Drawn in Black

Ah, the skull. Universal and visceral, fascinating and beautiful. Symbolic of those most basic themes: life and death. We find it in pop culture, occult ritual, on shoulders worldwide; most importantly, we find it in ourselves. No wonder we see it over and over in the world of art. It is mystical… perhaps we look for answers about the life after death in the bony visage of the skull.

Whatever the case, at the end of day, skulls are pretty cool! Which is exactly why I set out to put together of a haphazard list of drawings, photos, tutorials & how-tos, videos, and illustrations dealing with the human skull.

I hope it proves useful to you and inspires you as it has me. So without further ado, categorized by what seemed to make sense, skulls:

• Anatomical Studies of Skulls
• How-to’s and tutorials on drawing skulls
• Stylized Skulls
• Photo references of Skulls
• Websites devoted to skulls

Enjoy!

Anatomical Studies of Skulls

Skull Left Lateral Index from Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body

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Tags: bony, inspirational, instructional, macabre, mixed, scary, Tattoo, visceral

Los Angeles, Self Portrait Sketch by Shawn Barber

If you like tattoo art, you’ll love Shawn Barber.  As his website states: “Shawn Barber’s body of work focuses primarily on painting, portraiture and documenting contemporary tattoo culture.”  Barber’s many paintings focus on artists, specifically artists with tattoos.  He goes around the world to meet and document them, an experience which he later turns into the painting.  If you’re looking to get a tattoo, you might find some inspiration here!  Also don’t forget to check out “Studio Visit: Shawn Barber and Henry Lewis” over at Fecal Face.

More below the jump.

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Tags: gangster, realistic, Tattoo

“Brutality” by Jeremy Fish

Known for his skulls and silly pink bunnies, Jeremy Fish is a skateboarder and enterprising illustrator living in San Francisco. His work is funny and odd: a surreal blend of tattoo and graffiti imagery.  Beside skateboards, t-shirts, hoodies, and ashtrays, Fish has also designed a Nike sneaker, painted a room of the Hotel Des Artes in San Francisco, and designed an album cover for Aesop Rock.  His clothing line is superFishal.

For t-shirts by Fish check out Umbrella Market and let me know if you can find an XL “Brutality” tee anywhere – it seems to be all sold out, argh.

More pics below the jump.

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Tags: bizarre, funny, illustration, urban

“February” by Jason D’Aquino

“Wrong” by Jason D’Aquino

I gotta say that I love Jason D’Aquino’s drawings – it’s like the 50’s on a bad acid trip: vintage psycho.  Jason definitely has a vision of his own that remarkably show through in all of his drawings.  The materials he chooses to draw on add a subliminal quality to the final work, and his subjects seem a study of the subconscious.

In a weird way some his drawings remind me of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” video.  Do yourself a favor and check out more of Jason D’Aquino’s work.

More pics below after the jump.

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Tags: macabre, psychadelic, psycho, vintage

Nurse Hypo by Phillip Jackson

Phillip Jackson, aka Jolly Jack, creator of the memorable “Sequential Art” and other online comic strips, has a great little sketchbook section to find a little inspiration.  His drawings are fresh, sexy, and humerous – not a bad combination.

More below the jump.

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Tags: fresh, funny, sexy