This painting is for a story on Santa Muerte in Foreign Policy magazine.  Santa Muerte, or Holy Death, is a religion in Mexico that mixes elements of Catholicism and Mesoamerican beliefs which maintain a certain reverence toward death.  The story deals with the religion's popularity among Mexico's poor.  It's also become a big part of the rituals within the Mexican drug cartels.  Some reference photos and sketches are below.  I worked with Bryan Erickson on the project.