Stencil Design

       For my cover book image I decided to stencil out a sugar skull. Sugar skulls are mainly made to adorn altars and tombs in accordance with the celebration of Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos. This holiday is more commonly celebrated in central southern Mexico on November 1^st and 2^nd to honor deceased loved ones. I was first introduced to this celebration through my high school Spanish class when we had to create an ofrenda for a project. I was fascinated by the entirety of the holiday. Not only is it a beautiful way to celebrate death but also the decor itself is so colorful and fun! The sugar skulls have always drawn the most attention to me and so recently while I was at an art store, I had come across a sugar skull stencil. This led to the inspiration in creating my own stencil for my book cover with the manila folder. First I drew the outline for the skull in pencil. Then came the second (and hardest) part—cutting! At first, the sugar skull idea seemed brilliant but after the second hour of using the exacto knife, I had briefly regretted choosing such an elaborate image. Although it took a really long time to finish, I am extremely happy with the outcome! I Can’t wait to use it on other surfaces back home!