Let’s be real. When you sit down to start a drawing of a mummy, your brain probably defaults to a stick figure wrapped in white streamers. It’s the Halloween classic. But if you actually look at the archaeological reality—the stuff sitting in the British Museum or the Cairo Museum—it is way more complex, tactile, and, honestly, kind of gross.
There is a massive difference between a cartoon bandage-man and a historically grounded study of ancient preservation. One is a doodle. The other is art.
Most people struggle because they try to draw the "wraps" first. That is a mistake. You’re drawing a human body that happens to be constricted. If you don't get the anatomy underneath right, the mummy ends up looking like a pile of laundry rather than a preserved king or priest. You’ve gotta feel the bones through the linen.
The Anatomy Beneath the Bandages
Before you even think about the texture of the cloth, you have to understand what’s happening to the body inside. Mummification isn't just "wrapping." It’s dehydration. When the ancient Egyptians used natron (a natural salt) to dry out the body, the skin would shrink and cling to the bone.
If you're doing a serious drawing of a mummy, your highlights and shadows should follow the skeletal structure. The cheekbones should be sharp. The eye sockets should be deep, dark pits. The ribs often create a corrugated texture against the chest wraps. It’s skeletal.
Think about the "Ginger" mummy in the British Museum. Technically a natural mummy from the Predynastic period, but the way the skin stretches over the frame is a masterclass for artists.
You want to avoid smooth, tubular limbs. Real mummies have "troughs" where the muscle has withered. The elbows and knees should be prominent, knobby points that stretch the linen thin. This creates tension in your drawing. Tension is what makes a still image look alive—or, well, formerly alive.
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Getting the Linen Texture Right
Linen isn't like modern cotton. It’s stiff. It frays. It’s often been soaked in resins like bitumen or cedar oil, which turns it a dark, muddy brown or a deep amber over thousands of years.
When you start your drawing of a mummy, vary the width of the strips. Historically, embalmers used whatever was lying around—old clothes, torn sheets, specific ritual bandages. Some sections might have 4-inch wide wraps, while others, like the fingers and toes, might use strips less than an inch wide.
Basically, don't make it symmetrical.
Shadows are your best friend here. Don't just draw lines for the bandages. Use a "lost and found" line technique. Let some edges of the cloth disappear into the shadows and make others sharp where the light hits the frayed threads. If you’re using charcoal or graphite, use a kneaded eraser to "pull" out those tiny, fuzzy fibers that stick up from the surface of old linen. It adds that layer of dusty age that makes the viewer feel like they need to sneeze.
The Color of Antiquity
Stop using white. Just stop.
A realistic drawing of a mummy uses a palette of ochre, burnt umber, and grayish-tan. Even if you're working in black and white, your "white" areas should be reserved for the highest points of light. The "local color" of a mummy is actually quite dark.
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Think about the resin. In many Late Period burials, the bodies were practically doused in liquid resin that hardened into a black, glass-like substance. If you're drawing a mummy like the famous Tutankhamun, the wraps are stained dark by these oils. It’s not "clean." It’s messy, ancient, and chemical.
Compositional Tricks for a Better Drawing of a Mummy
Where are you placing the viewer?
If you draw the mummy straight-on, like a specimen in a case, it feels clinical. Boring. Try a low-angle perspective. It makes the figure feel imposing, almost like it’s about to lean out of the frame.
Or focus on the hands. The way the hands are crossed over the chest is iconic, but the finger positioning varies by dynasty. During the 18th Dynasty, you see a lot of crossed-at-the-shoulders posing. Later, it changed. Use these specific historical details to give your work "weight." People might not consciously know the difference, but they can feel when an artist has done the homework.
- The Head: Tilt it slightly. Mummies rarely stayed perfectly straight in their coffins over 3,000 years. A slight tilt suggests the weight of the head.
- The Feet: They often splay outward. Don't draw them pointing straight up like a cartoon.
- The Fray: Add loose threads. One or two long, trailing pieces of linen can lead the viewer's eye through the composition.
Common Pitfalls to Dodge
The biggest mistake? Treating the mummy like a mannequin.
A mummy is a person. Even under the wraps, there's a face. Many Roman-era mummies from the Faiyum region actually had beautiful, encaustic wax portraits painted over the faces. If you include a Faiyum portrait in your drawing of a mummy, you’re bridging the gap between the "monster" trope and the human reality. It creates a haunting contrast between the lifelike painted eyes and the shrouded body.
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Also, watch your line weight. If every bandage has the same thickness of line, the drawing will look flat. Use thick, dark lines for the deep recesses between limbs and whisper-thin lines for the delicate weave of the cloth.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Sketch
If you're ready to start, don't just dive in with a pen.
- Block the skeleton first. Seriously. Draw a basic gestural skeleton in light pencil. If the hips are off, the whole thing is ruined.
- Layer the "muscle" volume. Even though they are dehydrated, there is still volume. Map out the chest cavity and the skull.
- Map the primary wraps. These are the big "anchor" bandages that go around the torso and hips.
- Add the "filler" bandages. These are the smaller, messy strips that fill the gaps.
- Texture pass. This is where you add the fraying, the dirt, and the resin stains. Use a stippling motion with a hard pencil to create the look of woven fabric.
Honestly, the best way to get better is to look at high-resolution scans from the Smithsonian or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They have massive databases of mummy photos that show the terrifyingly beautiful detail of the linen weave.
Go look at the "Mummy of Nesmin." Look at how the bandages aren't just wrapped; they're woven into patterns. Some mummies have diamond-patterned wrappings that are incredibly difficult to draw but look insane when you get them right.
Try focusing on just one part today. Don't do the whole body. Just draw a mummified hand. The way the skin turns into a leather-like parchment over the knuckles is a challenge for any artist. It’s about the contrast between the soft (linen) and the hard (bone).
Master that, and your drawing of a mummy will stand out in any gallery—or any spooky season portfolio. The goal isn't to draw a monster. It's to draw history.
Grab your 4B pencil and a blending stump. Start with the jawline. Everything else follows the bone. No shortcuts. Just focus on the way time eats away at everything but the core structure. That’s the secret to a piece that actually feels ancient.