On the light yellow rough paper, there is a bird with different colors parked on a big locust tree, with its four heads facing east. At first, it was a timid young bird, then it was like a newborn calf, then it was full of enthusiasm, and finally it was calm, with its head facing west and facing death calmly. On the tree of life, five birds and five expressions exquisitely condense people's lives. There are at least hundreds of papyrus paintings called "Tree of Life" in Cairo. But don't worry about the copyright of the picture, because the papyrus painting is a copy of the story!
The original form and rough texture of plants show the ancient Egyptian culture vividly: under the bowed gods are homes and all kinds of people, and there are many trees and animals standing, that is, God is protecting the lives of ancient Egyptians with his own body; On a chair, the queen is dressing the Pharaoh's arm. Behind the chair are dates and papyrus, lions and snakes on the ground, golden pheasants and white cranes in the air ... Yellowing paper, wrinkled appearance and mysterious and exquisite patterns all reveal a long history.
Although the ancient Egyptians had the ability to tell stories with color and composition techniques more than 4000 years ago, it is conceivable that painting on grass paper is more difficult than splashing ink on smooth pulp paper. Natural papyrus paper is durable, and its color is simple and soft, deep or light, yellow or red, which is somewhat similar to the color of China ancient paintings over the years. The brush is also sharpened with the soft stems of papyrus, and the picture is mainly line drawing, striving to draw accurately. The lines in the painting are rarely sharp, never mixed with any emotions, and lack the rich changes and expressions of Chinese brush, with only plain colors in the middle. Art always creates itself within the limits! Perhaps this is why Egyptian painting has always been particularly concise, dignified and simple.
In any case, art always comes from life, but this sentence is easier to be verified in Cairo. The earliest papyrus paper paintings had only two colors, red is brick red and black is China ink stick color, which were mainly used to fill and outline the image. With the increase of painters and the prosperity of paper painting content, the pigments used in painting have become more colorful, with gold, blue, red and ochre as the main colors, which are gorgeous, clear and decorative, similar to China's early meticulous painting. However, all pigments are specially made from animals, plants and minerals: green comes from turquoise, blue from malachite, yellow from gamboge, red from hematite and black from coal concentrate. Pure natural plant juice mixed with mineral powder can present metallic luster and will not fade for a long time. Therefore, the oldest paper painting in the world-the papyrus paper painting "Goose in Medum" unearthed from the pyramid of the third dynasty, even though it has a history of 4500 years, not only the paper is intact, but also the color is gorgeous. Nowadays, it is easy to see the exquisite papyrus paintings of ancient Egypt thousands of years ago, whether in the Alexandria Library or the Cairo Museum. Papyrus paintings vividly describe the ancient Egyptians' costumes, production tools, daily necessities, sacrifices and the relationship between animals and people. However, since ancient times, it seems that all the pictures are expressing the life and myths of ancient Egypt, and there is nothing else.