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dia de los muertos art

Dia de los Muertos art is (perhaps ironically) one of the world’s most colorful and lively art forms.

As Day of the Dead approaches, brightly-colored skulls and dancing, laughing skeletons appear on shop windows, in market stalls and on t-shirts. Intricately-cut tissue paper billows in the breeze, draped from buildings and trees and stretched across altars. The spirit of the holiday encourages a vibrant creativity in its participants – from the artistically-arranged altars to the sugar skull face paint of celebrants.

Day of the Dead art is dazzlingly alive – which some would consider to be a stark contrast to the nature of death. But to those who celebrate Dia de los Muertos, the holiday reinforces the belief in an afterlife, in which our deceased loved ones are still very much alive and kicking. They make a special journey on Day of the Dead to come back and visit us, and it is our job to greet them with offerings and smiles, so that we may once again share more time together here on earth.

Paper Mache skeletons
Guanajuato Market, Mexico
Photo credit: Tomas Castelazo

On this site we'll highlight Dia de los Muertos art in its many forms. Aside from paintings, drawings, sculptures and other forms of “fine art”, Dia de los Muertos art can take many appearances in the form of folk art. For instance:

• sugar skulls and other candies are hand-crafted with colorful designs

• pan de muerto is shaped into skeletons and other figures

• papel picado is painstakingly cut

• ofrendas are arranged as artistically as possible.

• In cities, celebrants don costumes and apply make-up as a form of temporary body art to participate in local festivals and parades.

• Performance art also plays a part in the form of theatre and dance.

Decorated entrance to the Panteon Zocalo in Mexico City on Dia de los Muertos
Photo credit: AlejandroLinaresGarcia

The Day of the Dead is a very artsy holiday. The colors of Mexico and the festivity of Dia de los Muertos inspire artists the world over.

If you want to see more Day of the Dead art, check out my popular sugar skulls art pieces, where I also discuss the meaning behind my Dia de los Muertos artwork.

Get inspired! Learn how to draw skulls in these easy art tutorials. There are 9 different skull templates to choose from. After you draw the outline of your skull, you can fill it in with bright colors and designs, inspired by Mexico's sugar skulls.

Wanna see more Day of the Dead art? Check out the Dia de los Muertos art of Seth (like the painting on the right) and read an insightful interview that reveals his inspirations and artistic processes!

Get artsy and color your own sugar skulls with this Sugar Skulls Coloring Book!

 

Now you can enjoy Thaneeya's popular Day of the Dead art in a new 2014 wall calendar that will be released on July 16, 2013. To ensure you get a copy you can pre-order it on Amazon now!

 

If you enjoy drawing or coloring sugar skulls, why don't you try making the real thing! You can learn how to make sugar skulls and how to decorate sugar skulls.