Introduction Have you ever wondered how we know so much about life in ancient Egypt and other old civilizations During the last 150 years archeologists have uncovered the ruins of many ancient cultures These discoveries have given us many clues about life in ancient times And most of these clues have come in the form of art wall paintings sculpture decorated bowls clay tablets with writing and personal jewelry In Egypt many works of art were discovered in the tombs and temples of Ancient Egypt Because of their belief in life after death Egyptians filled their tombs with objects and paintings that reflected everyday life For ancient Egyptians all of this was done out of religious faith For us the tombs are the best kind of history book they make history exciting Scenes of planting harvesting processions warfare and celebrations make it easy to imagine life 3,500 years ago along the banks of the Nile And drawing those scenes of life in ancient Egypt will make the golden age of the Pharaohs seem even more real to you
Getting Started This book is a guide to ancient Egyptian history and ancient Egyptian art The illustrations were influenced by the art found in the Pharaohs tombs We used similar colors and the figure drawings resemble those done by the Egyptians However there are two ways in which the drawings in this book are different from authentic Egyptian art First Egyptian paintings always showed the human face in side view Second Egyptian artists never used perspective to show space or shading to show three dimensional forms We used both frontal and three quarter views of the face To illustrate space we used perspective and almost all the paintings have some form of shading If you want to know more about ancient Egyptian art there are many beautiful books available And perhaps you can visit one of the many museums with collections of paintings and sculpture
Some hints to help you with all the drawing in the book All you need to get started on the drawings are pencil and paper Later if you want to try painting use any kind of watercolor paint and brushes You should have at least one brush small enough to paint the detailed areas on the costumes and jewelry
