MEXICAN DAY OF THE DEAD

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MEXICAN DAY OF THE DEAD

• YEAR 8 PROJECT

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LESSON OBJECTIVEDuring this lesson the
objective is for you to explore and learn a
little about the Mexican Day Of the Dead
festival. You will learn a little about the
Mexican culture in relation to this festival.

• LESSON AIM
• The aim of the lesson will be to begin analyse
  images from this festival. You may then use what
  you noted to inform your learning in order for
  you to begin creating effective images of your
  own. You will then draw some items which relate
  to the festival.

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Mexico celebrates a yearly tradition called Day
of the Dead during the last days of October and
the first days of November. Due to the duration
of this festivity and the way people get involved
it has been called "The Cult of Death."
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As in many Latin American countries, Mexico
commemorates the Day of the Dead or All Souls
Day on November 2nd.
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On this occasion people believe that death is a
transition from one life to another in different
levels, where communication exists between the
living and the dead. This communication takes
place once a year throughout the country.
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Therefore, the Day of the Dead in Mexico is not a
mournful commemoration but a happy and colorful
celebration where death takes a lively, friendly
expression.
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• Differing from the Roman Catholic imposed ritual
  to commemorate All Souls Day, which is observed
  in many countries, the custom established by
  pre-colonial Mexican civilizations become a
  ceremony where indigenous beliefs blended with
  Catholic beliefs.

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• Indigenous people believed that souls did not
  die, that they continued living in Mictlan, a
  special place to rest. In this place, the spirits
  rest until the day they could return to their
  homes to visit their relatives.
• Before the Spaniards arrived, they celebrated the
  return of the souls between the months of July
  and August. Once arrived, the Spaniards changed
  the festivities to November 2nd to coincide with
  All Souls Day of the Catholic Church.

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• Presently, two celebrations honoring the memory
  of loved ones who have died take place
• On November 1st, the souls of the children are
  honored with special designs in the altars, using
  color white on flowers and candles.
• On November 2nd the souls of the adults are
  remembered with a variety of rituals, according
  to the different states of the Mexican republic.
  The celebrations of Day of the Dead or All Souls
  Day are referred to differently in some of the
  states.

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The Festival
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Colour meanings in the D.O.T.D. Celebrations.
Purple signifies pain, suffering, grief, and
mourning. Pink celebration White purity
and hope Orange sun Red the blood of
life Yellow cempazuchitl aremarigolds that
symbolize death. Petals are used to make a trail
so that the spirits can see the path to their
altars.
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• Before you start to draw, I would like you to
  observe first carefully the total shape enlarged,
  eye openings and their shape. They are not round
  but rather irregularly prolonged like a deformed
  egg. The openings are not just complete black
  holes.

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Draw a simple outline of the skull first.
Whatever shape is OK on the first try, it doesnt
need to resemble to this drawing at all. If you
learn how to draw skulls the very first time,
outline the entire shape by tilted loose hold
pencil, the strokes would be more accurate and
you will probably capture almost the perfect
shape on the first try. This method works.
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Start to shade the top of the head and the eye
openings. Slightly shade those parts, which will
be darkened later.
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Lets start to gradually darken the eye and nasal
(nose) openings. These three holes will probably
be of the darkest tone on the skull drawing.
Slightly outline the teeth too.