How to "Sugar Skull" Your Online Portrait

 PicMonkey.com has a cool feaure on their site right now. It allows you to upload a portrait and then enhance it with all kinds of Dia de los Muertos graphics. I tried it out using a photo of Maya. There are a LOT of features, so it takes a while to play with it and get used to all the knobs and whistles. Here's how I made this picture:

Start at the landing page and click on the Day of the Dead graphic.

 First you upload a front-facing photo.

 Use white to color the skin, and then add a background of colored areas if you wish.

Add all kinds of layered graphics. They start out black, but you can change them to any shade you want. OR - you can use black and just color the background a bit.

IDEAS::
- Why not take a printed portrait and use craft paints to apply the same designs freehand?
- Print off the cyber version and touch it up with glitter, gems and crystals. A mixture of the two!
- Print off mini-version using a business card program and trade them with your friends like trading cards.
- Use the images in your mixed media or collage work.
- Print onto fabric and sport it on a t-shirt or tote bag.