Odd Little Guy From Greek Theatre

When I think of “Greek theatre” what comes to mind are large, outdoor stages with row after row of seats carved from rock, creating an amphitheatre of sorts.  I don’t know if this is because of something I was told in high school or something I’ve seen at some point in my life.  Truth is, I know nothing of Greek theatre.

Votive, head about 6" tall

Votive, head about 6″ tall

The big exhibit at our civilisation museum is all about Greek gods and statues, but there’s one section dedicated to Greek theatre.  What I find odd about it is that most of the “masks” are referred to as ‘votives’ and they’re all far too small for anyone to wear.  They have eye holes and the mouths are a gaping hole in the face, just as a mask might be.  I assume they may have actually held a candle and that’s why they’re labelled as votives.

Interspersed amount the theatre objects are a bunch of small statues that I can’t even imagine a use for in live theatre and no explanation is provided.  They’re all just a few inches tall and their mouths are, like the votives, hollowed out.  Maybe they were popcorn butter dispensers.

Each is mounted on a brass rod for display, but whether this is the way they were originally displayed is unclear.

In any case, I drew this one.  I used Strathmore “toned gray” paper and drew it with a Pilot Falcon filled with De Atramentis Document Black ink.  As the statue was made from a tan clay, I used watercolor pencil to generate some brown tones.  That was probably a mistake as this paper didn’t take kindly to my use of a waterbrush to spread the watercolor.

Little theatre guy (Strathmore toned gray paper, De Atramentis Document Black ink)

Little theatre guy (Strathmore toned gray paper, De Atramentis Document Black ink)