How to Make a Skull & Cross Bones

Skull and Crossbones

The symbol of the skull and cross bones has decorated everything from pirate ship flags to poison bottles for centuries. Today it is often used to demonstrate a rebellious attitude, and can sometimes be found scrawled on notebooks, sewn onto jackets and even tattooed onto the body. If you're creating pirate crafts or Halloween decorations, knowing how to make a skull and cross bones will definitely come in handy.

Instructions

1. Draw the top half of an oval shape in the center of your paper.

2. At the bottom of each side, draw a line going inward about one quarter of the way on the half-oval.

3. Bring the next lines downward to form the top half of the jaw. Create a soft, jagged line and add teeth.

4. Leave a small gap and beneath the jagged line form a half-circle with the rounded end to complete the jawline. Fill in the space between the halves of the jaw with teeth. Teeth can be straight, ragged, broken and even sharpened for fright effect.

5. Form two hollow, jagged circles for the eyes and a ragged, upside down heart for the nasal cavity. Shade these in with your pencil to create an empty effect. Consider adding cracks in the skull for a more realistic appearance.

6. Draw parallel lines on each side of the jaw and top them with curved, jointed ends like bones. Use a ruler to line the cross-sections up behind the skull.

Tips & Warnings

• Practicing this pattern will help you perfect your skull and cross bones over time, making it more and more realistic.

References

• Soda Head
• Drago Art