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

Skull Plate by Dr. Bock

Human Skull Engraving by William Miller

Human Skull Side from David Darling’s Internet Encyclopedia of Science. Great resource for the anatomy of the human skull.

18 Angles of the Human Skull by Kore Flatmo

Skull Drawings by Paul Doeman

Skull Drawing by Ha Young Lee

Skull Sketches by Nadine Gorham

Idealized Proportion Human Figure, The Human Skull, Plate VII by Michael M. Hensley. You’ve got to check this guy’s website out, Human Anatomicae: he’s got fantastic reference drawings of the human bodies. Especially useful is the section on hands and feet - but that’s another post

Skull - Front and Side View by krisheding

Skull Drawing by Nicole Breedyk (via Flickr)

Skull Page by Steven Russell Black (via Flickr)

How-to’s and tutorials on how to draw skulls

How to Draw a Skull on 2d-Digital-Art-Guide

How To Draw A Skull And Crossbones on Drago-Art

Discover Easy Steps To Have Your Pencil Drawing Of A Skull on Pencil-Drawing-Idea.com

How to Draw a Skull on ExpertVillage.com

Drawing the Human Skull on draw23.com

Draw a Skull with a Wacom Tablet from Go Media on Vimeo.

Stylized Skulls

Skull Reference by Matthew Amey. The image above is one of 151 drawings of the human skull Matthew Amey did in 2003. Those along with skull drawings by 150 artists can be found on the website: this is definitely for all the skull lovers out there. Here’s another one from the book (which you can buy here):

Skull by Ron Domstead

La Coka Nostra by Brian Morris. This guy has some real dope drawings and illustrations. You can get the above image on a T-Shirt over at shopbenchmark.com. One of his tees is also featured on Threadless Select.

Pinstripe Skull by Rob Schwager. Above available as print Schwager’s online store.

Skull by hydro74 and another one by the same artist:

Skull Illustration by hydro74… siiick.

Machine Skull by Eliot Flores - When I first stumbled upon this picture I thought it’d be from hydro74, they look somewhat similar… can’t decided which one is sicker!

Scaphocephaly by R. E. Wolf (via Flickr)

Trophy Skull by Danny PiG (via Flickr)

Snake and Skull by Joe_13 (via Flickr)

Pumpkin Pattern - Skulls by Chris Rushing (via Flickr)

Skull by b.media (via Flickr)

Skull Head72 by ceroakb1 (via Flickr)

Metal Skull by Marcus Tegtmeier (via Flickr)

Skull & Lotus by Usugrow - this guy is incredible, and he loves skulls. You can also check out this bit on an Usugrow art opening on Fecal Face.

Alien Biker Skull by Von R. Glitschka

Grunge Skull Illustration by Chad Lonius. Chad’s got some sick illustrations and gives away free vector illustrations from time to time, including the one shown above!

Another Skull by Shane from ShanesArt.com - dude’s got some sick skills.

Tribal Skull by Ty Lombardi

Skull Tattoo by Bazaar

Photo references of skulls

Human Skull by David Liittschwager on California Academy of Sciences Skulls website - great resource for all kinds of funky skulls.

Human Skull by DeLoy Roberts - Granted this picture is kind of crappy, but his website has tons of animal skulls as well.

Azibaza has some crazy items for sale - unfortunately this Tibetan carved human skull is sold out. Definitely check out some of their other items, including their kapalas (skull caps).

More crazy skulls can be found over at tribalartasia.com, including this Naga Headhunting Human Trophy Skull.

Cradleboard Skull from bmezine.com. Although retired, you can still look at the pictures of skulls - this one in particular from the “Deformation and other Unique Defects” category.

You can find skull replicas of all kinds of hominids over Skulls Unlimited (in the Fossil Hominids section), including this Homo neanderthalensis skull.

More ostheological reproductions are available from Bone Clones, including this skull with brain… cool

Human Skull with Horns from subversiveelement.com. According to this most entertaining site, this skull was found in 1880’s in Pennsylvania, USA, but was subsequently stolen. Sitting on top of male skeletons 7 ft. tall, these would have made for some scary fellows.

For more bizarre skulls check out this skull of a supposed fishman; apparently quite a few of them have been found according to dominorus’ site.

Websites Devoted to Skulls

For those of you who haven’t gotten their fill, here are more websites devoted to skulls exclusively:

Skull-A-Day - the blog of artist Noah Scalin. Not too long ago he decided to make a one skull a day for a year, and so he did. Recently completed, the blog lives on with user contributed skulls and spawned a book that you can find through IndieBound.

I Want Your Skull - great site that also publishes its own little sweet zine. Great skull art and plenty of inspiration here.

Sweet Skulls.com - Examines the skull in pop culture. You’ll find a lot of old b-movie posters and other assorted trash art.

Stuff to buy

The End, almost

No post on skulls would be complete without a nod to Skullface himself, Ghost Rider:

Ghost Rider cover by Marc Silvestri

… but the last laugh goes to the ultimate bonehead:

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.

Shawn Barber Studio Visit by Art Adventures.

Mister Cartoon’s Hands (Collaboration with Estevan Oriol) by Shawn Barber

Sketch of Henry Lewis as seen in Forever and Ever: New Works by Shawn Barber

Portrait of the Artist, Gregory Mocilnikar by Shawn Barber

“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.

Here’s a great interview with Fish from Fecal Face.  Check out the full interview for more pics from his studio.

Another interview with Fish on YouTube by mpetty23:

Definitely check out some more Jeremy Fish videos on YouTube (there are plenty).

“Whale Guts” by Jeremy Fish

“Ahab” by Jeremy Fish

“Nautical Back” by Jeremy Fish

“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.

“Dirty Dan the Hot Dog Man” by Jason D’Aquino

“The Server” by Jason D’Aquino

“Lust” by Jason D’Aquino

“Abduction” by Jason D’Aquino

“Death” by Jason D’Aquino

“The Wrong Way” by Jason D’Aquino

“Suffragette” by Jason D’Aquino

“October” by Jason D’Aquino

“Cthulu Can You Come Out and Play” by Jason D’Aquino

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.

Rain Rider by Phillip Jackson

Ribbon by Phillip Jackson

Panda Fishing by Phillip Jackson

Pilchard the Dragon by Phillip Jackson

Although his site seems to not have been updated recently (I could be wrong), you definitely need to check out the work of Chris Legaspi.  Rarely do you find someone so diverse in talents: from fine art to cartoon, this guy has all styles on the lockdown.  Definitely sick.

More below the fold.

Himba Tribeswoman

Spidergrunt

Workshop Drawing

Looking at the drawings Phillip Rauschkolb has posted on his sketch blog, it’s easy to see that he’s way into comics.  Currently working at an ad agency in Portland, Oregon, his true calling is the comics industry.  He’s working on his own comic book, and by the looks of it, I’d say he’s well on his way to becoming a great comic book artist.

More pictures below the jump.

Dad vs. Deer by Phillip Rauschkolb

Jonathan Hex by Phillip Rauschkolb

Big Geoffry by Phillip Rauschkolb

I recently came across the fresh work of one Eric Constantino, a freelance artist currently enrolled in the San Francisco State University with a major in Design and Industry.  Not only does his site - Design by 31216 - feature his not-too-shabby talents, what I really like about it is the fact that he let’s you enter into his creative process, from conceptual drawing to final piece (be it a poster or sneaker).

More below the jump.

Infinite Sadness (4 hours 15 minutes)

Infinite Sadness (6 hours)

Infinite Sadness (11hours)

Sketch Book by Eric Constantino

Lauren Nassef, a  Chicago artist, does a great job of conveying a lot of emotion in very simple, minimal drawings.  Sometimes - probably more often than not - simpler is better.  Case in point.

Cow

Italian Hounds

Every once in a while you come across art that just really grips you.  This is the case for me when I saw the works of French artist Bruno Leyval.  His brutal inks are a study of human life that punch you in the face: raw emotion, pain, angst.  The broad range of subjects bespeaks his curiosity in that most curious affair we call life.

You can also check out his work-in-progess on his Flickr page.  More pics below the fold.

“Meditation”

“East Coast, 2008″

“Township II”