I’m actually an Egyptologist and mainly paint ancient artifacts, but I have a soft spot for anything to do with water (the great water… the sea). I could paint sailboats, octopuses, fish, and lighthouses every single day. I don’t know why. I wasn’t born on the coast, but I’m drawn to it. Ps.: Some of […]
Nile geese have been around for thousands of years. Yes, they obviously come from the Nile, and they’re depicted in wall decorations in many ancient Egyptian tombs, but here in Germany, they’ve now made themselves at home. I was walking along the Rhine recently and was actually amazed that these very loud birds have become […]
Today I tried my hand at painting stone textures in watercolor. It wasn’t that easy. There are warm and cool shades of gray. Smooth surfaces, rough ones, or chipped ones. Not all grays are the same. Wasn’t there even a movie about there being 50 shades of it? ;)
Well, maybe they helped out or inspired the Egyptians to build one themselves, because what you actually see in Egypt is an evolution of pyramid shapes over a long period of time. That means—they, too, figured out through “trial and error” what the angle of inclination needs to be to achieve a stable pyramid shape. […]
Today, I dedicated a good chunk of the day to painting and „knocked out“ a few illustrations I still had on my to-do list. The subjects ranged from pyramid shapes to an ancient oil lamp with a green copper patina—it was quite a mix. Right now, I’m racking my brain over how to illustrate the […]
I am currently painting many small illustrations themed around archaeology and my fieldwork as an Egyptologist, because my children’s book on ancient Egypt will feature a special little highlight in every chapter: a personal note written from my perspective as an Egyptologist. I’m sharing something I experienced—something I found particularly fascinating—during my travels in Egypt. […]
I discovered a great new type of paper that I just had to try out over the weekend. It’s PaintON by Clairefontaine. It’s very sturdy at 250 gsm and is supposed to “hold up” to watercolor painting. I was skeptical at first, but then I was totally thrilled.I tried everything and incorporated all the techniques […]
There are days when I’m super creative and can barely keep up with putting my ideas down on paper. And then there are days like this, when I just want to mindlessly copy hieroglyphs. I use this time for simple, repetitive tasks like this illustration here, which is meant to show that the ancient Egyptians […]
My color palette isn’t getting any bigger right now, and I’m fine with that. I’m currently experimenting with different techniques in my sketchbooks. And sure, not all types of paper are suitable for watercolors, but that’s exactly why it’s just a sketchbook—a playground for letting my creativity run wild, a place where I can simply […]
A simple sketch of the idea to inscribe an ancient Egyptian alabaster vessel with a message that means a lot to me. To bring it to life and connect it to the present, I’ve placed thin twigs with delicate blue blossoms inside it.
I love toned paper. It always gives a piece of art that vintage touch. But it’s also difficult to work with, because highlights can only be added using white, opaque materials. Here, I opted for white pastel pencils and chalk, which I blended together with watercolors and watercolor pencils. It was a small, quick experiment. […]
After a rather sleepless night, I need my “Morning Pages” ritual more than ever today. Morning pages are a form of journaling where, every morning right after waking up, you write freely from the heart about whatever moves you, without overthinking it. I do that sometimes, too, but somehow I find it hard to focus […]