Taahir Henry Quarter 1: Sugar Skull
A sugar skull, is an artists rendering of a human skull. They are made from hardened sugar, the use of sugar art is something that was introduced to Mexico by Italian missionaries. The abundance of sugar in Mexico, meant that it was both cheap and easy to obtain, which allowed for the sugar art to catch on fast. Sugar skulls have become an important part of observing and celebration of the Mexican holiday (El dia de los Muertos/The Day of the Dead) Sugar skulls tend to incorporate the use of floral patterns and/ or other intricate designs, as well as diamonds.
I came up with the design for my sugar skull from looking at sugar skulls that already existed. I searched google to find several examples before starting to sketch what mine might look like. In the end however, my sugar skull became slightly more random, and less traditional. I included the the exposed teeth and jaw, with some of the outlined features, but almost everything else was football inspired. There is a diamond at the center of the skulls head, but other than that, the sugar skull that I created wasn't as customary as most sugar skulls are.I think the most interesting part of the entire process was the creation of the mold. We used our own faces for this process. By placing layers of wet plaster into the contours of our faces, we could create a replica of what we looked like, but with plaster. After the plaster dried and hardened, we removed them from our faces and proceeded to paint the designs we intended for the final product.
More information on the Day of the Dead and sugar skulls:
Comments
No comments have been posted yet.
Log in to post a comment.