I so enjoyed helping out with samples for the Egyptian themed shows recently
on Hochanda – and WOW the set looked amazing with so many wonderful creations
from the team. I think that we all had a huge amount of fun. It really did look
like an archaeological set.
I created this duo of canvases featuring Nefertiti and Tutankhamun to tell a
little of their story.
Although their likeness was well known to me I really had
little idea of their history, so I did a little research. I really enjoyed
finding out more about these characters and I had so much fun immersing myself
into their mystical world when creating these canvases.
I hope that my creative journey gives you some inspiration for your own
ideas. There is a full materials list at the end if you need links to any of the
specific products used xxx.
The creative journey:
The canvases were first coated with a layer of
Ivory Powertex,
and the plaster busts with
Bronze Powertex.
The textured embellishments were made with air dry clay and small clay
cutters from my stash. The
Hiero
Heaven and Scarabella stamps were pressed into the rolled out clay to add
texture. Additional texture added to some pieces using a texture mat, and I made
the little snakes using a mould (both from my stash). Strips from corrugated
card were used to create pillars. I laid out all my elements to get a rough idea
of placement and to assess space left for adding text.
Note: I used an air dry modelling clay that I had in my stash. It is
fairly strong when making chunky items but I did find it very brittle when
rolled thin. I left it to fully dry overnight and coated it with
Ivory Powertex.
The Powertex did sink in well (as it remained porous) and considerably
strengthened my embellishments. So I was happy to use them on my canvases.
However, I would fully recommend using
Stone Art
Clay if you want hard wearing items, and certainly if you need them to be
weather proof (it is designed for this).
Following my bit of historical research I decided on some text to add to my
canvases. Nefertiti was the chief wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten who was
the father of Tutankhaten (later named Tutankhamun). Originally Akhenaten was
named Amenhotep IV but he changed his name when he banned the worship of the old
Egyptian gods and instated Aten (Sun Disc – an aspect of the sun god Ra) as the
one true god. I therefore depicted the Aten symbol (Sun Disk with rays in gold)
on Nefertiti’s canvas.
I used gilding wax around the edges of my canvas and on the Sun Disc (Atan)
and gold relief paste to create the Atan rays.
Nefertiti was also known as ‘the beautiful one has come’ (translation of her
name) and ‘the lady of the two lands’ – I included this in the gilded text.
Nerfertiti may have ruled for a time as Neferneferuaten, and for a short
while alongside Tutankhaten (later named Tutankhamun) but there is some debate
on this. She disappeared not long after her husband’s death and it is unsure
where her body lays. Although interestingly there is some evidence that she may
be in a secret chamber behind the tomb of Tutankhamun. Still a mystery.
Tutankhamun became king when only a boy (‘boy king Tut’) and as mentioned
above he was originally named Tutankhaten (‘the living image of Aten’). After
the death of his father there was an uprising and the old gods were eventually
reinstated. He reinstated Amun-Ra (fusion of the gods Amun ‘the hidden/invisible
one’ and Ra the ‘sun god’) and changed his name to Tutankhamun (‘the living
image of Amun’). There is a lot of debate around the identity of his mother but
it is fairly certain that she would have been a close relation to Akhenaten
(sister or cousin, maybe even Nefertiti?).
I hope that I am not boring everyone with history but I found it all
fascinating (but also very confusing with all the name changes and the various
gods worshipped at the time).
The sentiments were printed on a laser printer (copy paper) and foiled with
gold sublimation foil using my laminator. I stamped over the background using
Memories Ink and the
Hiero
Heaven stamp. I then scrunched up the paper and further aged with distress
inks.
The background textured paper and sentiments were glued to the canvas using
Easy Coat.
The card pillars were coated (back and front) with
Black Powertex.
Bister was used to add depth to my textured embellishments. I also mixed various
Powercolor pigments into
Ivory Powertex
and rubbed over the top of the embellishments to give the effect of faded chalk
paints.
Elements were glued in place using Powertex and a little
Easy Structure for some
of the more uneven textured pieces. A little
Easy Structure paste was
also applied with a palette knife for filling and more texture.
A little
Ultramarine
Powercolor was mixed with
Ivory Powertex
and painted into the crevices of the pillars.
Gold
Colortricx pigment mixed with
Easy Varnish was dry brushed
onto the surface ridges.
The busts were also coloured with gold varnish, applied fairly liberally for
an opulent effect. Where I wanted areas of strong colour (blue, red, green) I
applied a base of
Ivory Powertex
first and then painted over with coloured varnish.
Black Powertex
was painted into the eye area.
Materials:
- 2 stretched and primed canvases (30 X 22.5cm)
- Powertex Hardener (Ivory, Bronze and Black)
- Easy Varnish
- Easy Coat
- Easy
Structure
- Bister (Black
and Brown
mix)
- Colortricx
Pigment (Rich Gold)
- Powercolor Pigments (Ultramarine,
Yellow
Ochre, Burnt
Sienna, Titanium
White, Turquoise
and Green)
- Hiero
Heaven and Scarabella
stamps (Rosehart Studio)
- Nefertiti
and Tutankhamun
flat backed plaster busts (or use the Nefertiti
and Tutankhamun
moulds to make your own)
- Recycled corrugated card and copy paper
- Laser printer, laminator and toner sublimation foil (gold)
- Air dry modelling clay (or Powertex
Stone Art)
- Acrylic
rolling pin and Teflon mat
- Snake mould and acrylic texture mat from my stash (weave texture)
- Clay cutters from my stash (rectangle, circle, triangle, square)
- Distress Inkpads (Scattered Straw, Vintage Photo)
- Memories dye based archival inkpad (waterproof when dry – Sand)
- Pebeo Cerne Relief Paste (Gold)
- Pebeo Gilding Wax (Empire Gold)
