Jose Guadalupe Posada was a Mexican artist who greatly influenced the day of the dead art. Even if his only interest was to show that people from all races, economic background, gende and age are the same on the inside.

Step 1: The Plan

My he idea was to make a Day of the Dead altar to represent the Mexican artist who inspired all these calaveras we see around Halloween and day of the dead celebrations.
Materials:
Cardboard
4 dollar store foam boards
Glue gun and glue sticks
Black and white acrylics and spray paint
Plastic table cover
2 plastic balls.

Sorry no pictures of the supplies...

Step 2: Face, Mustache and Jaw

Jose Guadalupe quesadilla had a comb back hair and a thick mustache so I decided to cut out the details and glue them together.
Notice I did recessed eye sockets to make a cook effect later explained.?

Step 3: Draw and Cut

Excuse the lack of pictures before this. I first sketched the cardboard before cutting it and I assembled it as shown.
I cut the back of the head, spine and ribs together. The arms and the shirt or apron were cut separate.
Make sure to find the rigs or folds of the cardboard for easier bending or folding.

Step 4: Pre Assembly and Paint

I glued every part together and to save time I spray painted the large areas. I chose spray paint because I once used acrylics on large areas and it warped the cardboard. Since this one was going to be on display I wanted it to be crisp and straight.

Step 5: Clean Up

The clean up is easier and this is where I used the acrylics. Once all the colors are dry then the detailing stars.

Step 6: Details

Since most of Posada's work was done in inks and brushes I decided to mimic his style. Hence the black and white theme.

Step 7: Detailing

Since Posada used a dip calligraphy pen and brushes and there are none that large I used a chisel marker to trace the lines and went over with a thin brush to match the tone of black.
I alternated with black and white cross hatching and line contouring.
Note I added half balls to the eyes. I colored them to match the white of the figure.
The recessed placing makes the eyes look as if they are following the viewer.

Step 8: Details and Fillers

After the main sculpture is complete. I printed several of Posada's classic illustrations and mounted them as cut outs on the dollar store foam boards. Glued them into T stands and placed them symmetrically along the space available.
I also did a paper mâché day of the day "pan de muerto" which is very popular on these celebrations.
Also added a brush to his hands and placed a drawing under it to make it look like he was working on it.

Step 9: Final

The final composition was done with some paper flowers and plastic I found from left over projects. I also added cutouts and stickers I found from stationary at a dollar store. The oversized Catrina was added from previous year's exhibitions I have participated.

Thanks for watching and please visit my othe instructables here as well as other pages like www.rene-l.deviantart.com and on Facebook @Renelopezart