Sunday, December 14, 2008

Drawing: A Fayoum Portrait # 1


This is a pen drawing after a Fayoum portrait (Time of Caligula, 37-50).
We know her name: Eirene, pretty awesome, no?
I like to draw with my Pigma pens...even though there is almost no possible correction, it keeps me freer knowing that my goal is not a close resemblance, that I can always start a new one if I don't like the one I'm working on.
The Fayum was a district of roman Egypt inhabited by a very lively group of Romans, Egyptians, Syrians, Jews, Libyans, Nubians. The portraits were painted on canvas or wood, and were placed on top of the faces of the deceased
(their bodies were embalmed) .