloween”
28 more days and counting...

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls - Seattle

During my recent trip to Seattle I was given several lovely skulls:

First from Ben and his 3 year old son Sagan...

I was staying at their house and I discovered this Lego quartet waiting for me when I got back from a long day out and about. The little white skull to the left is actually a musical shaker that Sagan likes to carry around and call Mr. Skull!

Then from internet friend Camel...

A lovely painting he made that came in a handmade box.

And a homemade skull mold with plaster cast. Now I can make my own custom skull chocolates!

Thanks guys!

Sunday Simulacra - Version 5.18

Today's skulls were found in foods.

Our Skull Master, Noah Scalin found this one at dinner one night.

Tricia Whitworth Daniels found these skully scones at San Francisco International.

Dolores from Virginia, found this skull while peeling carrots.

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.


“Countdown To Halloween”
29 more days and counting...

Warren's Skull Trio

Warren Draper is an artist from South Yorkshire, England who writes, "I've just come across your site and love it... so I've got three skulls for you... all my own work and all Creative Commons :-)".







What a wonderful way to welcome in the new month, Warren. The ghostly x-ray is a great reminder to always look into the depths of a soul, not just the outer shell that encases it. Thanks for submitting this tremendous trio!

And speaking of reminders, don't forget about our friends over at CountdowntoHalloween.com. You can find them linked at the bottom of each post this month as we help them countdown to the coolest holiday of the year....

“Countdown To Halloween”
30 more days and counting...

Ceramic Skulls

Artist Derik Van Beers part of the Roscoe Ceramic Gallery in Oakland, CA stopped by again to show off a video that he was featured in as well as a couple of new pieces that he recently created.

“Angel Headed Hipsters” based on Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl

“Beautiful Flowers” a piece about bullying and gay teen suicides

And of course the video:



He is also featured in the Ceramics Annual of America exhibit happening in San Francisco, CA October 6-9, 2011.


Vessel C says:

This is amazing work. It is not often we get videos of artists working or of them speaking about their work. Congratulations on the honor of being featured at this year’s Ceramics Annual Exhibit. Thank you for sharing with us again and continuing to be an active member of our community.

[Flashback Friday] 5.17- Diamonds on the Soul of His Skull

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

Diamonds on the Soul of His Skull



For my last flashback of this year I'm going out in style and with the bling. Goldsmith Michael Robinson of Auckland, New Zealand created this mastery of jewelry that was featured back in 2009. The multitude of gems and the overall design are over the top for most skull jewelry and thus makes me think of a new term "sking"(skull bling). Whatever you call it it's freakin' fabulous and I thank Michael for his submission again. Do you know anyone with some sweet "sking"?

**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.

[BONUS] 387. Richmond Macabre Skull

I created this paper cut illustration for the brand new book Richmond Macabre.

The book is a collection of short horror stories based in my hometown of Richmond, VA, written by local writers. I was delighted to be asked to create an image that gives people a glimpse of this spooky city. It was also fun to return to a style that I developed as part of the original Skull-A-Day project, see HERE and HERE.

If you're in the Richmond area I hope you'll come out for the book release party this Sunday at the Poe Museum, where you will also be able to buy one of the limited edition silkscreen posters that were made to promote the book...

There are also plenty of other upcoming events around Richmond and even if you're not in the area you can still get your own copy of this book online, more details are HERE.


p.s. I've been thinking I might try doing a tarot deck in this style next. Interested?

Elizabeth Bambacus "Life in Death"

On June 4, 2011 Skull-A-Day celebrated Skull Appreciation Day with an exhibit of over 100 skulls at Gallery 5 in Richmond, VA. If you didn't have a chance to make it to the gallery while the show was up, we now proudly present: "Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition".

Elizabeth Bambacus - “Life in Death” $50.00

Please visit the artist’s exhibit page for information on if this work is available for purchase.


The 2011 Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition was a collective art show celebrating the 5th anniversary of Skull-A-Day.com and its tremendous audience of artists and readers.Throughout year 5.0 we will be featuring artwork from the show a few times a week. This is a chance to see all of the excellent skulls that were on display, and FOR SALE. Some of these pieces may still be available and this is a wonderful opportunity to own an original piece of skullriffic artwork. There are many well known artists who have contributed very reasonably priced works and many of them have donated their portion of the sale to benefit a great charity, the Richmond Peace Education Center.

Please take a moment to view all of the remarkable work that was created for the onset of this annual festivity. Your skull will appreciate you for showing it some love.

Buckyball Skull

Long time Skull-A-Day friend, Jay Butler from Richmond, VA made this. He explains, "Fiddling at me desk with these magnetic steel balls called Buckyballs.  Slammed 'em down and the attached arrangement arose!"

I've always liked these type of magnetic balls since the first time I saw them at the Science Museum of Virginia (here in Richmond). They are lots of fun to play with. I used to fiddle with them at my desk instead of doing my homework...which is sort of like Jay fiddling with them at his desk and not doing work. I could never get them to make a necklace or bracelet...maybe one day.

Christian Leaf- “Bloom”

On June 4, 2011 Skull-A-Day celebrated Skull Appreciation Day with an exhibit of over 100 skulls at Gallery 5 in Richmond, VA. If you didn't have a chance to make it to the gallery while the show was up, we now proudly present: "Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition".

Christian Leaf- “Bloom”

Christian Leaf- “Bloom” $50.00

Christian D. Leaf is an illustrator, painter and art director. He is also an occasional comic book inker for Image Comics, but mostly he is a full-time art teacher to his budding artist of a daughter. He has a sketchblog at inkblatt.blogspot.com.


Please visit the artist’s exhibit page for information if this work is available for purchase.

The 2011 Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition was a collective art show celebrating the 5th anniversary of Skull-A-Day.com and its tremendous audience of artists and readers.

Throughout year 5.0 we will be featuring artwork from the show a few times a week. This is a chance to see all of the excellent skulls that were on display, and FOR SALE. Some of these pieces may still be available and this is a wonderful opportunity to own an original piece of skullriffic artwork. There are many well known artists who have contributed very reasonably priced works and many of them have donated their portion of the sale to benefit a great charity, the Richmond Peace Education Center.

Please take a moment to view all of the remarkable work that was created for the onset of this annual festivity. Your skull will appreciate you for showing it some love.

Ghostly Glass Skull

Glass artist Jeff Zimmer from Edinburgh, Scotland shows us an unfinished ghostly skull work that was a sketch he made and then stuck in the window to think about.


Poe C says:

As the ghostlty skull sat upon my windowsill silently watching... waiting... for more?

I really like your example of deconstructing the skull down to just a few basic strokes, and still showing that it is easily recognizable.Thank you for sharing your in process ghostly image with us.

Sinead Giblin- “Cormac Ulfada (The Last High King of Ireland)”

On June 4, 2011 Skull-A-Day celebrated Skull Appreciation Day with an exhibit of over 100 skulls at Gallery 5 in Richmond, VA. If you didn't have a chance to make it to the gallery while the show was up, we now proudly present: "Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition".

Sinead Giblin- “Cormac Ulfada” (The Last High King of Ireland) $120.00

Sinead Giblin was born and lives in Dublin. Has always been a great lover of art and craft from a very young age and comes from a long line of painters and other creative enthusiasts.

Cormac mac Airt (son of Art) or Cormac Ulfada (long beard), is said to have ruled from Tara, the seat of the High Kings of Ireland, for forty years, and under his rule Tara flourished. He was famous for his wise, true, and generous judgments. The end of the reign of High Kings of Tara came with the conversion to Christianity, there continued to be Kings in Ireland up until the twelfth century but they now ruled with different rules, and the celtic legends were changed to feature saints, including St. Patrick in the story of Tír na nÓg.

The 2011 Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition was a collective art show celebrating the 5th anniversary of Skull-A-Day.com and its tremendous audience of artists and readers.

Throughout year 5.0 we will be featuring artwork from the show a few times a week. This is a chance to see all of the excellent skulls that were on display, and FOR SALE. Some of these pieces may still be available and this is a wonderful opportunity to own an original piece of skullriffic artwork. There are many well known artists who have contributed very reasonably priced works and many of them have donated their portion of the sale to benefit a great charity, the Richmond Peace Education Center.

Please take a moment to view all of the remarkable work that was created for the onset of this annual festivity. Your skull will appreciate you for showing it some love.