Egyptian Art

Egyptian art is certainly the most uniquely and distinctive compiled artworks throughout history, due to the style presented to an audience. I remember back in elementary school when I first started learning about the Egyptian, and I distinctly remember the artwork due being so unique, and the fact that the same form is illustrated on several of thousands of pieces. It is still amazing how that feeling and interest can last over more than fifteen years.

The most obvious difference between Egyptian art and other pieces of art is the fact that Egyptians used what is known as composite view, which is essentially taking a hold of different views and perspectives, and compiling and using them to depict one individual. As seen in several Egyptian artwork, the head is shown as a side view, with the eye facing to the front. When observing which the direction the hands are laid, the Egyptians thought it was important for the palm of the hands to face their audience instead of one palm and one back of the hand. The feet are always depicted in the same direction that the face is pointed, from what I have seen. Also, the face is almost elongated according to the video.

Throughout the course, we have been studying the human form and more importantly proportions of the body and how it is portrayed. For example, the Venus of Willendorf proportions are not realistic, however, the proportions of Egyptian human artwork are always in proportion and realistic to what we today are used to, with the exception of how the body parts are placed. For example, the shoulders are not exactly portrayed as if you were looking at a person standing in front of you. Another example is the arms that seem much longer than the average person’s arms. Perhaps it could just be a somewhat like an illusion.

The canon of proportions is a technique used to draw human figures in a way that if you were to overlap the human forms drawn they would be appearing as one human being. Egyptians used a very smart technique to convey perfect human form, which was using a blocks sketched on the walls. There were certain rules for each body part as well. For example, the feet are two and half blocks long. Not only do I think that this was a way for perfection according to a king’s orders, or to drawing them easier and faster, but also a way of not showing individuality. This idea does not present individuality, but yet there are unique features that are visual from one human figure to the next.

I think the creative aspect of Egyptian art came from drawing the same shape repeatedly, and intermix the hieroglyphs, which was like a narrative of what the characters on the art were doing, or what they did. They also showed angles that in reality human beings cannot contour to create a specific shape.

I believe that creativity was not that important to have because maybe that they did not want to feel alone, but yet they wanted to feel united in how they depicted themselves to be. What I mean by this is that if they all looked the same with similar characteristics, then maybe they would feel united.

Certainly not. Art can have an array of creativity and still be valued today. I also believe that it depends on the person’s opinions. Different emotions can be considered within a piece of art, and from that people can start to determine a meaning for themselves. Over this course, I am beginning to see that even though a sculpture might be just a toy for a child, we still want to know more about that piece because it has the potential to become important in a historical sense due to its creativity.