Digital color penciling on the iPad in the Small Amun Temple at Medinet Habu

To read more about digitizing color pencils to hunt for "invisible" paint at Medinet Habu, click here.

When documenting the multiple layers of paint in the Small Amun Temple at Medinet Habu, the traditional color code system with its homogeneous greyscale panels (developed for tombs) failed to properly indicate these sporadic traces, which was further complicated by the lack of definite outlines. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

As a resolution, a more appropriate color texturing technique had to be invented, enhancing the remaining pigment traces while eliminating most of the background noise at the same time. This method, chosen to represent the graphical impression of painted details, was a radical step away from the Epigraphic Survey's traditional outline drawing representation. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

With this technique's latest implementation, we could take full advantage of computer technology, using a digital version of our Derwent (@derwentartofficial) color pencil texturing, developed for earlier drawings. Working on the iPad Pro using Procreate (@procreate), provided a versatile work environment for the artist at the temple. The perspectively corrected, extremely detailed orthomosaic of each wall segment, combined with a sun-shadow outline drawing of the relief, supplied an ideal backdrop for each digital artwork. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Procreate, being a complex drawing tool, allowed for many nuanced tweaks to the drawing, supporting subtle painterly effects to be used along with our more traditional freehand drawing techniques.

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