MEMPHIS SPHYNX (Weekly Art Project; Egypt #2)

With our heads befuddled with jetlag, we set out on our first Egyptian excursion  to the ancient capital city of Memphis.  Well...to what was left of it...which wasn't much!

The day was as dreamlike & spacey as our heads. With a fog of cloud hovering just above the treetops it gave everything a softened colour palette.
We were there to meet Ramses the 2nd!  A formidable leader whom we were to recognise multiple times throughout our Egyptian adventure.  However, inspite of his grandeur & beauty, it was not him I chose as my muse for this week's art project.
In the open air museum that adjoined the building where Ramses lies, a multitude of full & partial statues are dotted around a palm lined garden. 

Amongst them is a magnificent Sphynx made out of calcite. He is believed to have been sculpted sometime between 1700 & 1400 BC.  That makes him incredibly old & outstandingly well preserved! Over time he has been weathered down, & rain stains have added an element of interest to his surface, so that he now looks like he is crying.
On closer inspection he still retains carved lines of pattern in his headdress, a woven effect in his beard & even the outline of claw nails on his paws.

He is beautiful!

I was particularly interested in the linear patterns in his headdress & beard, so wanted to work up a design that would highlight them.

Drawing time was a little repetitive, but it made me think about my composition & how I could proportion elements so that I could get the different line variations in AND represent the face.

Faces are very difficult in contemporary reverse applique & choosing which layer of light or dark goes where... is generally a nightmare.  In this case I kept the shading simple & layered it quite simply too.

The colour choices were easy.  I wanted to reference the colours of the day; sand, honey & softened greens!

Just to experiment with something different (& because I still don't have any grey thread) I chose to put green in the needle & was quite pleased with the effect.

It was time for the cutting back to begin....

And with some finishing touches...

...voila!
I had to squish the face up in my design process, so that I could get all of those different sized lines in & I am very happy with the outcome.
It was such a pleasure to revisit the Sphynx & to create have this little project piece to remember him by.  It was also REALLY good practice to look at & think about facial structure & shading.  A long day, but worthwhile.