Sugar Skulls

Sugar art was brought to the New World by Italian missionaries in the 17th century. The first Church mention of sugar art was from Palermo at Easter time when little sugar lambs and angels were made to adorn the side altars in the Catholic Church.

The past two weeks I have been working on drawing sugar skulls. They are are big part of the holiday "Day of the Dead" On this day it is believed that the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on October 31, and the spirits of all deceased children (angelitos) are allowed to reunite with their families for 24 hours. On November 2, the spirits of the adults come down to enjoy the festivities that are prepared for them.

I started with drawing them in ink and digitally coloring them. These two were made into vinyl decals.