Chaukhandi Ornament
Continue to explore the wide world of historic ornament. This one is my interpretation of a detail found in the Chaukhandi Tombs, a 500 year-old necropolis richly carved in sandstone, near Karachi in Pakistan. Photos were graciously shared with permission by Tahamie Farooqui, a very talented photographer referred by Jenny Farooqui. Many thanks for the gorgeous pictures and referral! Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens.
Although the original necropolis is entirely monochromatic in a rich rust brown color, I added some details in my picture for a bit of contrast. The palette has somewhat of an ancient Egypt flare! Here’s a before and after shading and embellishing:
The picture measures 4x6 inches on hotpressed watercolor paper.
Here you can see a close-up of the original fragment taken by Tahamie, in a black and white photo.
And here are a couple of close-ups:
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Remember that images of the art are Copyright Eni Oken.
Photos of Chaukhandi Tombs are copyright of Tahamie Farooqui, used with permission.
This picture was made largely adapted from a fragment of Gothic architecture I found in Richard Glazier’s Manual of Historic Ornament (archive dot org). I combined three primary colors with black ink, and shaded and colored using inktense pencils.