I was inspired to work on this painting by the stories and souvenirs my siblings brought back from a trip they made to Egypt. I learned about Egypt’s glorious history, amazing antiquities and found all of it absolutely fascinating. So here goes a short narrative about Egypt.
The Pyramids of Giza were built 3000 years ago and still standing tall. As we now understand, they were built over three generations! The Great Pyramid of Khufu reaches a height of 455 feet, people still wonder how these marvels were built without modern-day tools and machines.
This was also one of the first civilizations to have a written language using a system called hieroglyphic writing, in which symbols—not letters—represent words or sounds. Hieroglyphs are carved into most temples and tombs to record names and dates, describe events like battles, and give instructions for passing on to the afterlife. Oh, and Egyptians even created writing sheets out of a plant called papyrus.
I also got to know that women played a major role in society in ancient Egypt compared to other cultures. Like men, they could be scribes, priests, doctors, and rulers too, and they usually had the same rights as men. Women could own their own homes and businesses. There were 5 ancient Egyptian queens who shaped the history of Egypt. One of those five was queens Cleopatra, a very famous Egyptian figure and perhaps one of the most famous historical persons of all time. After learning more about Cleopatra, I thought of attempting to capture her beauty on my canvas.
There is a saying that “The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart“, I usually put a special effort in painting the eyes as realistically as I can and did the same here. Everyone who saw this painting said that the eyes were spectacularly expressive. Achievement unlocked, I am happy :)!
Medium: Acrylic painting on canvas, Size: 18 in × 24 in
