Dia de los Muertos—the Day of the Dead—is a holiday celebrated on November 1 in Mexico. Dia de los Muertos is not the same as Halloween. The Day of the Dead is about remembering the spirits of loved ones. It is a combined celebration of All Saint’s Day brought to the region by Spanish Catholic explorers and the indigenous Aztec culture. Dia de los Muertos honors the dead with festivals, parades and lively celebrations.
Dia de los Muertos celebrates the lives of the deceased with food, drink, parties, and activities the dead enjoyed in life because it is believed that the deceased would be insulted by mourning or crying.
On Dia de los Muertos, the dead are awakened to share celebrations with their loved ones who find their way back home by the church bells in their hometowns or by following trails of yellow marigolds, or cempasúchiles. The smell of the flower attracts the souls of the departed, drawing them back to the living. Another tradition is Pan de muerto, a type of sweet roll baked during the weeks leading up to the holiday.
The most familiar symbol of Dia de los Muertos may be the calacas and calaveras (skeletons and skulls), which appear everywhere during the holiday: in candied sweets, as parade masks and as dolls. Calacas and calaveras are almost always portrayed as enjoying life, often in fancy clothes and entertaining situations. The skulls are not intended to be scary, but rather symbolic: The skull represents the death of the body or the passing away of the person, and the decorative designs represent the beauty of their life.
We started with a pencil sketch…
Next we coloured in with oil pastels and then used liquid watercolour wash in purple and black.
Students were amazed by the magic of resist and loved creating with the bright colours of Mexico!