Inked and Collaged

Today’s skull of the day is this amazing piece by Russell James! James is a highly talented tattooist with a focus in stylized color work and based at Bad Donkey Tattoo in Lake Ozark, Missouri.

For today’s skull pick we get to see one of James’ coolest skull pieces. We love the surrealist and Dada-like nature this piece has and the nod to the trash polka style found in the color scheme. The red and black sketch-like pieces of the tattoo uphold that fun and out of the box trash polka aesthetic as you can see clearly in the arrows, bird and heart. This more illustrative style is then contrasted by the realism and bold, true-to-life coloring of the skull itself.

There’s definitely a Dali influence within this piece as James allows the collage skull to drip towards the bottom, something Dali is very well known for in his own iconic works. The coloring and cracks within this skull add to it’s antiquated appearance, however, the piece as a whole is then contrasted by the inclusion of the collage effects, thus putting a twist on the older and the newer styles of art.

This fun mash up of styles to create one cohesive look is beautifully executed by James and made this funky skull a no brainer for today’s pick. This style is a very out of the box spin on tattoos, especially for an image typically associated with the minimalism found in the American traditional style.

To see more artistic skulls, check out some of our all time favorites right here.