Cave Paintings of Lascaux The "Hall of Bulls" is a large cave full of paintings in France that was created about 20,000 years ago.
6000 BC Neolithic Age Europe
Pottery Design The first agricultural settlements were beginning to emerge around 8000 years ago and more forms of early art were emerging, such as pottery.
4000 BC Neolithic Age Britain
Standing Stones Stonehenge was built by the ancient peoples who lived in Britain in the Neolithic.
All bevel and emboss, texture, and grass brush. One of my favorites.
2500 BC Mesopotamia Modern-day Iraq
Carved Bowl Clay bowls were a very common art form in Mesopotamian culture.
I got creative with the bowl pattern. Texture overlay for the bowl and the background. 2400 BC Old Kingdom Egypt Gaza
Sandstone
Monument In addition to the famous pyramids, the Egyptians of the Old Kingdom built many other sandstone monuments. The most famous of these is the Sphinx.
Each stone was on a separate layer. I added a Bevel and Emboss, and a Texture, for each. Then I drew the hieroglyphs on top of one stone.
1650 BC Middle Kingdom Egypt Nubia
Hieroglyphic Design Hieroglyphics had developed from ideograms to an alphabet by the Middle Kingdom and were a common form of Egyptian art.
I got the background off the internet, and added the shadows using the Burn tool. Then I added the individual hieroglyphs with the fill opacity set at 0 and the Bevel and Emboss on. I got the Egyptian carving picture off the internet too.
1200 BC New Kingdom Egypt Memphis
Sarcophagus Pharaohs were often buried in these fancy golden coffins. This one has my face on it.
It's amazing what you can do with Blend Modes.
400 BC Ionic Period Greece Athens
Temple Ionic architecture involved symmetry and relatively ornate designs, though not as ornate as Corinthian designs.
Here I used the Bevel and Emboss over and over to make all the effects on the columns. I used the Grass brush on several layers to create the layered grassy field.
50 BC Roman Period Roman Empire Brittany
Ships A fleet of ships is shown off the coast of some landmass on a quest, a common form of art in this time period. The second one is another quest, with a more eerie feel.
For the first one, I used the Fibers filter and the Curves to create a realistic ocean. I added the wakes of the ships using the dodge tool. For the second one, I used the Fresco filter. I made the cracks by selecting areas and slightly transforming then, then filling the area in between with a red pattern using the Fresco filter again.
500 CE Indian Period India In the middle of the wilderness somewhere (Do I really need to go look up another city?)
Ganesha Ganesha is the Hindu god of the removal of obstacles. He has the head of an elephant. He was commonly portrayed in Indian art.
Used Reticulation filter and Fresco filter, as well as Curves and Hue/Saturation, to achieve this effect. I put together several images from the internet.
210 BC Chinese Period Han China I don't care what city it's in
Terra-Cotta Army of Me Q'in Shihuang Di made a terra-cotta warrior army around his grave to protect him in the afterlife. It would be a lot better at protecting him if it were made of terra-cotta Hagans.
Used the Vanishing Point and the Free Transform, as well as a Custom filter and a Bevel and Emboss. Used Gradient tool for the spot-lights, and Texture Overlay for the background.
800 CE Islamic Period Modern-day Iraq Baghdad
Persian Rug One of the most priceless items in Europe during the Middle Ages, the Persian rug was a classic art tradition in the Islamic Middle East.
Used Reticulation filter for the final product. Used the Pen tool and the Brush tool to create individual areas, then duplicated and used Ctrl-T to create symmetry.
1100 CE Gothic Period Europe Italy
Stained Glass Cathedrals throughout Middle Ages Europe had stained glass windows.
Stained Glass filter, Bevel and Emboss, Stroke, and Craquelure filter used to make the castle effect.
Modern Art OK... Let's skip ahead to the 21st century.
Roy Lichtenstein
Kinda creepy. But cool.
I used the Pen tool to select various areas in my picture, and then applied a half-tone pattern with different colors to each. I gave all the areas a black stroke.
Shepard Fairey (Political Campaign Poster)
Please vote for me!
I used the Threshold filter to find areas on my face with different value, and I filled them all with various different colors or patterns, to resemble a Shepard Fairey-esque political campaign poster.