Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Cleopatra The Seventh كليوباترا السابعه

Cleopatra VII Philopator was an ancient Greek queen and the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.

 THE ORIGINAL PICTURE OF HERE STATUE IN BERLIN MUSEUM


She was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a Greek royal family which ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great 's death during the Hellenistic period. The Ptolemies, throughout their dynasty, spoke Greek and refused to learn Egyptian, which is the reason that Greek as well as Egyptian languages were used on official court documents like the Rosetta Stone. By contrast, Cleopatra did learn Egyptian and represented herself as the reincarnation of an Egyptian goddess Isis.

Cleopatra originally ruled jointly with her father Ptolemy XII [12th]and later with her brothers, Ptolemy XIII[13th] and Ptolemy XIV[14th] she had married as per Egyptian custom, but eventually she became sole ruler. As pharaoh, she  contacted Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne. She later elevated her son with Caesar, Caesarion, to co-ruler in name.

After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, she aligned with Mark Antony in opposition to Caesar's legal heir, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later known as Augustus). With Antony, she bore the twins Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helios,  and another son, Ptolemy Philadelphus.
After losing the Battle of Actium to Octavian's forces, Antony committed suicide.Cleopatra followed him, and killed herself by means of an Egyptian cobra bite on August 12, 30 BC.Cleopatra's son by Caesar, Caesarion, was proclaimed pharaoh by the Egyptians, after Alexandria fell to Octavian Caesarion was captured and killed.After short time Egypt became the Roman province of Aegyptus. 

To this day, Cleopatra remains a popular figure in Western culture. Cleopatra is put forward as a great beauty and her successive conquests of the world's most powerful men are taken to be proof of her aesthetic and sexual appeal.

Her Death
There are two stories: that she applied a toxic ointment ,or drink a mix of poisons she had prepared by her self [she was a chemist ] or that she was bitten by an Egyptian cobra on her arm or breast. 
  

 كانت كليوباترا السابعة المحببه لأبيها والملكة اليونانية القديمة وآخر فرعون لمصر القديمة
وكانت عضوا في أسرة البطالمة، والعائلة المالكة اليونانية التي حكمت مصر بعد وفاة الإسكندر الأكبر 'خلال الفترة الهلنستية. 
كان البطالمه طوال هذه الفتره يتكلمون اليونانيه لغتهم الاصليه و رفضوا تعلم اللغه المصريه القديمه و كان هذا هو السبب فى استخدام اللغه اليونانيه فى الدواوين والمحاكم المصريه وكذلك حجر رشيد الا ان كليوباترا تعلمتها و مثلت نفسها بانها تمثيل للالهه ايزيس المصريه .
كليوباترا حكمت أصلا بصورة مشتركة مع والدها بطليموس الثاني عشر وفي وقت لاحق مع أشقائها، بطليموس الثالث عشر وبطليموس الرابع عشر وقد تزوجت حسب العرف المصري،واصبحت الحاكم الوحيد للبلاد و كان اتصالها كفرعون لمصر محكما لقبضتها على عرش البلاد بعد اغتيال قيصر في 44 قبل الميلاد  اتحدت مع مارك انطونيو ضد  اوكتافيوس الوريث الشرعى ليوليوس قيصر و الذى عرف فيما بعد باسم اوغسطس اى المقدس  
انجبت كليوباترا من انطونيو توأم هما كليوباترا سيلين الثاني وألكسندر هليوس، وابن آخر،هو بطليموس فيلادلفوس 
قد اقدم انطونيو على الانتحار بعد خسارته فى معركة اكتيوم وتبعته كليوباترا بقتل نفسها 
وتوج ابن كليوباترا من القيصر فرعونا لمصر الا انه قتل بعد سقوط الاسكندرية لقيصر أوكتافيان 
وبعد وقت قصير أصبحت مصر مقاطعة رومانية 
وحتى يومنا هذا تتمتع كليوباترا بشعبيه كبيره لدى الغرب و المصريين لما كان لها من ذكاء وعلم وثقافه بالاضافه الى جاذبيتها الشديده .


وفاتها 
هناك قصتان لوفاتها 
الاولى انها اتت بأفعى وجعلتها تلدغها فى ذراعها او ثديها 
الثانيه انها تجرعت السم اللذى اعدته بنفسها لانها كانت عالمه كيمياء او انها وضعت السم على شكل مرهم اوكريم للجلد 


ارجو ان اكون قد ساهمت فى ايضاح بعض النقاط عن حياة هذه الملكه الرائعه  
   

The first photo is the original . I felt it is not good enough and pale. I loved Cleopatra very much so i found myself manipulating her picture in many ways , I will explain one for you and I think you can think for the others . 

HOW TO FIX THE PHOTO WITH PHOTOSHOP  ?
Please read more.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Designing New Birthday Card with Photoshop

The day of birth is an important day in our life,specially if it was related to a special persons ,like parents and children ,husbands and wifes,friends,and ,colleagues, and so on.
 We are feeling very happy if someone remember that special day for us and show that with even a flower or a simple card .I like to design cards for private and special occasions ,and celebrations 
That is a new birthday card . A very simple card designed with photoshop .
That card is simple ,easy to make and had bright colors.You can add it to the group of cards in this blog I hope you will like it .
You can find some more cards and wallpapers in Arts Of Photos 
To design that card , please read more.

HOW TO DESIGN ?

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Queen Khamerernebty II,Khafra 'daughter and,Menkaure 'wife الملكة كاميريربتى الثانية ابنة الملك خفرع


Khamerernebty II was an ancient Egyptian queen of the 4th dynasty. She was a daughter of Pharaoh Khafra and Queen Khamerernebty I. She married her brother Menkaure and she was a mother of Prince Khuenre.

Here Names 
 Daughter of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt,King's Daughter of his body,One who sits with Horus, She who is united with the one beloved of the Two Ladies, Greatly loved Wife of the King, King's Daughter of his body, revered mistress, honored by her father,

Here Family 
Khamerernebty II was the daughter of King Khafra and Queen Khamerernebty I.Khamerernebty II was the mother of the King's Son Khuenre, who is thought to be the son of King Menkaure. This suggests that Khamerernebty II must have married her brother Menkaure.



Here Burial
Khamerernebty II is mentioned in texts and on a statue found in the Galarza tomb in Giza. This tomb is located in the Central Field which is part of the Giza Necropolis. 
The tomb may have originally been built for Khamerernebty I, but was finished for her daughter Khamerernebty II.
The lintel above the entrance to the chapel included an inscription mentioning both KhamerernebtyII, and here mother  Khamerernebty I.                                                                                                 




The original picture is not clear .I wanted for the face to be more clear and good size.
I made crop for the picture with the Crop Tool .Then I fix the color and brightness from the Adjustment Panel .
I always prefer to duplicate the layer of the blur pictures then merge the layers .
Add layer style to the picture to give bevel and theckness to the it. 
If you like add frame  you can use the Custom Shape Tool .

I added also the picture of Menkaure with no frame so you can compare which one you prefer .












الملكة كاميريربتى الثانية ابنة الملك خفرع و الملكة كاميريربتى  الأولى و تزوجت من أخيها منكاورع (منقرع)

شكرا لكم



Friday, January 21, 2011

Menkaure




The original picture                                                                         

                     After adjustments 





 Statue of Menkaure with his Queen


  
Menkaure or Men-Kau-Ra was a pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt ( 2620 BC–2480 BC) who ordered the construction of the third and smallest of the Pyramids of Giza. His name means "Eternal like the Souls of Re" meaning he will stay alive forever . He was the successor of Khafra. 
Several of his statues were unfinished upon his death—suggesting the shorter reign—while his pyramid is the smallest of all the three royal pyramids at Giza.

His Family 
  • Parents 
Menkaure was the son of Khafra and the grandson on Khufu.Some evidences showed that the king's mother was Khamerernebty I [Khufu ' Queen].
  • wifes 
Menkaure is thought to have had at least two wives.
  • Queen Khamerernebty II is the daughter of Khamerernebti I and the mother of a king's son Khuenre. The location of Khuenre's tomb suggests that he was a son of Menkaure, making his mother the wife of this king.
  • Queen Rekhetre is known to have been a daughter of Khafra and as such the most likely identity of her husband is Menkaure.
  • Children  
Not many children are attested for him.
  • Khuenre .
  • Shepseskaf was the successor to Menkaure.
  • Sekhemre.
Pyramid complex 
Menkaure's pyramid at Giza was called Netjer-er-Menkaure which means "Menkaure is Divine". This pyramid is the smallest of the three pyramids at Giza. There are three subsidiary pyramids associated with Menkaure's pyramid. It is possible that these pyramids were meant for the Queens of Khafra. It may be that Khamerernebti II was buried in one of the pyramids.

The Valley temple was a mainly brick built structure which was enlarged in the 5th or 6th dynasty. From this temple come the famous statues of Menkaure with his Queen .[ The statue in the picture] 


You can notice the difference between the original and the adjusted picture .

 HOW TO ADJUST THE PICTURE : 

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Birthday Cards For Kids

A birthday is a day or anniversary of the particular month and day on which a person was born. 
A person's birthday is usually recorded according to the time zone of the place of birth.

Birthdays are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with a gift, and party . 
The gift like Birthstones, flowers ,gold and jewelry It depends upon the person and the type and depth of the relationship ,like if mother or father and children ,hasped and wife ,  lovers or friends .It will differs also according to the economic state . 

Birthstones 
A birthstone is a gift of a precious material (jewelry, mainly gemstones; themselves traditionally associated with various qualities) that symbolizes the month of birth in the Gregorian calendar.

Birth flowers 
Just as there are alternatives with birthstones .It is noted as being rose or camellia.

It is better to give the birthday gift with a card .Simple card with nice deep words will say what you like to say ,just select it suitable for the person ' age , and relation to you .
   I designed some  birthday cards for different persons ,and ages  .




Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Children Everywhere are the same Fix the photo of your child with Photoshop

 Children Everywhere are almost the same."A child is any human being below the age of eighteen years .
The child must have 
  • Freedom of speech
  • Freedom of thought
  • Freedom from fear 
  • Freedom of choice and the right to make decisions
You know they likes to play all the time ,and you can not stop that ,and I like to much that kind of pictures that record all the nice memories of young kids.  
I got a picture for my granddaughters really the picture was very bad in every thing I  do not like its hue and color cast .  
 The girl was playing and her hair was coming up and the light was not enough ,and I think the resolution of the camera was law [ mobile camera]  .I  thought that what I was looking for to adjust .








That is the original picture that I do not like .
I liked her innocent face and calm smile








That is the fixed picture  . 
The look of the picture differs very much. 
I removed the color cast and I gave it different look with the frame .I wanted the frame to be simple like her.I chose the colors to match her closes and to give the happy feel of childhood . 
   






 How to fix that picture? 

 Please read more .

Monday, January 17, 2011

Tarut Island and Tarut Castle in Saudia قلعه تاروت بالسعوديه

Location

It is the second longest island in the Persian Gulf after Qeshm Island which is the biggest island in the Gulf,in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.It extends from Ras Tanura in the north to Qatif in the west.The island includes many smaller towns and villages such as Tarut town

Climate

The Island's climate is unlike other Saudi Arabian cities, Tarut retains its warm temperature throughout winter, during which it gets around 0c (32F) at midnight to +25c (77F) in the afternoon.Since the island is near the Arabian coast, the humidity is very high; sometimes reaching 96% humidity. Rainfall on the island is rare, but when it does rain, it is usually in December and January.


History 

 If you would like to look at the deep past of Eastern Saudi Arabia, your mind will go to a small island in the Persian Gulf. Present time has forgotten it and its treasures and it needs to be dusted off. When you are walking in its old villages, you will see adjoining houses that are built from mud and stone with narrow alleyways, too. Their presence is in the distant past. When looking at the houses, you draw memories from generation after generation that have long passed. This island is Tarut. Tarut or Tarout means goodness and beauty in the Semitic languages. Additionally, the town’s name is recorded as "TARU" in historical Chinese texts and "Ashtarut" in Arabic history. Today, however, most of the new researchers argue that the correct name is "Ashtarut" because the Canaanites and Phoenicians, who originally lived there, idolized the beauty of the town and called it Ashtarut. The term Ashtarut is also very similar to the new name Tarut , if we delete the first syllable.



Tarut Castle 
It is the most famous castle in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and the oldest castle in the Persian Gulf. It was built by the Portuguese in the 16th century, It is located in the center of Tarut Island .On the towers of the castle, the viewer can see most of the island.

Donkeys Bath

Donkeys Bath was located in Aldeerah Town at the end of the Ein Al-aoudeh channel. Tourists would wash their donkeys since donkeys were the main transportation on Tarut Island before cars. It was destroyed in 1996 and there are no remains.
  

Mohammed Abdelwahab Castle in Dareen 

Sheikh Mohammed Abdelwahab, who is one of the famous pearl traders in the Persian Gulf built a castle in 1885. The castle was a place for meeting, hospitality, and trading. Today, ruins are the only evidence of the castle’s former existence.







قلعة تاروت هي قلعة آثرية عريقة واقعة في جزيرة تاروت شرق المملكة العربية السعودية وتحديدا شرق مدينة القطيف في الخليج العربي. يرجع تاريخ القلعة إلى خمسة آلاف ...سنة قبل الميلاد وكانت هيكلا لألهة الفينيقيين عشتاروت وقد سميت الجزيرة باسمها (عش تاروت). تم اعادة إنشاء القلعة في القرن السادس عشر الميلادي من قبل الغزاة البرتغاليي
تاريخ القلعة/القصر

تاريخ القلعة

في جزيرة تاروت بـمحافظة القطيف أو مدينة القطيف ويرجح أن القلعة بنيت بين عامي 1521 و 1525 تل مرتفع عثر فيه على آثار قديمة جدا من ضمنها تمثال الملكة السومرية عشتار. ويُعتقد أن هذا التل يقع تحته معبد الملكة عشتار حيث قامت ببنائه بعدما طردها الملك جلجامش من بلاد ما بين النهرين ويقال أيضا انها بنيت على أنقاض هيكل عشتاروت من آلهة الفينيقيين بجوار عين ماء اشتهرت باسم (عين العودة) وذلك في القرن السادس عشر الميلادي على أنقاض سابقة تعود إلى حوالي خمسة آلاف سنة.
 

I found the picture black and white so I add some colors for it for HOW TO ADD COLORS TO THE PHOTO ?  please visit  Arts Of Photos. 

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Filters

You can use filters to clean up or retouch your photos, apply special art effects that give your image the appearance you like.You can give your photos also different look like sketch or distortions and lighting effects .
Using a smart Filters let you use filters non-destructively the same as smart objects.
Smart Filters are stored as layer effects in the Layers panel and can be readjusted at any time.

That is the original picture .

You can see the different looks with the different filters in Photo-shop with the same image. I had prepared some for that purpose.












Simple way to apply filters ?
  • Open the picture in photo-shop.
  • Go to Filter menu and choose convert to smart filter so all the adjustments you will apply will not be destructive to the image.[ Smart Filters, applied to Smart Objects, let you use filters non-destructively. Smart Filters are stored as layer effects in the Layers panel and can be readjusted at any time]
  • After that try the filters you like and apply to your image.
  • Save your work 
     
You can find some more in Arts Of Photos .

Friday, January 14, 2011

Using The Retouching Tools (Photoshop lesson)










The retouching is easy and very important for adjusting and fixing your pictures you can 
accomplish a variety of tasks .
  • To improve a composition.
  • To correct distortions or flaws.
  • To manipulate picture elements .
  • To add or remove items, sharpen or blur, or merge multiple images into a panorama.

To fix a photo like that one up you need many tools called the retouching tools ,to remove the scars and dark dots to make it clear like the picture on the right.
I used the Spot Healing Brush Tool ,and The Healing Brush Tool.
  • The Spot Healing Brush Tool  
 Its use is very easy .In the options panel choose Proximity Match, and check Sample All layers,and adjust the brush size.
You will not do any thing more .Just click on the area you want to treat .


  • The Healing Brush Tool. 
It is more complicated  you need to sample the area you like then add it to the defected area .
  1. In the Option bar ,adjust Source to sampled and choose from Sample what layers you like.
  2. Adjust the Brush size to the size of the good area you want to sample ,or little smaller  
  3. To sample the area you like just click the area you like while pressing the tab key .
  4. Go to the defected area and click it  .
They are easy to manipulate and use try it now. 

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Queen Meresankh III, King Khafra's Wife... with Illustrator lesson.

She is the wife of the pharaoh Khafra and a grand-daughter of the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu.Her   parents were brother and sister[ Hetepheres II and Prince Kawab ].She had married the pharaoh Khafra of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt and bore him four sons and one daughter .  


Queen Meresankh III, King Khafra's Wife

That  photo for the statue of Queen Meresankh III [right ] and her mother Hetepheres II [left] .
I don't like the dullness of the photo ,It is very pale ,so again I changed the background and adjust the picture that is the way .Just read more.

As I was preparing for the mother's day I found that picture .I fixed it and I felt it is nice for the mother's day as a mother and daughter true picture and story ,so I used it in designing my card .
I fixed it with photo-shop [you can fined that in Arts Of Photos] ,then  I designed the card  with illustrator 

HOW TO DESIGN THE CARD ?


Khafra the Pharaoh خفرع الفرعون المصرى الشهير




Khafre He was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty, who had his capital at Memphis. According to some authors he was the son and successor of Khufu, but it is more commonly accepted that Djedefre was Khufu's successor and Khafra was Djedefre's. Khafra has two chief wives , Queen Meresankh III whose mastaba tomb is located at Giza , and Queen Khamaerernebty I who was the mother of his successor, Menkaura. Khafre was the builder of the second largest pyramid in the Giza.His pyramid is 3 metres shorter than Khufu's pyramid. He was mentioned as the builder of the Great Sphinx.
His name, Khaf-Ra, means "Appearing like Ra" for some translators and "rise Ra!" for others. 
[ most probably was a son of king Khufu and the brother and successor of Djedefre. ].
Khafre had several wives and he has at least 12 sons and 3 or 4 daughters. One of them was Queen Khamerernebty she was the mother of Menkaure[the builder of the third pyramid ] and his principal queen Khamerernebty II.

Reign 
It is blank.Some believe it was between 24 to 26 years,and others exaggerated his reign as 66 years.

Pyramid complex 
  • Khafra built the second largest pyramid at Giza.The Egyptian name of the pyramid was Wer(en)-Khafre which means "Khafre is Great". The pyramid has a subsidiary pyramid, labeled GII a. It is not clear who was buried there. Sealing have been found of a King's eldest son of his body etc and the Horus name of Khafre.
  • Valley Temple: The valley temple of Khafre was located closer to the Nile and would have stood right next to the Sphinx temple.
  • Mortuary Temple :The mortuary temple was located very close to the pyramid.
  • Great Sphinx and Sphinx temple :The sphinx is said to date to the time of Khafre .The spinx is designed to show the head of a man [pharaoh ] on a body of lion . The designer wanted to say that that man is strong and brave like the lion. Some also said that the face of sphinx is the same as Khafra 

I collected that stories from my studies and searches.I hope it is useful.
   
 هو فرعون من الاسره الرابعه وهو على الاغلب ابن الملك خوفو  من زوجه ثانويه وهو ايضا من شيد الهرم الثانى بالجيزة لايعرف الكثير عن فترة حكمه ولكنه هو ايضا من شيد تمثال ابو الهول والذى يشبهه وقد قيل انه هو وهذا التمثال عباره عن رأس انسان على جسم اسد وهو مااراد الفنان المصرى القديم ان يعبر به عن قوة هذا الانسان وهو خفرع 
اما عن هرمه الثانى فى الحجم بعدهرم خوفو ولكنه يبدو اعلى من بعض الجهات لانه يقع على هضبه عاليه 
يبلغ ارتفاع الهرم 143 و الان  136 ومساحته 215 مترا مربعاوله مدخلان من الجهه الشماليه .

نقلتها لكم 
منال رأفت 

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Free Wallpapers and how to design with Photoshop

I wanted to give you a gift so I thought of that wallpapers . I tried to make it different colors and designs to fulfill the different tastes .It is very easy you can create it in just 5 minutes . I used the Brush Tool with the Brush Panel .
you will find some others also in my other blog     Arts Of Photos   













For how to create it please go to read more.

HOW TO CREATE ? 

Sunday, January 09, 2011

Backgroud Strips With Photoshop

Vertical

Horizontal











Some people likes to add striated backgrounds to their pages .So I designed that backgrounds ,its easy to make and you can just use it on your web pages or devices ,and computers desktops.If you try to design your own ,you will feel different among all the designers .You will choose your color design and taste It will consume only two minutes for making lets go and start to design now.

HOW TO DESIGN IT ?

Friday, January 07, 2011

Create Your Own Background by Photoshop.



Every body wants to add his touch to all his items ,pictures and every thing ,so I thought of designing and creating simple backgrounds  for the beginners. Its very simple to design only two minutes  and it will be ready as a desktop back ground you can create the HTML code for it by photo shop and add it to your web site with the help of web site developing programs to design your own background with your taste and view .
 You can take the advantage of the fact that background image repeats itself  or tiles over and over to create a background designed from a single image in photo shop . 

That is the  the most simple design [ TILING BACKGROUND]. 
I added samples to get as a gift from me and some with my blog name if you like also .Hoping you will try it and contact me for comment .


For how to make go for read more.Thanks
If you like slightly harder symmetrical backgrounds go to  Arts Of Photos

HOW TO MAKE SIMPLE TILING BACKGROUND?

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Red flower card with very nice frame and how to design it with Photoshop.

A flower, sometimes known as blossom,It is the reproductive structure of the plant .The people liked the flowers and using it to beautify their environment .Some also liked to wear the flowers. 
I liked very much the red flowers ,so I chose for it very new frame . That silver frame .You can add it also to the dark pictures .It is little bit hard and needs sensitive hands . I used for the photo of the flower the Crop tool and the Transform .
For the frame I used the Custom shape tool ,and the liquify filter to give the frame your own taste and look .
 You can go read more to know how to make.

 HOW TO MAKE?

Monday, January 03, 2011

Red Card

I had designed another card for the new year celebration .
It is different than the first one, it is simple and designed with illustrator .It got also some light decorations and it had some transparent layers .It contains a transparent bouquet of flowers surrounded by some decorations  and framed with a simple frame .
All this artwork is designed with the symbol panel of illustrator ,the frame by the brush panel and choose borders to choose the frame and the type tool and I used the wrap text option in the option bar of the text tool.
I just wanted to add  one more card for the group of cards on the blog . 
I explained in brief how to make test yourself and try to make on I gave you the key to start .If you have any question contact me on my email .


Enjoy trying .   
THANKS
Manal Raafat

The Quote Of The Day.

You lie the loudest when you lie to yourself.

One thing you can give and still keep...is your word.

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