"Creepy Cute" Skulls

Lin Shi of the WWA Gallery thought our readers would like their current showing called "Creepy Cute".  I have a feeling our fans will love the skulls they'll find, including these from just 2 of the artists featured in the show.

"Chase Tafoya grew up in Merced, CA and looks to his background and relationships to create gritty paintings and illustrations infused with urban and street culture. Besides numerous exhibits all over the world in places such as Spain, Germany, Tokyo, and across the United States, his work can be found on projects and collaborations with Travis Barker, Soul Assassins, DSTROYR, The Lovewright Co. and many more. Being self taught, Tafoya’s incredible technical achievement in portraiture is further proof that it takes true passion and dedication to craft a successful artist."

"Jonathan Bergeron, aka Johnny Crap, is a painter and illustrator based in Montreal, Canada. His artistic career began with designs for concert posters and t-shirts but his skills in ink and oils have since led to exhibits throughout Canada and the United States. Skulls favor heavily in Bergeron’s work though his paintings are not necessarily dark and macabre. Instead, much of Bergeron’s lush palette depicts intriguing narratives with a touch of humor."

"Creepy Cute" is a wonderful collection of art that is just that, creepy cute.  Of course there's a generous helping of skulls in the mix, but there's a slew of other great art featured as well (I'm not a Star Wars geek or anything, but these two are prime examples: 1 2).  You can find out more abut the show, which runs through Feb. 9th, at their site here.  Thanks for sharing the talents of others, Lin!  Thanks to Chase and Johnny as well!

[CONTEST] Win a Dia de los Muertos Pendant from Azurafae

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating.

I started doing watercolors a couple years back, when I painted this Watercolor Skull. Ever since then, I've been hooked. I've been making jewelry since I was a child. I combined my love of watercolor and jewelry making to create this double sided Skull and Heart Necklace. I enjoyed making that necklace so much, that I made a new one of a kind pendant featuring my Dia de los Muertos artwork. I'm giving the new one away to one lucky Skull-A-Day fan! This is a rare occurrence, so don't miss out on entering below!

To give you an idea of scale, I'm holding it in my hand.

PRIZE INFO: A one of a kind double sided Dia de los Muertos pendant featuring two original watercolor and ink paintings created by Azurafae. Both paintings are inserted in a special locket style pendant. Each painting is signed with my real name and dated on the back. The pendant measures about 1" by 2". Though the paintings are secured in the pendant and won't fall out, do not get the pendant wet, or the paintings will be ruined. I'm not including a chain or ribbon, since many people already own a necklace they could slip the pendant on.

HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment below telling us where you would wear this double skull pendant. For example, to a Dia de los Muertos festival, or perhaps a romantic picnic in a cemetery.

CONTACT INFO: If you win, we need to contact you. 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, February 8, 2012.

NUMBER OF WINNERS: One

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

IF YOU DON'T WIN: Unfortunately, since this is a one of a kind piece, there won't be a duplicate. However, I will be adding similar pendants to my Etsy shop, Azurafae, in the future. Also, custom requests are welcome. You can email me at azurafae@gmail.com for inquiries.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 6.36

Today's simulacra was found by my ever observant 7 year old son, Jaxin. He noticed the eyes and nose after removing a couple of stickers from this sheet...

Once he removed another sticker a smile had been added...

Are you as observant as a 7 year old? If so, send us your skull simulacra so we can share it with our readers. Needless to say, I'm pretty proud of my little skull hunter. Good work, Jaxin!

Ink & Flash Skulls

Pick your design, sit back in the chair, take a deep breath, and prepare to get inked. Christal Musser of Blacklist Tattoo is back(from here) with more skull tattoos and flash drawings.

Of course I love skull tattoos, and I really dig Christal's personal touch with the flowers.  The senorita skull is especially creepy.  A beautiful black widow waiting to rip your heart out....and devour it!  Thanks again for the great submissions, Christal!

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win A Skeletube from Noah Scalin

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating.

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time TONIGHT to make an entry comment to win a Skeletube from Noah Scalin. 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+]

If you don't win, you can find these hand painted little guys in various models in Noah's Skeletube Shop.

36 Skulls in Richmond, VA

Just a reminder to our friends in the Richmond, VA area, my show 36 Skulls (featuring 36 of the paintings from my 100 Painted Skulls project) opens today at Book, Bikes, and Beyond and runs through the end of the month. If you're in the area I hope you'll come out for the reception which starts at 7pm tonight.

36 Skulls by Noah Scalin

February 1 - 28

Books, Bikes, and Beyond Thrift

7 West Broad St.

Richmond, VA

Opening reception Friday, February 1 @  7pm

Dia de la Abby: #81 Skull Baby Quilt

This quilt, like the Skull Baby Toy that my daughter made, is for Noah and his wife's soon to be born baby.

Ever since I made this Free-form Embroidery Skull, I've been enjoying playing with this technique whenever it fits the project. This is the largest baby quilt that I've made. If you are familiar with my artwork, you might recognize this type of image...a skull with many flowers. It's Dia de los Muertos inspired. Since the gender of the baby won't be revealed until it's born, I tried to tone down the design. Though this quilt is for the blanket, Noah immediately said he might use it more. For scale of the quilt, Noah is holding it up in the photo. It's about a yard of fabric. It's backed with this Dia de los Muertos printed fabric by Alexander Henry. This quilt took about 12 hrs to make. Well worth the time. I'm looking forward to meet the little baby the quilt is for.

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.

Skull Baby Toy

This skull toy is a gift made for a special baby by Alex Davis. You might recognize who is holding it, as Noah Scalin.

You may or may not know, that Noah and his wife are expecting a baby in a few months. Of course that means that the baby gets gifts that their parents would like too. While I was busy making something (which you will see later today), my daughter was busy making a skull toy for the baby. This was totally her idea. She wanted to contribute to the baby gifts. She raided my fleece fabric stash (which exists to make baby gifts) to make the toy. She made the pattern, cut everything out, and stitched the face on. For baby safety, I stitched around the perimeter of the skull with my sewing machine, stuffed it, and closed it. I also re-enforced Alex's stitching on the teeth. She loves making toys and this is her best one yet.

Have you made an awesome piece of skull art? If so, submit it to us! We love see what you all create, and might post it on our website. Details on what we need for a submission can be found here. 

[BONUS] Skulledelic In-Use: Paul's Boutique

Paul's Boutique in the UK has released a new bag that features my Skulledelic art!

You can get your own HERE.

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win A Skeletube from Noah Scalin

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating.

Don't forget you have until 11:59pm Eastern USA Time on Friday, February 1, 2013 to make an entry comment to win a Skeletube from Noah Scalin. 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+]

If you don't win, you can find these hand painted little guys in various models in Noah's Skeletube Shop.

"Warrior of Fate"

Like the chief of a demonic tribe this "Warrior Of Fate" commands attention and demands your soul! Todd Holtz used a combination of airbrush and digital art in creating this magnificent beast that would render any mortal man paralyzed with fear.

I almost want to equate this to some sort of Native American/Predator alien kind of collaboration, but I don't think that would be exact, nor do I want to diminish Todd's endeavor to be unique.  I love seeing the dark side skulls come out to the light.  Thanks for sharing yours, Todd!

[CONTEST] Win A Skeletube from Noah Scalin

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating.

Noah Scalin is of course the creator of Skull-A-Day. He's made hundreds of different skulls with various mediums over the years (366 in the 1st year of the project). Last year, Noah combined his love for skeletons and vacuum tubes, to create Skeletubes. He's painted so many of these little guys that he's made a Skeletube army. Since so many people love these fun creations, Noah is giving away one Skeletube to one lucky Skull-A-Day fan!

Occasionally these little guys like to get together and go on adventures. So far they've escaped to a mountain and had a snow day.

PRIZE INFO: One Model B bagged and tagged Skeletube. It is a hand painted skeleton vacuum tube that is packaged as shown.

HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment below telling us what adventures your skeletube would have if you had one? For example, I might take mine to the beach to dig for lost treasure or to a cemetery to find old friends.

CONTACT INFO: If you win, we need to contact you. 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, February 1, 2012.

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. These hand painted little guys are available in various models in Noah's Skeletube Shop.

[BONUS] 408. Skeleton Damask

I was recently offered a chance to create a temporary mural installation in the Loo Gallery at the wonderful Lamplighter Roasting Company here in Richmond, Virginia.

The Loo Gallery is actually their bathroom and each installation is painted over when the next artist creates their piece!

I decided to create a new wallpaper damask style pattern using only the bones of the human skeleton. I had previously created a smaller wallpaper pattern as part of my original Skull-A-Day project, but I had never done something so complex.

Since the end result was so large and complicated it required two 18" x 24" stencils to create one complete section of the pattern.

I had my friends at BIG SECRET laser cut two sets of the stencils out of thick, flexible mylar and I worked with them in rotation, since they would quickly start dripping from the layers and layers of metallic spray paint I was putting on them.

The installation took three days – or rather nights, since I was coming in after hours to give the toxic fumes a chance to air our before customers would arrive in the morning – to complete. Of course I wore a Bane-style ventilation mask the entire time so that I wasn't breathing in the fumes either...

And who knows, maybe this will get turned into actual wallpaper one day, like my Ornamental Skull wallpaper at Designer Wall Coverings & Fabrics.

In the meantime you can download a PDF to make your own stencil HERE. You'll need to make two copies of it and flip and reverse one to get the full repeat. It's available under a Creative Commons license, so use it for any personal project you like, just don't sell the stencil or the results for profit. And of course if you do use, please share a picture of the result!

Sunday Simulacra - Version 6.35

Rachel LeCount said "The picture is actually a combination of hand and nose smudges on our patio window with the vertical blinds and red sign in the background that framed the skull." What a wonderful combo that is!

If you are having trouble making it out in the large image above, look at this small image. It condenses what you are seeing, so the skull pops out better.

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.

Space Pirates!

When I'm not making skulls I'm working on a my music/art project League of Space Pirates (whose logo is of course a digitized skull & crossbones) and I thought you might like to know about a few exciting things we have in the works...

We have a new vinyl record coming out in March with an accompanying comic book! It can be pre-ordered now HERE.

We have a brand new music video:


And we're playing a show on February 17th at Gallery 5 in Richmond, VA. More details HERE.

Become a friend of League of Space Pirates on Facebook to keep up with the latest news!

Steampunk(?) Skullpture

Today, Teresa Reaver  presents us with, "A sculpture piece I completed in Mexico for De La Los Muertos this year."  It appears to me to be a combination of steampunk and stone.

Teresa's work is wonderful in many ways. She uses a lot of different elements in her work (stone, metal, glass, wood) and the details are astounding. Check out this thoughtful skeleton if you want to see more. Thanks for sharing your work, Teresa!

Correction Fluid Skulls

François, of Not Dead At All, Trash Art in France told us: "Here are some skulls that I made with correction fluid on a black painted wood! I really like the concept of the site, as I'm strangely a fan of
skulls too!"

Mistaken C says:

These pieces are very striking to me, I love the concept of using correction fluid on a black background.  It cause these pieces to have such a glow to them.  Thank you for sharing your work with us as well as the link to more of your art.  You have an amazing style that I could admire for hours.

[BONUS] Skeletube Snow Day

It's a snow day in the land of the Skeletubes, but it was too cold for me to document them for very long, so I have no idea what's going on here. Maybe you know? Add your caption suggestion as a comment below...

Want to have your own Skeletube adventures? You can get one HERE.

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Personalized Etched Skull Glass from Tatman Glass

This contest has ended. Thanks to all of you who entered and good luck in our future giveaways!

Don't forget that you only have until 11:59:59 Eastern Time on TONIGHT to get entered to win a FREE personalized etched glass from Tatman Glass.

This glass features the #149 Cocoa Skull Stencil and will also have the winner's name etched on the back using Skullphabet #1.

[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+]

Don't worry if you don't win, you can always feel like a winner with your own Official Skull-A-Day pint glass done by yours truly, Tatman Glass. Good Luck!

Jingle Bells Skull

Nadia Gunwaldsen created this artwork, titled "Jingle Bells". According to her Etsy shop, her pieces are created by carving into wet joint compound that is applied to a board. Then, she paints the images and glazes them.

I come across a lot of Dia de los Muertos inspired artwork. It's rare that there is one that I love and even more rare for it to be textured like Nadia's is. I love her unusual use of materials mixed with a favorite motif. The texture reminds me of plaster paintings and embossed metal. This piece has a nice balance of beauty in both touch and sight. If you like this piece, check out Nadia's Etsy shop  for more original and printed pieces.