Tuesday 1 August 2017

It's A Faaaake! Not The Art Of Star Trek - Walk Like An Egyptian


  As promised at the end of the last post, may I present: Yet Another Star Trek Art Challenge Post!

  Witchface did mention that this post would entail a trip to Egypt, but that was quickly recanted. And even if it wasn't, you should know by now that I barely leave North Norfolk (bloody work forcing me to go to Norwich...) never mind leave the actual country! Besides, Broom would have forty fits if I suggested travelling overseas...

  Anyway, on with the post. Here's the challenge for July - as set by the June challenge winner - which explains the Egyptianess:

The theme for this months art challenge is Egypt. I was thinking long and hard about a couple of ideas for this month's theme, but ancient Egyptians, pyramids, mummies and hieroglyphs have always fascinated me since I was a child. It's just something that inspires me and I love to dabble with. I hope you agree that it's a broad enough theme for everyone to work in.

Maybe you can show us how the Borg would build their ships if they were Egyptians. Maybe you can reimagine familiar Treknology as Egyptian “steampunk” tech. Or maybe you'll let us see how Kirk & Spock beam down to a planet with a civilization strikingly similar to ancient Egypt. The possibilities are virtually endless.


8th - 14th July
  Unlike last month, I got started on this challenge straight away with a list of ideas including: incorporating the various Egyptian gods hats & headgear into a Starfleet uniform; making the various animal-headed gods into Trek races; hieroglyphs as an alien language; the Egyptian ankh or Eye of Horus as an alien logo or emblem; sandpaper pyramids (as background scenery); USS Nile - a Danube-class runabout; the Eye of Ra as a starship's saucer-section; and possibly something involving Pteppic and Ptraci from Sir Terry Pratchett's Pyramids...

16th July
  Nearly a week later, I decided upon one of those ideas, which was to construct a golden Cardassian Hideki-class ship and give it an all-over livery reminiscent of Tutankhamun's mask. However, knowing that a 3D cardboard model would have taken me ages to make (not least because of all the procrastinating I'd have to fit in), I thought I'd try a flat 2D one instead and started hacking away at some gold cardboard:

The larger, detailed, half-Hideki was going to be the basis of the 3d golden card model

  Once I'd cut out the shape, I didn't like what I'd imagined it would have looked like with the mask livery slapped over it, and abandoned it in favour of the goddess Wadjet (either in full-on snake form, or a more Trek-like Selay woman) in an Egyptian-style late 24th century dress uniform (the white one). Although I wasn't sure if this would have come to pass or not...

Hurried sketches of Wadjet after giving up on the golden Hideki

22nd July
  As well as the Selay, I thought I'd show a range of "crew" - A Caitian as Maahes, an Aurelian as Horus, a Gorn as Sobek and a Bzzit Khaht as Heqet.
  I love the frog-like Bzzit Khaht even though they were barely seen on screen in ST IV. However, that love turned to frustration when I could only find a head-on view of one online so had to try and extrapolate a profile view. After several unconvincing sketches, I gave up and just drew a frog!

I'd given up on the cardboard cut-outs of previous challenges as they took too long and needed too much detail work to make the heads recognisable as Trek races/species, so I stuck with pencil and paper

25th July
Here's some colour (added in MS Paint) which looks a little garish and childlike, but there is a reason...

And the reason is because I covered my monitor with gold tissue paper to give the picture an old, faded look, then took a photo, et voilà

27th July
  The final article!  This wasn't my original intention for the picture, but I was running out of time (the 28th was the deadline).


  The PADD is a screenshot from Star Trek: Voyager "Dark Frontier", the Department of Temporal Investigations first featured in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine "Trials and Tribble-ations" in the persons of Dulmur and Lucsly; TPD stands for Temporal Prime Directive; and the USS Moya is a creation of my own conceit (named after Moya from Farscape), as is Captain Liirn Erek Or (aka Horus).

30th July
  Bugger! I've just thought that I should have made some sort of pyramid starship out of tin foil which, afterwards, I could have adorned with a rubber duck for the 2017 Tin Foil Hat Competition in late August (closing date for your entires is 19th August, remember?!).

::

Previously on It's a Faaaake! Not The Art Of Star Trek:

June 2017 - Foreign Relations
May 2017 - Driven to Distraction
February 2017 - Of Prophet's Tears and Verteron Nodes (plus the warm up: The Celestial Temple Cries Golden Tears)
December 2016 - "Did the plan fail, Edward?"
November 2016 - Winter Solstice
October 2016 - Twisted October: Star Trek Art Challenge



  As is now traditional, Senator Vreenak insists upon having the last word:



8 comments:

  1. Ingenious crafting, Mr Devine!
    Obviously I can't hang around too long as I am supposed to be doing something with a roll of tin foil....
    Sx

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    Replies
    1. Why, thank you, Ms Scarlet!

      I trust your tin foil hat is coming along in leaps and bounds? And, are you receiving any assistance (fetching and carrying, that sort of thing) from Charmaine?

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  2. That was a bit of genius to paint the gods in garish colors and the fading technique! The Egyptian originals were painted in bright primary colors. At best today, what we are the faded pastel remnants or colors completely washed away.

    Spock Like An Egyptian!

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    Replies
    1. Well, I had to work with what I had, LẌ. This clattering clank of computronica is bereft of any type of photoshoppery or the like, so necessity (the mother of invention, of course) stepped in in the form of tissue paper to complete the 'ancient' look.

      Delete
  3. WOW! I'm impressed. But, I'm easy. (wait, that never sounds polite?) xoxox

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't tell if you're insulting yourself, me, or the both of us? ;)

      Delete
  4. All this effort - I admire it, really, you seemingly go "the extra mile". It's a shame that I have no clue what this is all about. Another cosmos ... *waves*

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Mago. Just smile and nod. Smile and nod...

      Delete

Tickle my fancy, why don't you?