Calaveras

Today is the Mexican holiday known as the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) that stretches back into the pre-Columbian era more than three thousand years ago. Over the centuries the holiday In Mexico the Day of the Dead has been a public holiday for decades, memorializing deceased friends and family and aiding their spiritual journey. Unlike the European traditions, which are to remember and memorialize the deceased, in the Mexican tradition deceased relatives and friends are believed to actually return to visit.

In Mexico the Day of the Dead is actually a three day fiesta. On All Hallows Eve (our Halloween), children make altars and invite the spirits of dead children, or angelitos, for a visit. All Saints Day (November 1) is when adult spirits come to visit. The next day is All Souls Day, when families decorate the graves and tombs of their relatives. The fiesta is marked by celebrations, cardboard skeletons and decorations, avalanches of marigolds, special foods, and especially sugar skulls for children. Private altars are covered in offerings to the revered dead like favorite foods and beverages, photos, and memorabilia. 

Unlike our own Halloween, which has become campy and based in horror films and fairy tales, the Day of the Dead is more rooted in family traditions, togetherness, and feasting and drinking. And also poking fun at pretense and pomp since we will all be bones one day. One of the important artistic traditions of the Day of the Dead is artistic representations of the skull or entire skeleton, known as calaveras.

Jose Guadalupe Posada, "La Calavera Catrina," etching, ca. 1910

The most important calaveras are skulls made of sugar that are given to children during the fiesta. You see them everywhere in Mexico. They're given at parties and as favors and may represent various characters.

A wider definition of a calavera is any artistic representation, including literature, intended for the Day of the Dead. There have been many poems intended to gently criticize we living people and remind us of our mortality, for example. Drawings and paintings of skulls are obviously included as well. In Mexican tradition, calaveras are commonly full skeletons, usually represented as vain or wealthy or both. One of them, La Calavera Catrina, a character from the early 20th century, is particularly famous and has become the symbol of the Day of the Dead, at least in Mexico.

Since today is the Day of the Dead, here are some of my own calaveras in homage to the beloved deceased.

Hoff, "Skull," graphite, 8x10

Here (right) is a study of a skull done one afternoon perhaps twenty or more years ago during an otherwise boring clinic. The skull was an anatomic specimen (made of plastic) that was on one of the counters. Without any other sketching materials I used a number 2 pencil and copy paper. This took about an hour of diligent work. An important point about this particular drawing is that you don't need expensive "art supplies" to sketch. Many sketchers use pencil and copy paper, or even ball point pen. The important thing is the sketching not the materials.

Hoff, "Study for Vanitas," oil on canvas, 11x14

This painting is a study from a decade or so ago, made in preparation for a more elaborate work. Using an anatomic reproduction I posed the skull and cap in strong light on a cloth-covered pedestal. The main purpose of this painting was to refresh my memory of skull structure. Reversing the cap seemed natural.

Hoff, "Cubist Skull," oil on panel, 12x16

Finally, a thoroughly modern take on the skull--a cubist interpretation. The limited palette and multiple-viewpoint approach owe much to Picasso and Braque but instead of their angular approach my skull abstraction features more curves. This painting was done using another anatomic specimen that was mounted as an exploded view, allowing in-depth study of inner bony structures of the sinuses and jaw.