Momentary Inspiration


"Shadow of the Queen" 12 x 12 Chalk Pastel on Paper
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I used to do "History Days" with my students, and offer them extra credit to dress up according to whatever period of history we were studying. This piece came from a photo I took of a student, who was admiring her shadow in the parking lot. She was dressed as an Egyptian Queen, and had a great time with her costume all day.

I drew the outside lines of the figure for this piece, and left the core of the figure black, which was also the tone of the paper (Canson Mi-Teintes). I blocked in the outside space with oranges, reds, and yellows (I was thinking of desert sand at sunset), and added a little color to the inside of the figure's costume, where it showed somewhat transparent in the photo.

The costumes were always a success on those history days. The food, however, was not-- the kids were terrified of figs and dates, a fairly common food in those days. At least a few of them were well-acquainted with hummus, so I didn't have to bring home tons of leftover hummus on top of all that leftover dried fruit. At least I got some good pictures out of the deal.

Click here to see more pieces inspired by the Ancient Egyptians:
http://artbynikihilsabeck.blogspot.com/p/tomb-egyptian-inspired-art.html

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