Despite what you might think, Day of the Dead – more properly known as Día de Muertos– isn’t just a Mexican version of Halloween.

Sure, the two holidays have a lot in common, taking place in late October and early November and having an interest in death. But while modern Halloween traditions value horror, mischief and pumpkins, Día de Muertos is more of a life-affirming celebration of death, spent with family and loved ones.

We searched far and wide for our favourite tattoos celebrating Día de Muertos, paying tribute to Mexican heritage and incorporating elements of the celebration, all from our sponsored artists!

Duda Lozano & Anshin Anshin - Sugar Skulls

As we’ve touched on, Día de Muertos is all about taking the horror out of death, and what better way than to make a delicious sweet that looks like a skull? Sometimes placed on ofrendas (altars for offerings), sometimes given to children, and sometimes placed on ofrendas dedicated to children, they’re a common motif this time of year!

Brazilian artist Duda Lozano’s 3D realistic patch-style tattoos often feature elements of South American life and culture, with the sugar skull tattoo popping up more than once. In this iteration, the skull is topped with a sombrero and given a healthy moustache of what looks like barley, set on a fine line backdrop of cacti and a blistering sun. Anshin Anshin’s neo-traditional piece incorporates flowers and diamonds into the sugar skull design – interestingly, both of these skulls feature a golden tooth.

Kati Berinkey & Debora Cherrys - La Catrina Calavera

Even if you’ve never heard of a Catrina, chances are if you’re into tattoos you’ve seen one or two in your time! La Catrina Calavera is the name used for the well-dressed female skeleton in Diego Rivera’s mural Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central, but nowadays she’s more commonly portrayed as a beautiful woman wearing sugar skull-inspired makeup. Catrinas remind us that rich or die, good or bad, we all die in the end.

Tom Petucco’s colourful new school piece shows a woman with Catrina makeup and flowers in her hair, using the rich oranges that are so popular in Día de Muertos celebrations. Gaby Castel excels in tattooing portraits of beautiful woman, and her Catrina is no different with her perfectly painted face and delicate ornamental jewellery.

Tom Petucco & Gaby Castel – La Calavera Garbancera

La Catrina is the best-known name for the female skeleton figure, but she once had a different name: La Calavera Garbancera, or the “Garbanzo Skeleton”. Wondering where beans come into it? In her initial incarnation, artist José Guadalupe Posada designed her as a satirical take on the Indigenous South American people who denied their own heritage in favour of European culture.

Kati Berinkey really upped the horror quotient for her Calavera piece – this is clearly a seriously classy lady with exquisite makeup and a rose in her coiffed hair. We’re only not sure if the spider is real or a brooch! Either way, we love this black and grey piece, with white highlights really making the sugar skull makeup pop. Debora Cherrys’ bold neo-traditional take also incorporates a spider motif in the spiderweb tattoo, with what looks like a large and vibrant crown of peonies.

Sampaguita Jay & Špendlo - Santa Muerte

Easily confused with Catrina figures is the Santa Muerte, a folk saint of death who’s thought to originate in the Aztec religion but with influences from Spanish Catholic colonisation. A similar figure to the Grim Reaper, she’s both a personification of death and the spirit who guides her devotees to the afterlife. Representations of Santa Muerte vary drastically, but often include a scythe or a globe.

Sampaguita Jay, another expert in portraits of beautiful women, created her own majestic interpretation of Santa Muerte in black and grey. Her face is framed by flowers and an ornate skull crown, while she holds a skull in her hands – an important reminder that death comes for us all! Špendlo’s new school Santa Muerte features a scythe, as well as a skull and roses circlet. The fingers to the lips gesture is a little threatening, but as a protector of outcasts, we’re confident she’s on our side.

Carolina Caos Avalle & VivaMorta - GuadaMuerte

One step further away from Santa Muerte and you’ll get this much newer mashup of Indigenous Mexican and Spanish Catholic iconography: the GuadaMuerte. This incredibly controversial figure is usually represented as the classic Santa Muerte but in the robes, halo and praying pose more often associated with the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Catholic title for Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Carolina Caos Avalle’s composition shows a thoughtful-looking colour realism portrait of a woman wearing Catrina makeup and surrounded by autumn leaves, with the sticker motif of the Virgin’s Sacred Heart cementing her as the GuadaMuerte – she’s clearly also thinking about her next sugar skull fix! VivaMorta from Abrakadavra Tattoo Studio inked this full arm tattoo that incorporates an ofrenda into this detailed colour realism piece where the GuadaMuerte’s eyes seem to light up – just to the bottom left of the candles, you can see the edge of a Sacred Heart, while marigolds sit in her hair and on the altar.

Jairo Carmona & Tiggy - In Pop Culture

It’s surprising that there aren’t more representations of Día de Muertos in popular culture – the colours and iconography are so bold and lively that you’d think it would inspire a lot more than it does! Luckily, there are a few – from the first episode of The Venture Bros. “Dia de los Dangerous” to the opening sequence of James Bond’s Spectre, including animated movies like The Book of Life and Coco, and of course the iconic LucasArts game Grim Fandango.

Jairo Carmona’s new school half sleeve incorporates elements from various LucasArts games, but we’re particularly interested in his inclusion of Manny Calavera from Grim Fandango – the competitive, chain-smoking Department of Death employee looks particularly cool in his Casablanca-inspired white jacket and bow tie. Tiggy’s super vibrant piece is all about Dante, the dog from Disney’s Coco – Xolo dogs were considered sacred by the Aztecs as they guided souls to the underworld, and Dante certainly helps Miguel get both in and out of the Land of the Dead. Tiggy framed the dog’s alebrije form with sugar skulls and cheerful flowers.

Makkala Rose & Hattie Cox – Flor de Muerto

While many flowers including roses and peonies are used for Día de Muertos celebrations, the marigold is the flower most closely associated with the holiday, even having the nickname “the flower of death”. Once again this comes from the country’s Aztec origin, as they believed that marigolds were gifted to the Nahua people by their sun god to help them honour the dead. Their bright colour and strong fragrance are thought to attract the souls of the dead to their ofrendas.

Makkala Rose and Hattie Cox are both experts at tattooing flowers, so it’s no huge surprise that they’d get around to a marigold tattoo sooner or later! Makkala’s piece brings together some gorgeous orange and red marigolds with sage and ferns, all wrapped around a large amethyst crystal – which, funnily enough, was associated with death in Ancient Egypt! Hattie Cox’s piece places a large marigold at the centre of this bouquet, surrounded by bougainvillea – a South American native plant – and blossoms.

Mark Bester & Philip Wilkinson – Monarch Butterflies

Finally, another symbol associated with Día de Muertos is the monarch butterfly. This creature is native to North America, but migrates south each autumn to spend its winters in the warmer climate of Mexico – usually around the time of Día de Muertos. With that timing, it’s no wonder that they’re used to represent the souls of ancestors coming back to visit their families for this important time of the year!

Mark Bester’s beautifully rendered colour realism monarch butterfly tattoo has the insect sitting on a flower – you can tell that it’s a monarch and not one of the similar-looking butterfly species by the thick black lines on the wings, and the white spots on the body. Philip Wilkinson’s dramatic foot piece is a sketch- and watercolour-inspired new school piece showing a male monarch – you can tell by the black spots on its wings! – on a bed of purple flowers.

And there we have it – Día de Muertos tattoos for all, whether you’re a hardcore follower of the faith or just a sucker for a sweet sugar skull!

If you’ve got a Día de Muertos tattoo, we want to see it! Share it with us on Instagram or Facebook, and let us know which one from our list is your favourite!