STEP 1. I draw the basic shape of the skull on some tracing paper. If you haven't drawn a lot of skulls you may want to find a good reference photo of a skull and work from that. rather than just making something up.

STEP 2. I traced my original drawing on another piece of tracing paper and sketched in the basic shapes and shadows to establish my light source.

STEP 3. I placed my original drawing on the inside of th body and trace the outside of the skull and the teeth with a Sharpie marker. I also drew the cross bones on the outside.

STEP 4. Using Gerber mask vinyl mask and green 3M automotive grade masking tape, I cut out the shape of the skull and the teeth. I used the Gerber mask over the chains that I had previously masked so that the tape did not pull up the chain mask when remov

STEP 5. I masked and cut out the cross bones using the same green 3M tape. I then cleaned of the Sharpie marker with alcohol so that I can see what I'm doing in the subsequent steps.

STEP 6. I put in some shadows and highlights for the cross bones. I used Pactra laquer paints to create some browns in several different shades.

STEP 7. The cross bones after backing with a light tan color.

STEP 8. I made a copy of my original drawing on some card stock and cut it out to make a template. I lightly misted a medium brown around the openings to define the shape of the eye sockets and the nasal opening.

STEP 9. What it should look like when you remove the template.