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Description
This is the first in what is to be a series of modern interpretations of the Netjeru, ancient Egyptian Deities. I originally intended to illustrate them a bit more traditionally, but my teacher thought a reinterpretation might be a more interesting concept overall. I was thinking of titling the series "Flesh of Gold, Bones of Silver" or something along those lines, but that remains to be seen. There will be text applied in the lower right corner identifying the Deity in hieroglyphs and in an English transliteration, but I'm holding off on that until the series is completed.

I really like my concept behind this particular piece, but I'm rather disappointed in its execution (the paper rippled far more than usual when wet, and even ironing the paper did little good to smooth it out). I may end up redoing it entirely.

Anyways, this is a representation of the well-known God Wesir/Usar (Greco-Roman: Osiris). It was inspired partly by academic research as well as by what you might call UPG (i.e. Unsubstantiated Personal Gnosis), which indicates my own personal impression of this God. When trying to envision how one might find Wesir in the modern world, I saw Him as an older gentleman in the city park tending to the birds - and not just any group of birds, mind you, although I'm sure He extends his kindness to the pigeons as well. Wesir attends to the souls of the departed. In ancient Egypt one of the forms the human spirit takes upon death is that of the ba, which is represented as the head of the deceased superimposed upon the body of a bird, indicating that this form of the soul is free to roam about much like a bird. In this image, Wesir is offering birdseed to the soul of a woman in the foreground (a symbolic gesture) whose body lies on a stretcher surrounded by police caution tape in the background. The overall mood I intended for this piece was similar to that of both the scene in Mary Poppins where the old woman is feeding the birds and that of the song "Old Friends" by Simon and Garfunkel ("sounds of the city sifting through trees, settles like dust on the shoulders of the old men...").

In keeping with His traditional representations, His skin is a shade of olive green, and the cane is reminiscent of His traditional crook. He also has two feathers tucked in His hat, much like the two feathers on either side of His traditional atef crown.

Other images in this series:
Bast/Bastet
Re/Ra
Mertseger/Meretseger
Hathor/Het-Heru/Hethert
Wepwawet/Upuat/Apuat

size: 11" X 14"
media: Prismacolor colored pencils over watercolor and sumi-e ink wash

Description
This is the first in what is to be a series of modern interpretations of the Netjeru, ancient Egyptian Deities. I originally intended to illustrate them a bit more traditionally, but my teacher thought a reinterpretation might be a more interesting concept overall. I was thinking of titling the series "Flesh of Gold, Bones of Silver" or something along those lines, but that remains to be seen. There will be text applied in the lower right corner identifying the Deity in hieroglyphs and in an English transliteration, but I'm holding off on that until the series is completed.

I really like my concept behind this particular piece, but I'm rather disappointed in its execution (the paper rippled far more than usual when wet, and even ironing the paper did little good to smooth it out). I may end up redoing it entirely.

Anyways, this is a representation of the well-known God Wesir/Usar (Greco-Roman: Osiris). It was inspired partly by academic research as well as by what you might call UPG (i.e. Unsubstantiated Personal Gnosis), which indicates my own personal impression of this God. When trying to envision how one might find Wesir in the modern world, I saw Him as an older gentleman in the city park tending to the birds - and not just any group of birds, mind you, although I'm sure He extends his kindness to the pigeons as well. Wesir attends to the souls of the departed. In ancient Egypt one of the forms the human spirit takes upon death is that of the ba, which is represented as the head of the deceased superimposed upon the body of a bird, indicating that this form of the soul is free to roam about much like a bird. In this image, Wesir is offering birdseed to the soul of a woman in the foreground (a symbolic gesture) whose body lies on a stretcher surrounded by police caution tape in the background. The overall mood I intended for this piece was similar to that of both the scene in Mary Poppins where the old woman is feeding the birds and that of the song "Old Friends" by Simon and Garfunkel ("sounds of the city sifting through trees, settles like dust on the shoulders of the old men...").

In keeping with His traditional representations, His skin is a shade of olive green, and the cane is reminiscent of His traditional crook. He also has two feathers tucked in His hat, much like the two feathers on either side of His traditional atef crown.

Other images in this series:
Bast/Bastet
Re/Ra
Mertseger/Meretseger
Hathor/Het-Heru/Hethert
Wepwawet/Upuat/Apuat

size: 11" X 14"
media: Prismacolor colored pencils over watercolor and sumi-e ink wash