Paisley Skull Pendant

Artist Kimberley Grasing of LexieJewel in New York designed and created this “Poison Paisley Pendent” using sterling silver and black onyx.

C-shell Selling C says:

Some cultures will use talisman to ward off a number of things, I can not help but think of this as a sort of talisman to protect you.  In jumping around I found that Onyx is sometime associated with assisting you in changing bad habits.  That thought gives this pendent a whole new meaning as the skull could be representative of those bad habits being released from the stone.  Thank you for sharing this work with us and much luck to you in your quest to change any bad habits you may have.

[CONTEST REMINDER] "Skullface" Book Giveaway

This contest is over.  Thanks to everyone who participated and left a comment.

Don't forget that you have until Midnight TONIGHT August 30th to be entered to win this amazing book, "Skullface", from Yak El-Droubie and Korero Books. I would dare say that you might hate yourself if you missed the chance to own this collection of classical craniums. Follow the link to the original post here or click on the ad at the top of the sidebar.

Of course you don't have to wait to win a copy, visit the site here to purchase one or more (Christmas is coming) and check out all of the awesome art books from Korero. Thanks again for the great prize, Yak!

Receive and Let Go

"Every breath is an opportunity to receive and let go. I receive love and I let go of pain." - Brenda MacIntyre

Today's photos via http://pinterest.com/cosmiclila/yoga/

Little Dead Skulls

Teresa Houghmaster of Little Dead Things, in Memphis TN creates these wax skull candles, She creates them using some techniques learned while making zombie lawn art with friends, and some learned after she started concentrating on making only the candles.

This is the time of year where I see lots of skull candles, for Halloween. They are normally mass made, and lacking the special details that hand made candles offer. This highly detailed skull candle shows a great level of craftsmanship from years of study. Candles like this one are too beautiful to burn. Instead, I consider them wax sculptures. You can see more of Teresa's work on her Facebook and in her Etsy shop.

Black & White Skulls on Canvas

Today’s Skulls are a pair of painting.

The first is from Mish Tiemann of Illinois who we featured once before for another paint job HERE. 

The next is from Mark Taylor who completed this painting of white skulls on black canvas all painted in acrylic.

 

Sailing C says:

 Canvas is one of those wonderful material that can be used for a numerous amount of things: from clothes to shoes and from tents to sails there is a wonderful possibility out there of using the painting medium for purposes that are only is limited by the imagination. Thank you both for sharing your work with us you have actually inspired me to go looking for my old pair of canvas sneakers to create with.

Forearm Stand Tips

When people first start doing forearm stands (pincha mayurasana) they tend to want to fight about how their arms should be placed. They're supposed to be parallel to each other, but the hands want to slide towards each other OR the elbows want to slide away from each other... OR the practitioner simply wants to set up with hands together elbows apart from the beginning. They claim it's more comfortable or easier this way. One person even told me that asking him to put his arms parallel to each other was ridiculous.

What does this mean and why is it important?
Hands or elbows sliding can mean you're not rooting down properly. Elbows sliding out specifically says you're not pulling them in towards the midline enough. Practice just holding your arms and clawing your fingers in dolphin (aka pincha prep) for a while before you start kicking up.

All of these things usually point to tight shoulders. It requires pretty open shoulders/chest to comfortably place your bent arms parallel to each other and raise them overhead. If you find this totally uncomfortable then focus more on shoulder openers before attempting your forearms stands. Maybe even set aside your plans for forearm stands for a while and regularly practice shoulder opening poses if it's really uncomfortable.

 Practice with a block as seen in this post to help learn proper set-up.

This all matters because - kicking up and having your foundation sliding into this triangle shape is just practice for a rotator cuff injury. These hurt a lot, may require surgery, and will ruin all your plans for a long while during the recovery process. They're also one of the most common injuries in yoga, so be patient and safe to avoid being injured from the beginning.

You May Also Enjoy:

Baby Steps to Forearm Stands

[BONUS] 405. Gear Skull II

Carlton Kotalo of Spiderbite Studios, commissioned me to make a skull of gears and this is the result...

Made entirely with vintage watch gears, the skull itself is actually only about 5 x 6 in (12.7 x 15.24 cm).

Plasma Cut Skulls

From the left coast of Canada, Chilliwack, BC to be more specific, Ani Harper sent us the following, "I just found you're great skull site. Thought you might enjoy my plasma cut skulls. They are all free hand cut out of 20 gauge steel metal, reverse welded onto a rusty plate and clear coated."

That's some wicked work to be done free hand with such a powerful tool. Plus, I can't believe that we still have such great artists just now finding our site. I guess it's a good way to keep the great skull art flowing. Thanks for sharing, Ani!

A Thursday night at S@mple in Richmond Va

Here are my 2 favorites from S@mples body paint night. Leopard spots with black glitter is always fun :)

As I was having fun with this linear design, she asked me if I could incorporate her boyfriends name into it.

No Sweat...

This is a face paint practice for a heat and sweat experiment I did for an outdoor event. Holds up even after 2 hrs of working in the yard in the sun! There is a product you can use to prevent sweating underneath the paint, but it wasn't necessary today :)

Designs for Men too!

I don't get to paint a lot of guys, but one of my favorite male models was nice enough to let me practice multiple designs on him for an event he was attending :) Thanks Jason!

 The upper chest design was inspired by the shape of a squid ;) Awwww, cute huh?

And Jason is only 1/2 Angel so he just got one wing that I finger painted instead of using a brush.

A final simple piece to wrap up the look, swirly vibrations.

Napkin Skull

Craig Perra from Rocklin, CA, made a skull with little pieces of napkins.

Sometimes playing with ordinary objects (in this case a napkin) can lead to extraordinary results. I love the lightness of this piece, cause by the ply of the napkin being separated. The starkness of the white paper against the black background helps accent the soft details. Pieces like this make me want to play with my normal materials, in a different way.

[CONTEST REMINDER] "Skullface" Book Giveaway

This contest is over.  Thanks to everyone who participated and left a comment.

Don't forget that you have until Midnight EST on August 30th to be entered to win this amazing book, "Skullface", from Yak El-Droubie and Korero Books. It would be an awful shame if you missed a chance to own this collection of classical craniums. Follow the link to the original post here or click on the ad at the top of the sidebar.

Of course you don't have to wait to win a copy, visit the site here to purchase one or more (Christmas is coming) and check out all of the awesome art books from Korero. Thanks again for the great prize, Yak!

Sunday Simulacra - Version 6.13

This week's set of simulacra are leaving their mark on this world. Some a little more permanently than others.

This skull stain showed up on my own son's night stand after he left some sill putty sitting in the same place a for a couple of days.

And Dani Adams discovered this condensation skull underneath a glass of water in Denver, CO.

Some skulls are there to be noticed for a long time, some are fleeting moments caught by the watchful eye. What kind of simulacra can you find? Be sure to submit them so we can display all of the great hidden skulls out there. Thanks, Dani!

[BONUS] Skull-A-Day Tattoos

Just wanted to share a couple more tattoos featuring my work!

The first was posted on our Skull-A-Day Facebook page by Cynthia Saldivar, who used my Seaskull as inspiration for her foot tattoo...

 

The second was spotted by me at this year's GWAR-B-Q here in Richmond!  I introduced myself as the creator of the Quoth The Skull artwork, but sadly did not get the owner's name...

Do you have a Skull-A-Day inspired tattoo? Please drop us a line and share it!  If you do you'll be joining the elite ranks of Skull-A-Day tattooed including our editor Abby, who has my Quoth The Skull on her arm; Thomas who has my Skulledelic on his arm; Deacon who got my Ornamental skull on his back; Denis who got a skull I drew for him when I signed his copy of my book Skulls; Kevin, GlobGlob & Drew who used the Skullphabet for their tattoos; 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 Skull-A-Day editor Tatman and myself!

Super 'Skulluxe' Saturday

If you've been reading Skull-A-Day for any length of time then you are sure to have been witness to the the bright and bold world of Dan Springer of Skulluxe fame.  Now Dan's back with so much new stuff that A Super Skull Saturday was in order.

Most of Dan's works are painted on wooden panels, but I see a new trend has caught his eye with the painted bike bells.  I'm sensing a pattern of awesomeness appearing over at Skulluxe.  Perhaps these will also catch the eye of a fellow skull and bike lover over at his site (hint, hint, Paul).

Be sure you check out the rest of Dan's terrific works of more than just skulls.  He's got a unique flair that really pops and brings vibrancy to the mundane woodgrains he uses for a canvas.  Thanks again for the incredible submissions, Dan!

Digital Coded Skulls

London, England based Graphic Design & Photography student James Green told us: “I recently came across the Skull-A-Day website when doing a project based on skulls, and really find it quite amazing. I decided to send you a pair of submissions of what I have been working on. The processes they have been through is a mixture of slit-scanning, meshing, data bending converting 2D images into 3D and transcode landscaping- basically a bunch of creative coding.”

Lightcycle C says:

I find the new age of digital arts to be a fascinating wonder.  Its magic however also frightens me as I fear that its future place may not be to enhance the existing arts but rather to replace them.  With that it is hard not to see with your first image a connection to the art of stained glass or mosaics with its combination of  varying individual colored pieces to create a larger deeper image.  Perhaps in this case the digital arts could enhance the art form as it could take away some of the guess work on what truly works best together.  Thank you for discovering our site and for jumping in head first by sharing your creative coding with us.

Airbrushed Skulls

Klaus of Artwork 79 airbrushed skull artwork for the upcoming Deela album "Rumbullion", and on ear protection.

Music, like art, can speak to your soul. They are a natural pair, like two people forever entwined. The album cover pulls inspiration from Dia de los Muertos and Mexican music culture. The bright colors and design draws me in, which is exactly what an album cover should do. The ear protectors' design reminds me that protecting my ears is just as important as protecting my skull. To me, they resemble headphones. Perhaps if they were, the melody would be as upbeat and bright as Deela's music.

My New Mantra

"There are things you can control & there are things you can't. 

When you know the difference you have arrived." - The Daily Love (via twitter)

via  http://yogachick.tumblr.com/post/29637511382/uttanasana-standing-forward-bend

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Enter Promo Code BLOGLOVE2012  for 50% off canvas prints & free shipping until 9/15/2012

Enter the PRINTCOPIA grand opening $300 Best Buy Giveaway on their Facebook page by Monday

[CONTEST] "Skullface" Book Giveaway

This contest is over.  Thanks to everyone who participated and left a comment.

Heads up, skull lovers, IT'S CONTEST TIME AGAIN!  This week we have an overly awesome compilation of some of the best skull art in the world that has been bound into a book titled "Skullface".  Compiled by Yak El-Droubie, and available at Korero Books, "Skullface" contains almost 200 pages with over 70 contributing artists, including some who have been featured on Skull-A-Day as well.  This mind blowing collection has some of everything and is sure to have something everyone will love.  Just take a look at this sampling.....

"Skullface" is a beautiful hard cover book that measures almost 8 1/2" x 10 1/2" (215mm x 266mm).  That means that each piece of skull art is in amazing color, or black and gray, and large enough to genuinely appreciate.  The winner of this contest will receive one of the books for their very own!   


To be entered in this free contest you are being asked to leave a comment stating your favorite skull artist. There are so many out there these days that we should get a heaping helping of creativity to check out.   Naming one of the Skull-A-Day editors won't increase your chances of winning, but we always appreciate the kind words.

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

IMPORTANT: Don't forget to include a way of contacting you(either an email in the post OR BE SURE your blogger profile has a working email link for you). Entries are only valid with this information.

You have until Midnight Eastern time on August 30th to be entered. 

Note: Yak has agreed to ship to our winner anywhere in the world so here's a global good luck to you all.


Of course you don't have to wait until the end of our contest to ensure that you're a winner.  You can purchase your own copy(or more for friends) here.  Be sure to check out all of the interesting art books they have to offer at Korero Books.  GOOD LUCK!!!

Upcycled Skulls

Sculptor / Junk Artist / Upcycler Gabriel Dishaw from Indianapolis, IN told us: “I'm an upcycler and use recycled materials such as adding machines, typewriter and computers to create my art. I recently started a series around skulls and what to share them with you.”

“Your Days Are Numbered”

 

“Swashbuckler”

 

“Greed”

Second C says:

There is something philosophical in thinking about this work.  The act of taking something that has reached its end and using it to create new art that is dedicated to the symbolic image of the end. It's quite a powerful natural experience that one sees repeated in the processes that decompose our world.  Thank you for sharing with us the beginnings of this new amazing series of skulls.

Collage Skulls

Belgium's Philippe Debongnie, previously featured here, returns with some awesome new collages.

These are simply wonderful. Fish are friends, not food (unless properly prepared with some lemon butter). We all need to be more earth aware, especially when it comes to our oceans and earthly supply of water. The second piece looks like an Ikea nightmare.  YIKES!  Thanks for sharing again, Phillipe!

Sugar Skull Drawing

Lisa Hawson, from Surrey in the UK, created this Dia de los Muertos inspired skull.

Dia de los Muertos is only a few more weeks away. This festive drawing reminds me of the sweet decorative sugar skulls made for the two day celebration. Though the festival's roots are in Mexico, many people in other countries celebrate it as well. I'm not of Mexican decent, but there is something about honoring my ancestors and heritage that is alluring. I plan on celebrating with my family, and perhaps drawing a few skulls myself. For more of Lisa's work, check out her blog and website.