Intro:
In Mexico and much of Latin America, the Day of the Dead is a culturally significant holiday, much like Halloween in the United States. Part of the Dia de los Muertostradition is the presence of the sugar skull, or calavera. Using the template below in Photoshop, make your own awesome calavera design that reflects your personality, hobbies, etc.!
Search the web for "sugar skull" or "calavera" to find examples of beautiful sugar skull art. See the examples below as well!
History:
From www.mexicansugarskull.com:
Sugar art was brought to the New World by Italian missionaries in the 17th century. The first Church mention of sugar art was from Palermo at Easter time when little sugar lambs and angels were made to adorn the side altars in the Catholic Church.
Mexico, abundant in sugar production and too poor to buy fancy imported European church decorations, learned quickly from the friars how to make sugar art for their religious festivals. Clay molded sugar figures of angels, sheep and sugar skulls go back to the Colonial Period 18th century. Sugar skulls represented a departed soul, had the name written on the forehead and was placed on the home ofrenda or gravestone to honor the return of a particular spirit. Sugar skull art reflects the folk art style of big happy smiles, colorful icing and sparkly tin and glittery adornments. Sugar skulls are labor intensive and made in very small batches in the homes of sugar skull makers. These wonderful artisans are disappearing as fabricated and imported candy skulls take their place.
There is nothing as beautiful as a big, fancy, unusual sugar skull!
Although it is a holiday from far away in southern Mexico, it's a holiday one can personalize and integrate into their own religious and cultural beliefs. It is more of a cultural holiday than a religious one. It is a wonderful way to celebrate the memories of our loved ones who are now gone... through art, cooking, music, building ofrendas, doingactivities with our children, we can recount family stories, fun times and lessons learned... not how the person died, but how they lived.
I hope you come to enjoy Day of the Dead as much as I do!
~Angela Villalba
Process:
1. Make a new folder called "skull"
2. Create a new PS file that's 8.5" wide x 11" tall, 300 ppi called "#_lastname_skull"
3. Save the blank skull below to your "skull" folder.
4. PLACE your skull template onto your document.
5. Using shapes, colors and lines, decorate your sugar skull! Use the images below to get you inspired!
6. Use any tools available (use the shape tool sparingly).
7. Use LOTS of colors, trying to match traditional designs
8. Save your design as both a PSD and JPG.
