Art Around The World
General
PAINTING
Wall painting of Nefertari, an Egyptian queen and the first of the Great Royal Wives.
Reputable works in tombs, temples and palaces were merely painted on a flat surface. Level stone surfaces were prepared with a solution of lime and water/whitewash, and jagged rocky surfaces were covered with coarse, bristly mud plaster, with a gesso layer above which is a paint mixture comprises of chalk, gypsum,pigment. Feathery limestones could take paint directly.
Pigments were predominantly mineral. Minerals were desired because it can resist strong sunlight without growing faint.
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Egyptian paintings are all depicted in a way that shows the profile view and side view of the animal or person at the same time. The main colours used were the different shades of red, blue, green, gold, black and yellow.
SCULPTURE
Sunk relief was a technique used by the Egyptians. The recognizable pose of standing statues with one foot in front was crucial in keeping its structure balanced and vigor. Ancient tombs also carried miniscule models of slaves, buildings, creatures and other objects obligatory for the departed to continue life after death.
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Ancient Egyptian artists used horizontal and vertical lines to perpetuate precise proportions in their work.
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POTTERY
Pottery produced in Egypt had immeasurable daily purposes. It was of a reddish brown coloured clay, called Nile silt ware, usually left undecorated. The iron compounds oxidizes resulting in a reddish colour. Marl, a mixture of clay, silt and lime, was located only in few areas in Northern Egypt, such as Qena. It needed scorching firing temperatures under recommended conditions than the other clays. Common Nile silt was exercised for decorative purposes.
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​The earliest pottery technique included hollowing it out by hand and pinching it in different areas to give its pot form. Soon a flat tool was used against the clay and pressure was used to push it whilst in contact with the hand.