[Flashback Friday] 5.40 - Dia de la Abby Makeup Skulls

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Tatman, Citizen Agent, and myself, Azurafae 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.

There has been many different styles of skull makeup on Skull-A-Day over the years. I've even made 3 different styles for Dia de la Abby, for which this flashback will feature...starting with the most recent.

#61: Anatomical Skull Makeup

I wore this to a zombie themed wedding, because costumes were encouraged. Much to my surprise, my tutorial for it was featured on Laughing Squid, Neatorama, and Dude Craft. I didn't mention that on Skull-A-Day, since it was my tutorial that was pickup up by the sites, not my Dia de la Abby post. Still, without doing two previous skull makeups for Skull-A-Day: Dia de la Abby, this one wouldn't have improved, so lets take a look at those two.

#23: Sugar Skull Makeup

#14: Skull Makeup

There is definitely a progression in skill level and detail. The 1st and 3rd are similar, but the 3rd, had contour shading. That is what made it neat to see up close. The 1st one is actually the 1st time I had ever done skull makeup, so it is very simplified. I wore it to a Doomsday themed party. The 2nd one is sugar skull inspired. I chose this style of makeup to complete my catrina Halloween costume. If I ever chose to (or had another reason to) do another skull makeup, I would combine elements from the 2nd and 3rd one to make a more detailed and vibrant design. Of all the things I've made and featured on Skull-A-Day, the tutorials for the skull makeup are the most popular. I find that bizarre, but very flattering.


 **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. During year 4.0 the editors had their chance to countdown their favorites Azurafae HERE, Citizen Agent HERE, and Tatman HERE.

Simple Circle Studios Skulls

Potter Rob Lorenz of Simple Circle Studios in Carbondale, IL wrote: “I've been following your site for a while now and have been enjoying it thoroughly. I have created skulls from time to time, but never submitted anything...until today. These skulls were done for Valentine's Day, I'm not much on traditional Valentine's Day stuff, so I made these instead. They are hand thrown on a potter's wheel, then decorated with the sgraffito technique. Which means, each piece is covered with multiple layers of colored slip (liquid clay). The designs are then hand drawn and carved through the slip to show the white clay below. The work is finished by dipping them in a clear glaze and firing them in an electric kiln.”



Kneaded C says:

I truly enjoy this sgraffito technique that you use. The style reminds me of type of reverse wood block printing creating a perfect union of two of my favorite types of art- printmaking and ceramic. It is through the involvement of our readers becoming contributors that we are able to continue each day. Thank you for being a long time reader, as well as now being a contributor to Skull-A-Day.

Skull Doodle

Antonio Sinagra submitted this brightly colored skull doodle.

Sometimes, while doing other things, you feel inspired to doodle something. Your mind wanders away from the task and little whimsical images appear on your paper. I like the intricate swirls around the skull, and the tightly packed zig zags that form the skull. Doodling in a great way to release sudden bursts of creativity, and can be relaxing enough to get you back on track with the main task.

“Skulgaba”

German artist Friedbert Munz, sent us a sample of a created series of 3-D models that he calls “Skulgaba”.

He wrote: “I love the work on Skull-A-Day, I also love doing art work that are hand-made in traditional ways. However, for years now I have been editing 3D models, and the digital results have surprised me so much that I started my project making thousands of various “head shapes” designed with a simple Japanese 3D program. The final process in creating these works, includes filtering with different graphics programs. The head shapes are usually placed in front a solid background, I like symmetry and the results are the most convincing. Among the heads I created are a lot of skulls. The skulls are eerily beautiful images and sometimes even include some gruesome ones.”

Zweitausend C says:

When I first saw these pieces I thought they were made out of ceramic, because they have a look of a different glazes. In the age of 3-D printers that can turn digital drawings into reality it is entirely possible that you may someday be creating “traditional” work using these images. Thank you for sharing your “non-traditional” works with us.

100 Painted Skulls: #56

To celebrate year 5 of Skull-A-Day (June 2011-June 2012) I've decided to paint 100 skulls on 4 x 4in (10.16 x 10.16 cm) wooden panels over the course of the year... 

If you'd like to own this piece you can get it in the Skull-A-Day store HERE. 

UPDATE: Winner of Rachael Rossman Dia de los MuertosPortrait

If you remember in October, we had a contest to win a custom Rachael Rossman Dia de los Muertos Portrait. Jayne Capps, is winner, and she recently contacted me to show me to portrait of her. I like updating you all with winner info, when it's a photo of the winner with the item, or in this case, a portrait of the winner. Here is the custom portrait, and below it is the before photo, which Rachael used to make the portrait.

Before

Get Unstuck at SXSW!

I'm heading to the SXSW conference this week to give a talk about and sign copies of my new book Unstuck: 52 Ways to Get (and Keep) Your Creativity Flowing at Home, at Work & in Your Studio!...

Unstuck: Get (and Keep) Your Creativity Flowing

Friday, March 9

3:30PM - 3:50PM

Austin Convention Center

500 E Cesar Chavez St

Ballroom G

Unstuck Book Signing

Friday, March 9

4:05PM - 4:20PM

Austin Convention Center

500 E Cesar Chavez St

Ballroom G Foyer

If you're going to be in Austin for this event (or just happen to live in the area) I hope you'll come by and say hi!

Stained Glass Skull & Books

Chantal Larochelle is a Canadian photographer who was inspired by the Skull Master's 126. Stained Glass Skull to try her own, and might I say successful, hand at making one.

This is only Chantal's second piece and it will also be published in the March issue of 'Stained Glass News'.  Not only am I enjoying the skull itself, but I also like the choice of glass used for the book pile.  I still haven't tried my hand at stained glass, but your piece is really inspiring as well, Chantal.  Thanks for sharing it!

100 Painted Skulls: #55

To celebrate year 5 of Skull-A-Day (June 2011-June 2012) I've decided to paint 100 skulls on 4 x 4in (10.16 x 10.16 cm) wooden panels over the course of the year...

I had a nice afternoon at the excellent Virginia Museum of Fine Arts this weekend looking very closely to how some amazing paintings were painted and I left extremely inspired to get back to this project!

If you'd like to own this piece you can get it in the Skull-A-Day store HERE.

Beaded Skull Bracelet

Carolyn Oord, from Canada, made this beaded skull bracelet on a bead loom. She even included the pattern for it, in case any of you want to make your own.

Hopefully you are familiar enough with using a bead loom to follow Carolyn's instructions. "It's about ½" an inch wide and the skull & crossbones measure approx. 1¼", depending on the size of the beads you are using. Start by measuring your wrist to determine how long the bracelet should be and then decide how you would like the skulls to repeat."

I love crafts that include instructions. Thanks for including the instructions and pattern Carolyn. Though I have no clue where my bead loom is, this pattern would also work with beaded single crochet. Though, that would require you slip on all of your beads, in their correct pattern before starting. Both are options though...just to give you some ideas. If nether of those seem plausible for yourself, you could sew beads onto fabric or leather in this pattern. The effect is the same with all of those ways of making a beaded bracelet.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 5.40

Today’s simulacra were found with teamwork.

Dr. Matt in from England wrote: “My girlfriend spotted this awesome skull in the road recently, and we immediately knew that you needed it. :)”


Next Lise said: “This photo was taken by PA and I while waiting for the ferry to Tobermory, Ontario!”


Lastly, Susan Scofield told us: “My friend Jess McPherson spotted this/these skulls - it sort of looks like a conjoined skull - on a column while we were out for dinner after my Gallery Reception at McCleary's Pub in Marietta, PA. ”


No C in team says:

Keep sending those pictures in, we always love seeing the diversity of images that 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 or your simulacra team.

Knuckle Duster Skull

Dav. from Toulouse, France certainly says it better than I can, "Here's the wood knuckle duster* with a skull head pyrographed on the 2 sides I created last month. The wood I used is fir wood because in french we say "ça sent le sapin!" (=it smell like fir**) for meaning "death is near".

* in french we say "poing mamericain" (= american fist) for "knuckle duster" ...funny, no?!
** this popular sentence came from the wood used for buidling coffins : fir wood.

It's always nice when we can learn something new during this creative endeavor we call Skull-A-Day. Thanks for the unique "knuckle duster" and a little bit of trivia as well, Dav!

Basswood Skulls

Mark Dougherty from Wisconsin showed off a few skulls that he fashioned from basswood.


Knotty C says:

This is a spectacular display of carving talent. Each one is so wonderfully carved and finished intent on showing off its uniqueness. Thank you for sharing this work with us and be sure to let us know if you ever make them available to the public.

[Flashback Friday] 5.39 - League of Space Pirate Skulls

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Tatman, Citizen Agent, and myself, Azurafae 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.


If you are not aware already, Noah and I are part of band called "League of Space Pirates". Tomorrow, our band will be performing live on WRIR 97.3FM (which you can listen to online or locally) between 5-7pm EST on River City Limits, for their Spring 2012 Fund Drive. We will be performing 4 new, unreleased songs. In support of our awesome performance, lets take a look at the past skull art used for League of Space Pirates.

This logo image was used for the initial announcement for the band. This has remained the logo since then, and will be made into two flags soon...yep Space Pirate Flags.

Chris Kind AKA Chris Kind the Defiantly Sarcastic (thanks to the Space Pirate name generator) was inspired by the band and created this design, with the intention of turning it into a t-shirt.

Noah used a variation of his 347. Skulledelic A.K.A. May Cause Seizures Skull for the cover of the limited edition LP. The skull and crossed bones logo is on the center sticker of the vinyl. If you can't get your hands on the vinyl, four songs are available as a pay what you want download.

 **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. During year 4.0 the editors had their chance to countdown their favorites Azurafae HERE, Citizen Agent HERE, and Tatman HERE.

Ceramic and Crystal Skull

Erin Finney from Chicago, IL made this skull and shared it with us. She describes it as (from her Etsy listing) "This is a ceramic skull that has been over laid with several black and cream semi translucent patterns. It has beautiful purple, red, and teal Swarovski crystal detail. It measures appox. 9" x 7" x 7"h."

With the print on this, I thought it was made of fabric. I had to go look at her Etsy listing to see what it was made of. I'm not sure if the pattern is made with paint or printed paper, but either it works very well with the shape of the ceramic skull. The carefully laid colorful crystals look like little flower buds along the vine and fern like pattern. Since I originally thought this was made of fabric and stuffed, I pondered if the mouth was a zipper and that it would be an awesome purse. Since it's ceramic, I want to put glass vials in the eyes for flowers and use it as a beautiful vase.

In Erin's submission, she suggested we have a Skull Appreciation Day in Chicago. This might good place for next year maybe. We have chosen a different place for this year's Skull Appreciation Day, on June 4th, 2012. It's not going to be in Richmond, VA this year. It's going to be somewhere farther North, but I can't tell you yet... See what I did there...

100 Painted Skulls: #54

To celebrate year 5 of Skull-A-Day (June 2011-June 2012) I've decided to paint 100 skulls on 4 x 4in (10.16 x 10.16 cm) wooden panels over the course of the year... 

After the over-the-top color of the last piece, I decided I needed to go the other direction with something darker and monochromatic. I first painted a base layer roughing in the light and shadow and then did several thinner layers using the gloss medium on top to get the depth and detail. I really like how it came together and definitely want to do more this way.

If you'd like to own this painting you can get it in the Skull-A-Day store HERE.

Ceramic Skull Masks

Arizona artist Larry Yanez created this collection of Raku fired ceramic skull masks.

3:10 to C says:

I love how the top two work so perfectly together, it looks as if the one on the right had just got done kissing the one on the left... and as you can see they really left an impression on them! These masks are wonderful and they create such a sense of wonderment for the viewer. I especially like the idea that something so solid can have such a fragile nature to it. Thank you for sharing your ceramic work with us.

Skull Swag

I've done my fair share of glass etchings, but these metal etchings from Tim Andrews at the Rave N Iron are on a whole different level of cool.  The first is a stainless steel cigarette/card case that has been acid etched and naturally heat tempered and the second is a belt buckle made of mild powder coated steel also acid etched and heat tempered.

Wow! is about all I can say for this style that Tim has crafted. Each piece is unique and individual depending on it's reaction to the etching and tempering. Tim's site has loads more of wonderful jewelry to see so don't miss out. There's even more skulls to see....in case you're into that kind of stuff. Thanks, Tim!

100 Painted Skulls: #53

To celebrate year 5 of Skull-A-Day (June 2011-June 2012) I've decided to paint 100 skulls on 4 x 4in (10.16 x 10.16 cm) wooden panels over the course of the year... 

After being so controlled in my last few pieces I figured it was time to slather on the paint and do something a lot more loose and colorful (though somehow my loose pieces are ending up looking pretty controlled at this point, probably something about working on such a small surface. I'm looking forward to painting some bigger pieces when this project is done!). I also wanted to see if I could work without black paint, since I tend to use it a lot, so all of the darker colors are just a blend of blue, purple and red.

And hey, if you'd like to own this piece you can buy it in the Skull-A-Day store HERE!

Belly Dance Skull Makeup

Kellie Canada is a belly dancer with a penchant for skull makeup.

This is Kellie doing a backbend, or as she called it a "Skullbend".

I enjoy watching tribal fusion belly dancer perform, as they use a blend of old and new dancing styles. Their costumes are functional and very creative, as they need to be able to move easily and accentuate their belly dance style. I love that Kellie incorporated sugar skull makeup into her belly dancing costume.