[BONUS] July Skull Calendar from Dan Springer

It's a week late, but a new desktop calendar from Dan Springer is worth the wait...
(be sure to click for the full-size image)


FYI Dan's in need of work, so do drop him a line if you like what you see.

Lace and Rainbow Skulls

Our friend Mario Martinez Pitarch from Barcelona revisits a couple of originals in a whole new way. His lace skull is a new edition of Noah's 109. Lace Skull.



And I hope Mario doesn't mind but I have dubbed this piece his "Rainbow Rorshach Skull" because it reminds me so much of Noah's 222. Rorshach Skull.


Once again this proves that skulls don't always have to be bony and brittle or bloody and gory. There are many ways to accentuate that cranium within all of us. Thanks for the reminder, Mario.

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[BONUS] Tuesday With Tatman

Well, here we are at another date of note. Happy 7/8/09 to all of you. To celebrate the date I'd like to share a bonus skull. If you recall my T.W.T. #4, I made a couple of etched glass skulls. A few of you thought that my candle holder was a drinking glass, and once again, the readers have inspired me. I etched a real drinking glass this time in a little different fashion. This guy only took me about an hour to do, but don't expect to see these in stores anytime soon.

Left, middle, and right views of the same 3 1/2 inch tall glass. Once again I used Armour etching cream. If anyone seriously wants to make me an offer then I MIGHT consider making more.

Each Tuesday(not Wednesday) in the 3.0 year will bring a new Tuesday With Tatman. As a tribute to the Skull Master's astounding feat let's all get creative and try something new(and hopefully skull related).

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[BONUS] C-Rations: 07·08·09

This week's [BONUS] offering is a comic

07·08·09 Pen & Ink cartoon strip on 8.5" x 11" paper

Schoolyard C says:

Today's [BONUS] C-Rations skull was brought to you by the numbers 7,8,9 and the Letter C. I couldn't pass today up without taking a moment to remember one of my favorite jokes.

Remember each Monday during the 3.0 year I am posting an original skull design. My weekly offerings are nothing compared to the one-a-day massive project done by the Skullmaster in 1.0, but hopefully you will find some nourishment in these weekly offerings.

His And Her Skulls

Kate and John Massie of Kentucky bring us two impressive watercolor paintings. Kate tells us, "They are by artist John Massie. The titles are "His and Hers" and "Clean and Mean".





Impressive stuff, John. I see that there is more for sale in your Etsy store. If you like water color prints then be sure to check it out. Or you could paint your own water color sign for this month's contest.

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June Contest: The United Flags of Skull-A-Day

Thank you for all that participated in the June 2009 Monthly Contest. The submitted flags show the global reaching of Skull-A-Day.

You can find Skull-A-Day 3.0 guest editors Tatman's and Citizen Agent's flags by clicking their names.

Bram Roza from Gouda - The Netherlands
"I instantly thought of the Olympic flag. I know its a bit corny but I want to submit it anyway."

Chris Davis creator of Davis Graveyard in Milwaukie, OR
"We hang these banner in several places in the yard display."

Marco "Kanibal" Almengor from Greenville, NC
"I am enclosing what my " Jolly Roger" would look like. It is in good keeping with the Pirate traditions. It is battle proven and would sail high and proud through all rough and deadly seas."

Diane from the Detroit, MI area made this collage

Shay Hall "It is all hand-beaded and buttoned, and has actually been used as a flag at my home renaissance faire."

Tierney C. Thomas from Naperville, Illinois/Frisco, Texas
"It's made up of drawings on assorted fabrics and papers. No stencils used here! ;) The Latin script translates to "Satan's Blood House." Basically the point of this flag is to represent Hades, such as a country has it's own flag."

Peter wrote: "An old blanket, a cut up bed sheet and we can all be pirates (with a few marker pens and a bit of processing)"
Ren from Tulsa, OK
"It was originally created to tease a friend who claimed she wasn't a nerd and i wanted to encourage her to "let her geek flag fly". i guess it's pretty much the flag for nerdsylvania, eh?"
Kim from Australia
"There is no strong symbolism in my design, really I just had some fabrics I've been wanting to work with for a while. I wanted the result to be rough but still feminine, and really tactile."

"Pink woven fabric hand blanket stitched onto a black rayon knit. I wanted an action shot of my little flag, and found a handy flagpole amongst my tomato plants. Since it's midwinter here, they look a bit shabby."
Kim also submitted this design
"I had a go at adding in the University Skull-A-Day acronym, ... with Noah's first skullphabet."

Finally our random winner chosen from all the entries is

Eric Vanderkooi from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The flag is "...acrylic paint and charcoal done on the bottom of a found wood drawer from an antique chest of drawers that had survived a house fire."

And now tell him what he's won....
June 2009 prize

The prize was donated by longtime friend of the project artist Larry Pearson of Pearson Metal Art he made the absolutely incredible Skull-A-Day award from plasma cut steel!




Just because the contest for the special prize is over, doesn't mean you can't be inspired. Check out the July 2009 contest here.

Tuesdays With Tatman #5

This week I am submitting my design for the "I ♥ Skull-A-Day" contest this month. I decided to make a shirt to let the world know which daily skull art blog I think is #1. My family and I had the chance to enjoy the Field Of Flight air show in Battle Creek, Mi this past Sunday, thanks to U.S.A.F Thunderbird pilot Major Anthony Mulhare. Skull-A-Day.com supports those military members, both past and present, who have served to defend their country. Whichever country that may be.

I used printable heat transfer iron on paper to make my own design. Skullphabet #2 for the text and a modified version of one of Noah's skulls for the heart. Not only did I fashion one shirt for myself, I also made three shirts to be given away to random runner ups of this month's contest AND 1 shirt to the first person who can guess which skull of Noah's Original 365.25 skulls I used for my heart. Please leave your guesses in the comments section. The other shirts bear the same design, but are white and XL only.

So get out there and show how much you enjoy taking Skull-A-Day with you. Whether it's abroad, a few miles from home, or even in your own back yard.


Skull-A-Day is the official daily skull art blog of the U.S.A.F Thunderbirds*

Each Tuesday in the 3.0 year will bring a new Tuesday With Tatman. As a tribute to the Skull Master's astounding feat let's all get creative and try something new(and hopefully skull related).
*Not really

Spinach Pie Skull

Ghengis Jung serves up this story, "When I received this slice of spinach pie, while triangular, it had some remarkably skull-like characteristics. I carefully bit the pie to accentuate it's skull-ishness. After photographing it, I ate it. It was delicious."



Thanks for the skullicious looking pie, Ghengis. All of you food lovers out there can come back for seconds after you submit your own pics.

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Skull-A-Day Press: Richmond Times-Dispatch

Nice article in this weekend's Richmond Times-Dispatch about Skull-A-Day and After Life. Read the full article HERE.


Richmond Times-Dispatch
7/5/09

C-Rations: 0C101

This week's offering is a Contest Example for the July Contest

Sign 22" x 28" done with markers

Alternative picture taken inside one of the exhibits


Patriotic C says:

Just in from a wonderful July 4th assignment. I thought visiting Fort McHenry in Baltimore, MD was an appropriate place for the weekend since it holds a place in the pantheon of Sacred American History. Fort McHenry is remembered for its role in what would later become the United States National Anthem.

"I ♥ Skull-A-Day" runs through July 31, what are you waiting for, get out there.


Remember each Monday during the 3.0 year I am posting an original skull design. My weekly offerings are nothing compared to the one-a-day massive project done by the Skullmaster in 1.0, but hopefully you will find some nourishment in these weekly offerings.

Skull Purse

Heather Rigney, who made this cigar box purse, said: "Around the time that I created this purse I had been fascinated with the religious overtones mixed with skull imagery found in old New England cemeteries near my home. The entire box is covered in bible verses from a Catholic bible I found on the street. The back of the bible, strangely enough, had floor plans for various cathedrals. Those are the cross-like, yellow shapes on the sides. The next layer is a mixture of purple rice paper and ceremonial Chinese Joss paper. The image of the skull with wings was created by combining two 17th or 18th century gravestone rubbings of a skull and an angel. I had combined the two images in Photoshop. "

Fashionista C Says:

Another fashionable skull accessories. I love the reuse of materials that would normally end up as trash. This an an excellent example of "upcycling ".

Too bad most schools are out of session for the summer, because it would be great to see what your class would come up with for our monthly contest. Never fear we have some wonderful contest ideas for when school is traditionally in session for all the teachers out there. That's right one guaranteed activity a month for your class provided by your friends at Skull-A-Day.

After Life: a skull exhibition - pix

For those of you who can't or haven't had a chance to see it in person I've just posted several more pictures of After Life, my Skull-A-Day art installation, on Flickr HERE.


The show runs through August 22nd at Quirk Gallery here in Richmond, Virginia so you still have plenty of time to see it if you're in the area. And yes, I'd love to bring the show to other places as well, so if you are a gallery owner (or know one) please get in touch!

Sunday Simulacra - Version 3.5

In order for you to have enough strength to go Skullhunting, you need three skully meals a day. To help you plan what you are eating today we have three guest chefs to help you along.

Breakfast was prepared by Lindsey who called her dish "Evil Muffin". Who said: "I'm sure that you've seen similar ones, but I noticed a skull in my muffin paper the other day!"

Lunch came from from Luke who only mentioned this about the dish: "we found this in our sandwich, sweeeet"
Dinner was whipped up by Leo. A dish called "Winkin' on my plate."
Master Chef C says:
Delicious looking simulacra all around thanks for submitting your suggestions for skull meals.

Now Serious C says:
Local food banks are being hit twice as hard during these economic times. They have more people to supplement, with less resources to do it with. Please consider making a donation of some kind to one of your local food organizations. Also if you have a garden of your own, consider sharing with someone when you have enough. Just recently a neighbor shared some of her harvest with me, so I would like to forward her kindness on to others through you.


Keep sending those pictures in to our submissions address. Just keep in mind that since we only do this once a week it might take a little longer to have it posted.

And the BONUS winners are...

Way back in May we had a contest to win a set of skull skins from Wrapstar. I notified one winner, since that's the usual deal, but didn't remember that this contest was to actually supposed to have THREE winners until just recently. So as of today we have two new winners: congratulations to Amanda and Shawn!

Bloody Face

Today is Independence Day here in the U.S.A. It is a day that we here celebrate for gaining our independence as a free nation. But, like anything worth fighting for, it comes with a price. Matt Gregg from Dayton, Ohio has created a fantastic piece titled "Bloody Face".



Never forget the bloody faces that have tried to make this world better, one way or another, for one reason or another, with their sacrifices. "Death be not proud, though some have called thee". Awesome work, Matt!

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After Life: a skull exhibition - preview

After Life, an exhibition of pieces from the Skull-A-Day project, opens tonight in Richmond, Virginia at Quirk Gallery. For those of you who can't make it, here are a few images from the installation of 100+ pieces, which includes several new large scale pieces that have never been shown before. Most of the work is for sale, so if you've always wanted to own a piece of Skull-A-Day, this is your chance. Contact the gallery for more information.



UPDATE: More pictures can be found on Flickr HERE.

p.s. If you are a gallery owner and would like to bring this show or a show of large scale prints from the project to your space please get in touch.

[Flashback Friday] 261. Skullmouflage

Flashback Friday is a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.o. Each week I'll be posting an 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 of the project...

#48: 261. Skullmouflage


I really wanted to make this look as much like real camo as possible, so I researched it online and found that the shapes tended to be more horizontal than vertical so I all made the skulls go sideways to match that, hopefully it also made it look more like camo on first glance. I did eventually make this into a repeating pattern, which you can grab HERE to use as a background image if you like.

This pattern is available on a notebook from the fine folks at Modofly. You can see a picture of an actual one HERE.

And hey, if you're interested in buying this as actual fabric let me know, I'm considering offering a limited amount for sale.

Inspiration Skull

9 year old Ryan was inspired by the Skulls book purchased by her mother.

Ryan's mom wrote: "... we've had a lot of fun with it [the book] in our family. I have a 9 year old daughter who was inspired to create this from a folded piece of notebook paper. I thought it was genius. Her little brother managed to rip part of it...what would be a tooth, but other than that you can see it's symmetrical. I thought it was pretty impressive. You should notice the feminine qualities in this skull. She has somewhat of a do and girly shaped eyes. It's definitely a girl. "


College Ruled C says:

Congratulations Ryan on your first skull submission to Skull-A-Day. If you are not already aware our beloved Skullmaster's first skull was also a cut paper skull. Ryan don't forget to try you hand at one of the monthly contests we are doing this year. You can find the current one here. We would love to see what else may inspire you.

Speaking of the Skullmaster, if you are near Richmond, VA you need to go check out some the origional skulls in person during his show at the Quirk Gallery. The Show opens tonight (7-3-09) with special night hours from 7:00PM-10:00PM.

Skull-A-Day 3.0 Monthly Contest for July

JULY 2009 CONTEST: "I ♥ Skull-A-Day "

July is traditionally the start of travel season here in America, so we thought this would be a great opportunity for you to share your love for Skull-A-Day while enjoying the outdoors. Here is what we ask: design a shirt or sign with "I ♥ Skull-A-Day" (you can use "heart"), and take a picture of you with it at a travel destination spot. This spot can be famous, not so famous, or infamous. Not to worry, all of you not on vacation this month, or taking staycations this year, there are plenty of the above mentioned places in your own hometown. All we ask is that you get out of your residence for a while.

Criteria for submission: Submissions must include the readable phrase "I ♥ Skull-A-Day" on either a shirt or sign. You may use any medium to create your message on the object. Pictures must include a noticeable part of the place you visited as well as the phrase mentioned, and please remember to tell us about the place where the photo was taken.

Deadline: July 31, 2009

Happy trails to you. Don't be shy. Get working on your submission and send it in soon!


SKULL-A-DAY 3.0 MONTHLY CONTESTS
This is another exciting monthly contest Skull-A-Day is doing throughout year 3.0. We, The Skullmaster, Tatman, and myself, Citizen Agent, realize that it is you, the fans of the project, who continue to keep this site going, and over and over again you have shown us the amazing talent that is inside all of you. Our monthly contests are one more way in which everyone can get involved. We want to inspire you with a topic each month and see what you come up with in response to it.

The Details: The usual submission rules apply here, all work must be original and must fit the criteria for the current monthly contest. All contests will begin when announced, around the 1st of the month, and run through the end of the month. All entries must be e-mailed to the submissions address within 24 hours of the close of the contest to be considered for the random drawing. Be sure to include the name of the contest in the subject line of your e-mail.

About the Prize: 12 unique hand-made prizes will be awarded throughout the 3.0 Skull-A-Day year. Each month one prize will be awarded one week after the end of the contest to a random participant, at which time all submitted work will be exhibited on Skull-A-Day.

3 Skulls, 2 Textures, 1 Great Idea

Boston artist Alycia Garcia presents us with a mixture of mediums in her 3 skulls. Ink and embroidery make a fine combination for this trio.



The use of 2 mediums in one piece is a great idea. Anyone else feeling inspired?

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[CONTEST] Wiskullsin T-shirt Giveaway

Josh Rickun, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has graciously offered to give away one of his custom designed WiSKULLSiN T-shirts to one lucky Skull-A-Day fan (and no you don't have to be from Wisconsin to win)!


To be entered in a random drawing for the shirt just leave a comment below saying what you think the Wiskullsin state motto should be!

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 an e-mail link for you on it).

You have until just Midnight Eastern Time July 7th to enter so don't delay! The contest is over and the winner will be announced soon!

And of course you don't have to wait to get your very own WiSKULLSiN shirt, you can get it today HERE.

Good luck!

[UPDATE: Please note the correct spelling is Wiskullsin with a "k", my mistake for putting it with a "c" originally!]

p.s. People from Willskullsin are clearly very serious about their love for the state...

For all the Skull Marbles

Glass Artist Brad Pearson wrote: "Here are a few of my marbles, these designs are one of the most popular designs I make. Marbles are about 1.5" and handmade out of Italian glass using a torch and glass rods."



Knuckle Down C says:

I am a great admirer of the glass arts. These designs are amazing, I love that a piece of art can fit in to your pocket. Do you also make mibs or just the shooters? It would be fun to have a custom set of 13 + 2 done with skulls for my next round. Thanks for submitting this work and I look forward to seeing more of your work.

Tuesdays With Tatman #4

I was inspired by the Skull Master's 211. Etched Skull so I thought I might try it myself as something new that I've never done. So in true Skull-A-Day fashion I present you with Glassman's creations.


This candle holder measures 4 1/2 inches wide and deep by 4 1/4 inches high. I tried to make all four sides appear like they are viewed from that perspective. Similar to Noah's 216. Copper Cube Skull.


This bud vase is only 3 1/2 inches tall and each skull is only 7/8 inch across.

Each Tuesday in the 3.0 year will bring a new Tuesday With Tatman. As a tribute to the Skull Master's astounding feat let's all get creative and try something new(and hopefully skull related).

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Sketchy Penskull

Artist, web designer, and self professed skull lover Brian 'eEL' Albright sends us a pen sketch that he did way back in 1993. Sixteen years later he wants you to "harness the powers of dARkness" at his dARKBRAin Design web site.


Ink pen has such a classy texture to it. Great work, Brian. I'm sure your entry for the June flag contest is sitting in your out box already mailed to us, right. Today is the last day.

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C-Rations: 0C100

I tossed away the classics this week and returned to the unconventional.

This week's offering is Charcoal Briquettes


Candescence Casualty: Approx 18" W X 22" L mixed use of heated and new briquettes.

Nerdy C says:
The Summer Solstice marks the longest period of daylight for the year, after the Solstice daylight begins to decrease each day as we move towards the Winter Solstice where the daily move reverses. The start of Summer marks the decline of daylight hours. This year, Summer began officially at 1:45 am EDT on June 21, 2009 . In 2009 something special took place- The First Day of Summer was a day earlier June 20, 2009 in Western North America. Why you ask? So glad you did... because 1:45am EDT June 21st is June 20th 11:45PM MDT, 10:45PM PDT, and so on back to the international dateline.

PS: [bonus] this week the fate of C-Rations: 0C10

Remember each Monday during the 3.0 year I am posting an original skull design. My weekly offerings are nothing compared to the one-a-day massive project done by the Skullmaster in 1.0, but hopefully you will find some nourishment in these weekly offerings.

Stepping Skulls

Daryle Dickens writes: "Greetings: I made these two stepping stone skulls out of concrete..."

A close up
Olmsted C says:

21st century artists make sure you check out Daryle's blog. Thanks for submitting your work. I like these very much. It looks as if you may have some Poison Ivy on the fence in the back, having these skulls where they are, makes me feel that you are communicating danger in the area. The sense of danger is further demonstrated by the exploded flower pot. You never know when those things will go off. Watch out!

Sunday Simulacra - Version 3.4

Once again our readers turn bounty hunters and search out the skulls hiding amongst us.

Birthday Girl Dawn tells us, "My birthday was in February and some of my co-workers decorated my car with chalk, happy b-day etc. This was a happy face on the driver's side window and after 3 months of not washing the chalk off the result was an accidental skull in the right eye of the face! How can I wash my car now?"

Ummm, you can't.

Pub attendee Matt writes us, "Hello. I just stumbled on your great site. Here's an image of a skull in a pint glass that I always liked. Cheers."

That might explain the "stumbling".

And of course, yours truly has the skull eye. This guy showed up on my foot after my new flip flops got wet.



Okay now, all of you would be skull hunters, we can't do this without you. Get your skull eyes open and submit your hidden simulacra. Just remember, we only do this once a week so it may be a while before we post the face of your fugitive.

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Doodle-Zook Skulls

Creative theorist and solution engineer Shawn White shares with us, "A few designs I worked up and am anticipating screen printing onto t-shirts". He adds, "I've never considered myself an "artist" but have always had that burning need to create. After having attempting to placate my need to create by doodling for the past decade, I've decided to start screen printing as a creative outlet. I'm also planning to sell these on-line".





Thanks to Shawn for sharing his creativity with us . He will have to let us know when he adds these designs to his store. He has a few other things to choose from for now. Maybe he's busy making a flag for the June contest? Or maybe he anticipates what next month may bring?????

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[Flashback Friday] 167. Skull By Numbers

Flashback Friday is a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.o. Each week I'll be posting an 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 of the project...

#49: 167. Skull By Numbers



The book Paint By Number was an inspiration and reference for this one. I'd actually made a paint by number image for one of my clients a few years back, so I had an idea about how to go about doing this (at the bottom of the original post I explain the whole process), but I decided to take things one step further and actually disguise the image that you are painting. So if you think you're going to get a painting of two skulls you're in for a surprise...

You can download a hi-res PDF of it HERE to do it yourself. Please send us a picture of the results!

NOTE: You will have to mix your own colors, use the swatches at the bottom as a guide, but feel free to experiment with different palettes. I recommend acrylics or tempera, but anything opaque will work.

And if you're impatient you can cheat and see the end result HERE.

Night of the Living Skull

Meg from Texas said: "These are pictures of my Halloween costume from last year, I just found out that you can send photos into this website, I hope you like them!"


Facebook C says:

We do like them very much Meg. Hope you had fun that night as a skull. Since we will never get a chance to meet most of the fans out there, it is nice to see you with your best skull forward. Are there any other fans out there want to share your skull face? We would love to see you done up with your best skull on.