Halloween Sugarskulls - Week 5

Last week when I heard that we will have to do sugarskulls today I wasn't that excited, because I wanted to do other kind of halloween make-up. But as soon as I started doing some research about the "Day of the Dead" subject some ideas bloomed into my mind and I started being really enthusiast about it.

Here are some photos I found inspiring on Pinterest, as I haven't got enough time to search the library about this subject:

Searching the internet about the meaning of Day of the Dead and the symbolism behind the colors was more inspiring than I expected.
Here are some interesting facts about this holiday: 

• Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and South regions, and acknowledged around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and help support their spiritual journey;
• The most common design for Dia de los Muertos, is to paint the face to resemble a skull. For people not familiar with Latin American culture and the celebration of the Day of the Dead, this might seem strange and even scary. However, the skull has a uniquely positive meaning in Dia de los Muertos, very different from the skeletons and ghosts of Halloween;
• Skulls – known as calaveras orcalacas in Mexico – are an essential part of the symbolism of Dia de los Muertos in mexico. They are used not only as the basis for painting faces, but also are the shape of candy such as sugar skulls and for many skeleton-inspired decorations. Many artworks and books depict dancing skeletons, or portraits with a skull to "remember death";
• In Mexico, the Aztec culture believed life on earth to be something of an illusion – death was a positive step forward into a higher level of conscience. For the Aztecs skulls were a positive symbol, not only of death but also of rebirth;
• Flowers are also symbolically important part of day of the dead. Many face-painting designs of skulls incorporate flowers, and this symbol has a meaning of its own. Flowers are often incorporated into Dia de los Muertos face-painting skull designs (and tattoos for that matter). This mixing of the skull, associated with death with flowers, a symbol in western culture associated with life and love, may seem strange to some. However, the meaning of el Dia de los Muertos face-painting is not only to remember the dead, but also to overcome the fear of death and celebrate life;
• In a Dia de los Muertos tattoo, mural, altar or painting, each color represents something different and of crucial importance:
  • Pink - Celebration and joy
  • Red - The blood of life and a symbol of sacrifice
  • Purple or Indigo - Grief and mourning, the pain of loss and suffering
  • White - Hope, promise and purity of spirit
  • Orange - The brilliance of the sun; a new day
• La Calavera Catrina ('The Elegant Skull') is a 1913 etching by José Guadalupe Posada. The image showed a skeleton dressed in the finery of a wealthy lady – reminder that even the rich and beautiful carry death within them. Nowadays la calavera catrina is a source of inspiration for women's skull face-painting which is both scary and beautiful at once.

In the process of creating my design, after I've read about the subject, I started by giving my Day of the Dead character a backstory, because I wanted to create something different, something glam, gory and yet very meaningful. 

So I decided to name my character Francisca. She was a rich girl that always used to dress according to the latest fashion trends and loved putting on glamorous make-up. She was full of life, always smiling and willing to help the poor, she wasn't like other rich people that were, most of the times, avaricious. Unfortunately, she died in a car accident, but the poor people that she helped, her family and friends didn't forgive her. Every year, they kept commemorating her on Dia de los Muertos, singing and dancing her favourite songs, eating her favourite meals and painting glamorous sugarskulls on their faces, just like she used to put make-up on her face. 

To create the backstory, I was inspired especially by "La Calavera Catrina" etching and the meaning behind it. 
When I finally started drawing my facechart, I wrote down on it what ideas I thought that can be incorporated in my look and what products I should use. I've chosen to add red around the eyes because it symbolises the blood of life and  I thought that when people commemorated Francisca, they brought her "back to life", even if it was just on their memory. I've added blood on my sugarskull because she died in a car accident, and that symbolised the pain that she felt and the suffering, and moreover, the painful tears of the people that loved her. I didn't want to paint flowers around the black holes of the eyes because I felt that something more glamorous will fit better with her personality, as she was passioned about fashion and make-up, so I've added the flowers in her hair and around the eyes, colorful glitter. 

Here's my facechart (first photo without flash, second with flash):

And here is the final result from today:

Overall I was really pleased by the final result and how my design looked on Lauren (my beautiful and patient model), except the fact that it was a bit time consuming (it took me about 2.5 hours to finish it). I have to increase my speed when doing make-up, I really have to work at this because I'm such a slow person (but that's mainly because I want everything to be perfect). Hope you like it!


References for this post:

• http://tattoos.lovetoknow.com/Day_of_the_Dead_Tattoos
• http://hubpages.com/holidays/Meaning-Dia-de-los-Muertos-Face-Painting
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead