[Flashback Friday] 129. Skull of Bones

Flashback Friday is a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.0. 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...

#12:129. Skull of Bones

I'm surprised it took me so long into the project to think of this one, it seems so obvious! I ordered a random assortment of artificial bones from a medical supply company and had no idea what I'd have to work with. It's actually just around 50% of a nearly complete skeleton, minus the skull of course!

And the Shamrock Skull Shirt winner is...

Congratulations to The Struggling Writer who was the randomly selected winner of the Shamrock Skull Shirt giveaway!

Here's his winning entry:

How are skull and a shamrock the same
other than the letter beginning their name

One symbolizes luck
the other un-luck

But only a skull looks cool while aflame

As always I was blown away by how creative and clever all of your entries were and I was so glad I didn't have to try to pick a favorite, so thanks to Random.org for doing the job for me!

And thanks again to everyone for participating, just because you didn't win doesn't mean you can't get a Shamrock Skull Shirt of your own from www.StPatty.biz!

And stay tuned for more contests in the near future!

MMM, MMM, Skulls

How about a little Breakfast, Desert , and After Dinner?

This work came to us simply as: “Title: «Morn omen» , Author: Kinkywagon, Date: 24/12/09”


Next up is Jeremy Cohen in Montreal who wrote: “Love your blog! I made an apple pie tonight and thought I'd give my hand at a little art.”


Lastly, Cosimo from Milan, Italy said: “I'm a barman and this is my coffee skull!”


Yummy C says:

Another excellent collection of food as art. Thank you all for submitting these fine examples of skulls with a sustaining purpose.

Sangmeister Skull

This wonderful painting comes from Wolfgang Sangmeister. All he asks is, "Maybe you like this painting and show it on Skull-A-Day?"



Why yes, Wolfgang, I like it very much and am happy to share it with all of our readers. I would also like to point out that Wolfgang's site has many more excellent paintings and sketches with a good majority of them being skull related. You are our kind of artist, Wofgang. Danke vielmals!

[BONUS] Skullphabet in Use

Drew Covert made my day by sharing this picture of his new tattoo featuring two characters from my Skullphabet #1 font!

He's joined the elite ranks of fellow Skull-A-Day tattooed folks: GlobGlob (who also used the Skullphabet for a tattoo), Katrina (who had a tattoo designed for her by Skull-A-Day fans), Danny (who got the Rorschach Skull), Tammie (who got my Acorn Skull), and of course myself. Any other Skull-A-Day tattoos out there I don't know about? Send me a picture and I'll send you a specially signed bookplate for your copy of my book.

Collage Skull

Ali GULEC in Istanbul, Turkey sent us this: “I'm a big fan and I' m sending you a collage work which I made by using my wife' s jewelry.”


Buried C says:

ARRRR, it be treasured skull ye seek. Ye’ve come to thee right place. A treasure for all to behold, this skull makes me feel like I’ve got sun on me face and wind at me back. Three shouts for thee misses for allowing ye safe passage with ye work, and three shouts to ye for giving this crew an equal share of it's gaze.

Tuesdays With Tatman #40

The Iron Cross has a sorted and checkered past. Usually one that is misunderstood. Originally, it was used as a military decoration by the Kingdom of Prussia, but it has since gone on to see other organizations put it to use such as the German Armed Forces, bikers, and even a whole slew of current company logos(do an image search for "iron cross logo"). Now it's my turn to try and put a face(?) on a symbol that means so much to so many.



I limited myself to only shapes included in the cross. I know it's a far cry from the original meanings of it's use, but maybe someday we'll award the "Iron Skull Cross" to those artists who show exemplary bravery in the name of skull making. Maybe.....maybe not.

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).

"The King" Skull

One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, now go skull go! Patrick Puckett is here with his show flyer illustration to show us that the King is dead..........or IS he?



Well you can knock me down, step in my face, slander our name all over the place. You can do anything that you wanna do, but Skull-A-Day will still bring the skulls to you. This ROCKS! Thanks, Patrick.

C-Rations: 0C101000

This week’s offering is Crazy Bread®.

“Panis Luna” 10.5" X 8" Carved order of takeout bread-sticks

Mars C says:

Perhaps it is the thoughts of Spring and emerging from the dreariness of Winter, that has led me to think about historic food stores and how lucky we are that we can easily find fresh food at any time of the year. These thoughts have also led me to remember about how moldy grains produce something called ergot. While ergot does have mind altering properties like a hallucinogenic drug it is also a poison that can cause death. By this time of the year grains harvested in the fall not stored properly can become pretty moldy, so Beware the Grains of March it only leads to March Madness!

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.

Need more nourishment? You can always Friend or Follow.

Art with Skulls

Today's collection of work from around the world features artists who use skulls for their blank canvas potential.

Pascal Maugein in Paris,France made vehicle called “Laquered Dogskull”



Iris Priest, who lives in the UK, wrote: “...attached are images of a cat skull I painted with acrylic. The title of the piece is ‘Bird and Anenome or the Civilizing Impulse’...”



Angie Jones from Los Angeles, CA simply said: “I paint skulls :)”


Last for the day is Es Verschoor, from the Netherlands, who told us: “I make skull dolls with real skulls and sculpt the body with epoxy. Everything on this dolls and their base is made by me.” This piece is entitled “Release Me.” (The skulls used are bought from a legal taxidermist who guarantees that these skulls are from animals who died of age, illness, or traffic accidents and not from animals killed for their fur, meat, bones, or lab experiments.)


Born C says:

All the amazing artwork speaks for itself on today. I really like that you all saw the potential with these skulls that are beyond a still life. Thank you all for submitting your individual work. Also if you get a chance be sure to check out the links to each artist above for more incredible work by them.

Skull-A-Day Press: COLAB Interview

I was recently invited to give a talk on Skull-A-Day and my socially conscious design work at COLAB at Syracuse University. As part of my visit I was interviewed by a student and the end result has just been posted online...


Noah Scalin for COLAB from COLAB on Vimeo.

Can you spot the one skull shown that I didn't create? Extra credit if you can figure out who actually did make that skull (hint: it was posted during Skull-A-Day 3.0)!

I also answered a few fun questions for their Off The Cuff segment as well...

Off the Cuff: Noah Scalin from COLAB on Vimeo.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 3.40

Today's simulacra were all found at one of my favorite places- the beach.

Talented artist Greg Lipton has the pleasure of living in the Cayman Islands. He tells us, "I found this dead piece of coral that looks like a skull, it now sits in my fish tank."


An anonymous submitter sent us this tiny sand skull.


And Siobahn writes, "I saw this rock on the beach today in Santa Barbara and had to send it in. I brought it home with me and now can go into my skull collection."


Thanks to the beach combing skull hunters for these. Keep sending those simulacra in to our submission address and we'll hope for more sunny days for all of us to enjoy at the beach.

Earring Skulls...Skearrings???

Paula Dunlop comes up big from Down Under with this sweet set of skull earrings. She writes, "Attached is an image of some earrings I made a little while back, as part of a costume for a friend's dia de los muertos party. I also made a few other decorations, as well as a puppet - you can see it all here".



My favorite part is the flesh and guts beads that you added at the bottom. Great detail makes for great art. I'd say you have an ear for it...or two. Thanks, Paula! The puppet you made was excellent as well.

[Flashback Friday] 3. Sir Skull-A-Day

Flashback Friday is a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.0. 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...

#13: 3. Sir Skull-A-Day

This was the third piece I'd created for the project and the one that most of my friends saw first since I didn't announce the existence of the site to anyone until that day. The reason I chose this specific cassette was it was the first white one I encountered when I was looking through my old tapes in the basement!

Needle Art Skulls

First up is Alexandra who told us: “This is a project I did when I was first trying to learn some basic embroidery techniques.”


Next is Peggy from Lemon Grove (San Diego), California said: “My sister Naida insists that I crochet skulls.”

Last is Frankie in New Zealand sent us this needlepoint example:


Balloon C says:

No matter what tool you used to create with the results are still the same- excellent! I really like this interaction of techniques that each of you specialize in or explored in order to make an original work of art. Thank you all for taking the time to submit your work.

Skull Kicks

Mikee is back again with some more awesome shoes that he's painted with some killer skulls. He has some lucky friends who are now kicking these around.

Be the envy of all the skaters on your block....


Or march along with the blitzkrieg....


Thanks for keeping us in step with your latest creations, Mikee. It's fans like you who are the heart and "sole" of Skull-A-Day.

[UPDATE] Mikee says he's happy to take on commissions to do more of these, so feel free to contact him at miykey AT gmail DOT com or 415-725-2815.

Skull Bomb Bank

Brock T. Burnell from Parker, CO wrote: “I fabricated this bomb piggy bank and painted it with skull and cross bones. It's all steel and just over 2 feet tall. It's painted with matte black and hammer tone silver spray paint. I modeled it after a 550lb style bomb. The bottom plug unscrews and comes out to empty change out of. ”

Major “C” Kong says:

Besides being well constructed, this is a wonderful thought provoking piece. It is interesting to think about the destructive power of money on society both socially and economically. Too much money personally can lead to destructive practices such as a number of vices that turn many new millionaires in to zernoaires. Economically dropping too much cash into the system will lead to inflation and the destructive aftermath of a devalued currency. Thank you for submitting this piece and the stimulation it provided.

Tuesdays With Tatman #39

After a lengthy discussion with "The Bruce Dickinson" I have decided to make a change for the better to Skull-A-Day. As many of you might have noticed we haven't had a lot of posts featuring the cowbell. Well, guess what. I got a fever and the only prescription is MORE COWBELL.



I'd be doing myself a disservice, and every editor of Skull-A-Day, if I didn't post the hell out of this. Before we're done with the 3.0 year we'll all be wearing gold plated skulls. I don't know what that means, but I never question "The Bruce Dickinson".

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).

[BONUS] March Desktop Calendar from Dan Springer

Once again the marvelously talented Dan Springer provides a free desktop calendar for your dowloading pleasure! Be sure to click on the image to get the full-size version...

You can also get a non-skully version at his site Skulluxe.com.

Angel Of Love Skull

More often than not the majority of the general public view skulls as signs of death, despair, and man's ruin. On the contrary, our readers of Skull-A-Day are able to see skulls in many different ways. Today's skull is a great example of that brought to us by Roger Casanova of Casanova Design in Austin, Texas. He happily spreads the merriment with his "Angel Of Love".


I don't know if this could be Cupid's skeleton or not, but it does give me a sense of joy, happiness, and a feeling of amore. Thanks for spreading the love, Roger!

C-Rations: 0C100111

This week’s offering is a Clove of garlic.

“Begin Again” 1.5" X .5" Carved clove of garlic

Mythical C says:

I don't get many opportunities to use fresh garlic when I cook so when ever I buy a bulb it starts to sprout before I can use it all. This one was no exception, I think I purchased it last fall sometime as the lush green around here began to fade. Seeing the green sprout reminds me that it is almost time for the lush green to return as Persephone returns from the underworld.

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.

Need more nourishment? You can always Friend or Follow.

[CONTEST] Win a Shamrock Skull Shirt!

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day the folks at www.StPatty.biz have kindly offered to give one of their fun Skull Shamrock shirts* to a lucky Skull-A-Day reader!

To be entered in the drawing just leave a comment below with a skull or St. Patrick's Day themed limerick. [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 an e-mail link for you on it).

You have until just Midnight Eastern Time March 9th to enter so don't delay! [UPDATE: The contest is over! Thanks to everyone for participating. The winner will be announced soon!]

And of course you don't have to wait til the end of the contest to get a St. Patrick's Day T-shirt from www.StPatty.biz! Plus you can get 15% off on any order over $35 with coupon code  MARCHSALE2 (for US) and CADMARCHSALE2 (for Canada).

Good luck!


*standard weight shirts only, personalized text not included.

Cast Silver skulls

Dianna Badalament, in Northern California wrote: “Attached are photos of my handmade, memento mori, skull jewelry for Skull-A-Day. All the skulls are hand carved and cast in solid sterling silver. I used accents of 14k gold, and stones (skull trio pic: garnet, quartz and smokey quartz) for the eyes. ”


Buried Treasure C says:

Thank you for taking the time to submit your work to us. The ring reminds me of something that could be given out to a secret society member. I like your work very much and the skull line with your archetypal skull fits in very well with the natural aspects of your other jewelry lines.

[BONUS] Skull of The Year Trophy

I just had to share a picture of the fantastic Skull of The Year trophy that arrived from Germany in the mail the other day from Ekkehard Beck of Designers Skulls...

The best part? The package had been x-rayed in Germany before it got here. I can only imagine what they thought when they saw what was inside!

Sunday Simulacra - Version 3.39

Sunday Simulacra... allow me to shed a little light on the subject this week.

Sean Bentley from Bellevue, WA said: “I was taking a picture from my sailboat of the becalmed Puget Sound in late afternoon, and when I looked at it later, there was a skull leering from the depths at me. Yeesh!”



The next two skull lights are sent in by different fans of an odd occurrence that is happening around Brooklyn, NY.

The first example is from artist Kurt Marquart, creator of Betty Bones, who wrote: “I found these skulls being reflected on a brick wall in my neighborhood. It was from the sun reflecting off a window across the street from the image. The sunlight bounced off the window, and through some criss-cross metal thingamajig on a utility pole.”


The Second image is from Ross Savedge who told us: “It's a light reflection on the side of a building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I have no idea what the light was reflecting off of, but it's pretty cool.” Hayden C says:

Thank you all for submitting these enlightening pictures. Sean, that is a great shot and I wonder if there is a deeper story to tell from the area where the picture was taken. Kurt and Ross, It looks like NYC has a new place to go if one wants to see a light show. I am curious if what you are both seeing is a result of the same building and the same apparatus on the utility pole or just a weird coincidence. Since you are in NYC you can always consult here for help and let us know.

Until next time, this is Editor C, and I'll leave our skull light on for you.

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.

Skull-A-Day Sweaters from Sibling

Sibling London is finally selling their Breton style sweaters featuring my Skulledelic art in their online store!

 

Keep an eye out too for Skull-A-Day hoodies, which are not in production yet, but you can get a sneak preview of below...

And be sure to spend some time on their site checking out their latest horror themed line as well, it's really fantastic. Here's a fun preview video...

Already Dead Skull

Shayna, from the endlessly talented state of Virginia, brings us her hand painted Day of the Dead skull that is available at her Already Dead Etsy store (which happens to be filled with all kinds of cool skeletal related items).



I like the warm earth tones you used and the bright flowers that decorate this skull. It reminds me that what returns to the Earth shall someday be reborn. Thanks, Shayna!