{"id":611,"date":"2012-08-01T11:48:43","date_gmt":"2012-08-01T09:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/?p=611"},"modified":"2012-08-01T11:48:43","modified_gmt":"2012-08-01T09:48:43","slug":"celebrate-the-day-of-the-dead-with-sugar-skull-tattoos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/celebrate-the-day-of-the-dead-with-sugar-skull-tattoos\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrate the Day of the Dead with Sugar Skull Tattoos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sugar skull tattoos are currently very popular as body art designs. Tattoos of sugar skulls can be designed for the individual and contain decorative symbols that have meaning for the tattoo owner. Although many people view sugar skulls as being simply decorative, these designs have centuries of history behind them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"An<\/a><\/p>\n

An incredible tattoo by Alex de Pase of a pretty girl wearing sugar skull face paint for the Mexican Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) celebration. [source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sugar Skull Tattoos and History<\/h1>\n

Sugar skulls were brought to the New World (the Americas) in the 17th century by Italian missionaries. Sugar art had been used in Italy to celebrate Easter, an annual Christian festival that celebrated Jesus Christ rising from the dead. Italians would create lambs and angels out of sugar and sweet pastry and use these sweets to decorate the side altars in Catholic churches. The introduction of sugar decorations into South America was an attempt to Christianize the existing rituals and ceremonies in the area.<\/p>\n

\"Black<\/a><\/p>\n

Black and white finger tattoos of sugar skulls worn by this couple to remember deceased loved ones. Most sugar skull tattoo design are very colorful, but Day of the Dead designs look just as good in one color of tattoo ink. [source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sugar skulls were used in 18th century Mexico to commemorate a departed loved one. A skull would be made from sugar and candy and the deceased person’s name would be written on the skull. The skulls are decorated with bright colors and intricate designs to celebrate the return of that person’s spirit to the world. The decorations used on sugar skulls are also used in sugar skull tattoo designs, although a person can choose which patterns they would like to adorn the skull tattoo with.<\/p>\n

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A colorful Day of the Dead sugar skull tattoo design, also known as a calavera tattoo. This design features daisy flowers in the eye sockets and a bed of blue roses for the skull to rest on. [source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In South America, sugar skulls are called “calavera” and sugar skull tattoos are sometimes called calavera tattoos. The word calavera can also be used to describe any artistic representation of a skull, so for sugar skull tattoos that don’t celebrate the spirit of a loved one; the name calavera tattoo might be more appropriate.<\/p>\n

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A Day of the Dead tattoo of two sugar skulls on a bed of roses. The top skull has more masculine patterns, while the lower skull appears to be feminine in nature. This could be a tattoo to memorialize the person’s deceased parents. [source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sugar Skulls as Sweet Tattoos<\/h1>\n

The designs on sugar skulls are a symbolic celebration of the life of a deceased person and the return of their spirit to the world of the living. The confectionery designs on sugar skulls are also created to delight the returning spirit. Often the skull will have a smiling face painted onto it, following the artistic traditions of South American folk art. The eye sockets of sugar skulls sometimes contain jewels (hard boiled sweets in the shape of gems) or candy flowers.<\/p>\n

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A grinning sugar skull tattoo design with a daisy flower in the eye socket. [source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A sugar skull tattoo doesn’t necessarily need to depict a skull. Many sugar skull tattoos are portraits of people with Day of the Dead face paint decorating their faces. This face paint is often applied to make the face look like a skull, with dark areas painted around the eyes to create the illusion of empty eye sockets. The nose is painted a dark color to give the impression of the nasal passages of the skull. Teeth can be painted on the lips and cheeks to create the traditional grinning skull of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

A stylized sugar skull tattoo design with flowers instead of eyes. The tattoo designer has cleverly created the top of the skull out of the patterns that would ordinarily be painted onto the skull’s surface. This design could also work as a face paint design, blacking out the nose and decorating the eyes in true Dia de los Muertos fashion.\u00a0[source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The designs used on sugar skulls are often feminine in nature, with floral accents and paisley shapes. Flowers are a common adornment in sugar skulls, as are hearts, stars and diamonds. Sugar skulls for men will sometimes have more masculine designs such as spider webs. Tattoos of sugar skulls can realistic or cartoonish in nature. The cartoon style sugar skull tattoos are often more colorful and decorative that realistic sugar skull tattoos.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

A Day of the Dead tattoo that shows a realistic human skull painted with flowers and patterns. The painted decoration is cartoonish in nature, while the skull itself is realistic. This design combines the two most common styles of sugar skull tattoos. [source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The meaning of a sugar skull tattoo is dependent on the person wearing the tattoo. Some people choose a sugar skull design for a tattoo because they would like to commemorate a deceased loved one. Other people simply like the image of a decorated skull. For many people, the combination of death and beauty creates contrasting symbolism that is both fascinating and alluring.<\/p>\n

\"Purple,<\/a><\/p>\n

Purple, pink and yellow dominate this Day of the Dead sugar skull tattoo design. People are often fascinated by the contrasting symbolism of calavera tattoos. The skull represents death, while the patterns are a symbol of life and rebirth. [source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sugar skull tattoos are currently very popular as body art designs. Tattoos of sugar skulls can be designed for the individual and contain decorative symbols that have meaning for the tattoo owner. Although many people view sugar skulls as being simply decorative, these designs have centuries of history behind them. Sugar Skull Tattoos and History […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[37,75,157,158,159,163,164,216,217,312,316,405,466,475,494,534,580,615,629,633],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}