eve at the post oriental odyssey

'postlude volume 1: the post oriental odyssey' evite . 2015 

eve at 'postlude volume 1: the post oriental odyssey' exhibition . 2015

i am participating in a current exhibition at the mine, titled 'postlude volume 1: the post oriental odyssey'. curated by mo reda, the exhibition is a collection of 16 artists from the gcc exploring themes of cultural identity in contemporary middle eastern art. i am showcasing one of my previous works eve for the exhibition.

'postlude volume 1: the post oriental odyssey' runs until 8 march 2015 so make sure to check out the show to see a great collection of contemporary art from the region. i'm really glad to be a part of the show so thank you mo and the mine for the opportunity.

once again - never forget walkabout at creekside

'never forget' walkabout invite . 2015

back by popular demand, i will be leading another walkabout to promote 'never forget: an illustrated guide to dubai's best kept secrets'. the walkabout will happen on saturday 31 january, from 9am - 12pm. 

the walkabout begins at creekside, where we will then head to some of the areas mentioned in the book. make sure to bring your sketchbooks, cameras and a pair of good walking shoes!

there is a fee of aed 100 to participate in the walkabout. so make sure to register your spot by emailing tashkeel@tashkeel.org.

participants will receive a limited edition tote bag, which includes a copy of the book, and a colour pencil set. for more info, make sure to check out the invite above, and also the walkabout page on tashkeel's revamped website.

i end this post with some images below, which includes interesting finds from the last walkabout.

 images from previous 'never forget' walkabout . 2014

meet pepper

pepper . 2015

pepper 001 . 2014

pepper 002 . 2014

pepper 003 . 2014

a couple of years ago, i was approached by a positive, optimistic, female, emirati entrepreneur who was introduced to my work and really liked what she saw, leading to a collaboration i am happy to have worked on.

asma, the proud owner of the hundred wellness center is extremely passionate about pilates and a healthy lifestyle. she opened her humble pilates studio, which has gained recognition and grown over the years, becoming one of the leading health and fitness centers in the city. she is also a true supporter of the arts and the creative world. if one pays a visit to the beautiful center, you will notice some of asma's acquired artworks hung around the building, combining both her interests in one space.

the collaboration began with the intention of creating a pilates-themed illustration to adorn the center's walls. the initial brief was pretty free, so i came up with some introductory sketches which were discussed and led to variations of the illustration.

the illustration evolved over the course of the project, becoming more refined, less of a cliché, and focused on one particular pilates move - the rolling ball. the final result was not one, but three illustrations to visually show the move in it's different positions. after the illustrations were complete, asma loved the character and decided to name her pepper!

it was a really fun project to have worked on and truly humbled to have worked with asma on this. thank you for the opportunity. i hope pepper becomes somebody iconic at the center and loved by all...

make sure to head down to the hundred wellness center if interested in pilates and a healthy approach to life. and make sure to say hit to pepper!

i leave you with a couple of illustrations from the initial phase of the project. it shows how far the illustrations have come from the first drawings. i do love the initial ideas, but didn't work for this project i guess. you do however, definitely see elements extracted from both sketches which fed into the development of pepper.

phase 1 of pepper . 2013

first zine workshop of 2015

diy zine workshop with khalid mezaina . 2015

results from previous diy zine workshop . 2014 

a belated happy new year to all the krossbreed lovers. wishing everyone a positive 2015...

first on the agenda for the new year is a new diy zine workshop. back by popular demand, i will be hosting another diy workshop at the magazine shop, on wednesday 14 january, from 6:30 - 8:30 pm.

make sure to register by sending me an email if interested in participating. also, there's a minimal fee of aed 20 to take part in the workshop.

looking forward to seeing you all getting creative on the 14th. above is an inspirational image of some of the results from the last workshop.

one last zine workshop for 2014

diy zine workshop with khalid mezaina . 2014

just before the year ends, the magazine shop & i decided to offer one last diy zine workshop. the final workshop for 2014 will happen on wed 17 december 2014, from 6.30 - 8.30 pm, at a new space, the bookshop.

if you're interested in taking part, send me an email to register your spot. & make sure to bring aed 20 with you, a creative mind & be prepared to get messy making some fun zines.

looking forward to seeing you all on the 17th. for some inspiration, here are a couple of posts about previous zine workshops i hosted in the past here & here.

cover run

aspire magazine cover illustration . 2014

aspire magazine december 2014 wraparound cover . 2014 

just before december, i was approached by etihad airways to work on a commissioned illustration for their december issue of aspire magazine. the brief was to visually communicate the launch of the a380 in etihad's fleet, and to focus on abu dhabi as a modern city, with it's culture & heritage intact, using etihad's brand colors, with an occasional pop of color here & there!

with an extremely tight deadline to work with, i came up with the final illustration shown above, which was used as a wraparound on the version by reflecting a mirrored version of the illustration onto the arabic cover., which works quite well in my opinion.

i'm really happy to have had the opportunity to work with etihad airways on their first ever illustrated cover for aspire magazine. it's been awhile since i worked on commissioned, client based work & i hope to receive more opportunities like this in the future.

thank you etihad for the opportunity. also, thank you capsule arts for initiating the collaboration.

if you're traveling this month on etihad, make sure to pick up a copy. if not, here's an online version of their december issue.

i am your mother

i am your mother . 2014

with the release of the new star wars movie trailer, i thought this post would be most appropriate...

a couple of months ago, i was approached by brownbook & samsung middle east to try out the new samsung galaxy note 4 & create an artwork with it's features, including the phone's 's pen' & 's note', which act as a portable drawing tablet on the phone.

i decided to capture a humorous moment with the family by illustrating my mother's attempt to make my nephews laugh by donning their darth vader toy mask!

even though it was my first time using a samsung mobile device, it was extremely easy getting used to, & is definitely catered to the creative folk. i started the artwork by working on the flat, solid colors first, then added in details with lines & shading, which is the opposite of how i usually work when drawing manually.

for a first smartphone illustration attempt, i must say i was glad with the end result. & audience feedback during the note 4 launch was extremely positive.

if anyone is looking for a phone which you can get creative with, i would highly suggest buying the new samsung galaxy note 4. i will definitely be carrying mine around to do some quick sketches when a pen & paper aren't within grasp.