Día de Muertos... The day of the dead.
The Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and South regions, and by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and helping support their spiritual journey. In Mexican culture, death is viewed as a natural part of the human cycle. Mexicans view it not as a day of sadness but as a day of celebration because their loved ones awaken and celebrate with them.
Resource: Wikipedia
Above is a cultural event where people bring joy to life even out of death. I am not Mexican nor Latin American. But once I watched an animation called Coco I loved the idea at that time.
So in this post, I wanted to share a photograph I created for the sake of the above culture. Below are the steps that I took to create the final picture. Life and death were expressed with the classic skull and rose symbolism. The past is highlighted with musical notes at the backdrop as well as the letters hung above the skull.
Few words about the props I gathered together:
The main object is the skull shape and the letters for "MEMORIES". I was lacking an "R". But I drew with hand on a piece of paper. Adding a quirk could bring more attention.
To make the letters stand around the skull, I used jewelry needles and some kind of cushion foam.
Letters are attached to the needles with hot silicon.
I thought a lot about memories. How to strengthen the idea? The word is already there but I needed some decoration at the back as well. Then I found note shaped confetti. It could be a perfect match for the scene. I guess remembering the past with songs is a common practice almost everywhere.
Later on, I decided to place a dark background. This black cloth is my t-shirt. Notes scattered on the cloth gave a nice harmony. As you will see in the end, just to smooth the background I applied some blur and a twirl effect. And this gave me the chance to get rid of the texture of the cloth.
The skull and letters are placed on top.
Now the only thing remaining is roses. For that, I consulted to Pixabay.
Here is the list of resources from Pixabay for the roses:
And after editing the photo, the final result is this one:
I hope this brings inspiration to those who seek it. Whether it is positive or negative, any constructive criticism is welcome. Have a joyful day!!!
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