And, dearest anon, here is your request.

You’re going to need GIMP because that’s really the only way I know how to do it (and because I’m too lazy to actually figure it out on Photoshop since GIMP is easier)

So you open your picture on GIMP (obviously)

Once you have whichever picture you want to use (I recommend solid white backgrounds, because black backgrounds don’t work if you have other dark colors in the picture) you’re going to want to click the “Colors” tab thing on the top

And then look for “Color to Alpha…” and click that. (I can’t get a screenshot of that ugh)

Once you’ve clicked that, this little fella should appear:

…showing a display of your picture with a transparent background, since the color white (#fff) is selected in that little box in between the words From: and to alpha

You can use that box to select the color of you background. If it’s not white, I recommend you find the # of your color and copy-paste it there.

Click OK and viola~

To save, click File » Export… and then export is as either .gif or .png because I’m certain .jpg or .jpeg can’t handle transparency.

And you’re all set! All questions to the ask box!

miserybiscuits:

Okay, so it’s been a long time since some anon actually asked for this, but I only remembered now so…

I’d say you should go check out Charlavail’s own tutorial here first, just to get a clear idea.

So you start with some Sculpey, which is polymer clay. If you live in the Philippines, you can find these at Hobbes and Landes. If you don’t, check any craft store. Your clay doesn’t necessarily have to be Sculpey, though.

The clay will be kind of hard, so you have to “condition” it a bit first. (A.K.A. squish it, roll it around, stretch it, etc.)

Once that is done, you roll the clay into a ball that is kind of vertical. Key phrase: kind of.

Sorry for the blurred pictures. My camera wouldn’t cooperate. -___-

When you have that, press it down gently, but not all the way through. It should be about half an inch thick. You’ll end up with something like this:

Once you’ve done that, pinch one end of it slightly so that it looks likes this:

And then flatten it out. You can stretch it and stuff so that you could get the form or shape that you’re after. Once you have it, use any one of your fingers to press in the eyes. (I use my index finger, just saying.)

Fill in the rest of the details using whatever tools you have available. My tools have gone missing, so for this particular set, I used the end of a paintbrush for the nose, and a pick-up stick for the mouth. You can use a toothpick, too, if you want.

When you’re all done, it’s time to bake them! Since I am too impatient to use the actual oven, I use the toaster. It takes shorter time and less energy.

Keep them in there for two minutes AND TWO MINUTES ONLY. They’ll get burned if you keep them in for a longer period of time.You’ll also know they’re done when you can smell it, but don’t rely too much on that. 

When they’re all done, leave them to cool for a couple of minutes and when they’re ready, you can start painting! I always start with the eyes, because they’re the easiest. You can paint in whatever order you like and however you like, with whatever colors you like.

Basically, you paint on everything you molded into the clay: eyes, nose and mouth; and then whatever design you want around the eyes.

Usually, when I’m done with painting, I’d trace around the flower petal thingies with a Sharpie, because I suck with paint brushes and hey, permanent markers are quite easy to manage.

When that’s done, I paint the middle of the lines in the mouth gold, and then line them with black paint. They end up looking like this:

Ta-da! Sugar skulls! I’d recommend you to use some glaze afterwards, once the paint is completely dry, so that the paint doesn’t come off.

If you have any questions, my ask box exists!