How do you say it, and

what does it mean?

El dia de los Muertos

means:

DAY OF THE DEAD

Sound it out like this:

EL DEE-UH DAY LOS MOO-

WHERE-TOES

The Day of the Dead holiday is about honoring the memory of family or friends who have passed away. It is about celebrating LIFE! It is NOT a scary, evil, depressing or morbid day.

Day of the Dead falls on Nov. 1 and 2, coinciding with the Christian All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. Sometimes it is confused with Halloween.

http://obit-mag.com/articles/a-day-for-skeletons-and-skulls

Day of the Dead is primarily celebrated in Mexico and Central

America, but also is becoming increasingly popular in the United

States.

The holiday has evolved from Aztec roots, surviving the Spanish

conquest of Mexico, to encompass Catholic traits, which makes the

holiday even more meaningful as a time of worship, festivity, and

honor.

While celebrating, some people wear skull masks, or paint their

faces like skulls, and dance and sing to honor the deceased. Another

popular tradition is to build an altar to honor lost loved ones.

Artist Sylvia Ji paints women with faces that resemble sugar skulls. I think her paintings are

hauntingly beautiful!

CALAVERAS

Dia de los Muertos Parade

HAND-MADE

SUGAR

CANDY

SKULLS

D

i

a

de

los

Muertos calacas!

Different ways

of honoring:

• Remembering the person throughout the month

• Dance ceremonies & celebrations with food and music

• Having a picnic at the grave of a loved one & decorating it with flowers, candles, and toys.

• Building altars (ofrendas) in their homes.

Preparing the cemetery for a Dia de

los Muertos celebration…

The ofrenda, Spanish for "offering", is an altar decorated for the Day of the Dead celebration,

to honor and please the returning souls, NOT to worship them.

http://www.elpayaso.com/ofrenda.htm

Some people choose to make offerings to the people whose lives they wish to celebrate.

SO WHAT’S OUR PROJECT??? Create a Day of the Dead inspired metal artwork

1. Draw your idea in your sketchbook –

SKULL WITH DETAILS AND A BORDER

2. Transfer it to the metal 3. Use special tools to make the design

pop out of the metal 4. Paint with black acrylic and wipe off

to make details show up 5. Color with alcohol inks!

Decorate the skull with images that are

symbolic to you.

What symbols do you see here?

MORE COOL SKULLS!

Symbolism – The representation of an idea by the use of symbols, or pictures.

Tooling – Work or decoration on soft

metal done by hand with tools. Relief sculpture – A kind of sculpture

that stands out from a flat background.

For this project you will learn the art of metal tooling

That is, forming a pattern in thin metal by pushing up from the underside to create a three-dimensional effect.

By using special tools, the artist can create impressions in the metal. Also, the metal can be turned upside down and pushed out from the back to create a 3-D effect.

Making Designs in the Metal

Metal Tooling begins with thin sheets of metal

Copper, Brass, or Aluminum

The sheets are about 5 times thicker than a soda can, but can be easily cut

with regular scissors. You can find the metal in rolls or sheets at your local

craft store! Various tools made of metal, plastic

and wood are used to create indentions in the metal from both

sides.

METAL

Here you see a tooled example of each type of metal . For this project, we will be using ALUMINUM.

These are the tools used for working with metal. They are double sided, and each serve a specific purpose. The pointed edge tools are for drawing images into the metal, and the wheels are for adding texture and repeated patterns to your metal. The flat and rounded tools are for pushing out large areas of metal.

METAL TOOLS

TEXTURE PLATES

can be used under the metal to create

repeated shapes and symmetrical

patterns.

In this artwork, the heart and wings are cut out separately and glued on top of one another to create a 3-D layered effect.

Because the metal is thin, it can be easily textured and cut into interesting shapes.

LET’S GET STARTED!!!

Draw 3 thumbnail sketches of your ideas for the Day of the Dead Metal Project.

Make details SIMPLE, but fill spaces. Make sure to create a BORDER! Choose your favorite thumbnail,

TRACE METAL in sketchbook, and draw idea in that space.