my first toyo

my first toyo (page 1) . 2024

my first toyo (page 2) . 2024

my first toyo (page 3) . 2024

my first toyo (page 4) . 2024

my first toyo (page 5) . 2024

my first toyo (page 6) . 2024

it's that time of year again – a newly published short comic in the sixth volume of 'corniche', the annual comics anthology by the sharjah art foundation. this year's story is inspired by saying goodbye and letting go of my twenty year old car. i loved my silver, two door toyota prado – a car that has been with me since i turned eighteen way back in 2003, and stayed through all the good and bad of the last two decades. just like a member of the family, it saw me grow into early adulthood, and never let me down. it was quite emotional letting go, finally putting it to rest earlier this year, after all the countless drives and memories. but it had to be done – maintaining the car over the last few years was getting more and more difficult!
'my first toyo' is a short comic commemorating the first car i ever owned, and the journey we went on together through the years. spoiler (not): it's not your average car in the comic, but a flying cat-shaped vehicle instead! mainly because i suck at drawing cars, but also because it never felt like just a car, but a best friend who was always there...
as always, a big thank you goes to the corniche team – thank you nasir nasrallah and mouza al hamrani, for having me published in every volume so far, and for the opportunity to share my stories...
make sure to grab a copy of 'corniche 6' (as well as past volumes), now available via the sharjah art foundation's shop.
ending my post with a gif of 'my first toyo' published in 'corniche 6', with beautiful cover artwork by nasir nasrallah. happy reading...
 

my first toyo published in corniche 6 . 2024

great + everlasting ... back, back, back again

'great + everlasting' at focal point sharjah art book fair . 2024

we're baaaaaaaack...! after an eight year hiatus (see 2016 post here), azim al ghussein and i are back once again as 'great + everlasting', participating in this year's edition of the focal point sharjah art book fair! 

as some might know, focal point is my only favourite annual cultural event in town. after visiting the fair for all these years, i'm so happy to announce my participation in it's seventh edition.

azim and i will be selling our printed and illustrated fancies, including zines, short comics and prints old and new. alongside our printed matter, we're also happy to have works for sale by people from the great + everlasting community – including big sis hind mezaina, full special studio's very own diego mendoza, melhem hasan and tribe photo magazine.

make sure to pass by focal point from 22 – 24 november, between 5 – 10 pm, at baid obaid al shamsi in sharjah. for full details about the fair, as well as scheduled programming, please check out the focal point page here.

see you all at focal point!

discover dubai

'discover dubai' illustrations . 2024

here are a series of illustrations i recently worked on for google arts & culture! 

in partnership with the dubai culture and arts authority, google arts & culture has launched a webpage designated to discovering the 'heartbeat of dubai' – highlighting the city's art scene, cultural heritage and urban communities. i was approached by the google team to work on illustrations that compliments the content on the 'discover dubai' page, as well as coming up with a colour palette for the webpage and illustrations. i'm really happy with these drawings, illustrating what i really enjoy about my city.

ending this short post with a big thank you to the google team for reaching out and having me be a part of this project. and without further ado, check out the 'discover dubai' page here!

karak run

karak run panel 1 . 2024

karak run panel 2 . 2024

karak run panel 3 . 2024

karak run panel 4 . 2024

karak run panel 5 . 2024

karak run panel 6 . 2024

karak run panel 7 . 2024

karak run panel 8 . 2024

i'm finally able to share with you my latest short comic 'karak run'!

around the summer of last year, i was invited by sarah nesti willard to be a part of her research on gulf comics and graphic narratives, focusing on the united arab emirates. since the beginning of this year, i've participated in exhibitions curated by sarah showcasing works by comic artists and illustrators from the uae. so far, my earlier works have traveled for exhibitions in italy and spain. and this month, the comic above will be exhibited at home in abu dhabi.

'karak run' is a simple story of an elderly emirati woman in the search of a cup of karak! it's also commentary on the coffee culture boom that's taken over in recent years! as a coffee drinker myself, i love having all the options in town. but sometimes all you need is a good ol' cup of karak! i also think it's a story about the challenge of moving forward amongst constant change, a topic i discussed in my previous post (see here).

i'm really proud of how this comic turned out, and i hope whoever's reading this enjoys it too! if you want to look at this comic away from your screen, i highly recommend checking out the group exhibition 'emirati comics' which opens today (21 september) at manarat al saadiyat in abu dhabi, and runs until 12 october. head to the exhibition page here for more information on the show, participating artists, and programming.

thank you sarah for having me involved in your research so far. if you want to know more on her research, i suggest following the project's instagram page.

ending this post with an illustration of my comics heroine! i don't have a name for her yet – any recommendations are welcome... 

karak run character . 2024

if you can't draw yourself...

portrait . 2024

it's been a couple of months since i've posted anything online. life has been challenging to say the least. besides the online bombardment of the horrendous state of the world, health scares amongst family and loved ones, saying goodbyes and condolences to many, balancing work and life without faltering, and keeping it altogether while facing the heat – this summer hasn't been the easiest.

i guess this is all just a part of life? it feels at times life is happening and changing so fast, and is really hard to tackle. but i guess this summer has been an exercise in accepting change – the world is changing, people change, cultures change, our bodies change...

we can be upset and angry about change and how things aren't going as expected. but we can also accept that change is inevitable in moving forward, or else we'll just be stagnant and scared from all the changes happening around us. 

and amongst all the changes, i feel pretty blessed! everyone's got struggles, and unfortunately, a lot of people out there have it much worse. which is why i count my blessings everyday and am grateful for whatever life has thrown my way. if life gets unbearable at times, take a breather and remind yourself of the blessings that might've come your way. i think writing this post was a way of telling myself to do so when things get hard...

stay tuned for upcoming posts on upcoming projects. and remember – "if you can't [draw] yourself how in the hell you gonna [draw] somebody else? can i get an amen up in here? now, let the music play..."

leisureland

bumper cars pattern . 2019

al nasr leisureland penguin card . 2019

disco scooter card . 2019

it's been awhile since my last post – things have been quite slow post ramadan, and i'm hiding indoors as the summer heat is officially upon us! there are some project announcements soon, but until then, i thought i'd share an old project which for some reason i did not share at the time they were produced! better late than never i guess...

the above illustrations were originally created in 2019 for rove hotels, a client i've made work for on multiple occasions thanks to the capsule arts team. the above were inspired by the retro graphics and signage found in dubai's iconic al nasr leisureland – a space that means a lot to those who grew up in dubai during the '80s and '90s. al nasr leisureland has stood the test of time and is still around to this day. visiting leisureland is like going through a time warp – it's glory days are long gone, but the magical nostalgia is still there.

if you pay a visit to rove at the park, you should be able to spot these adorning the property's walls. after five years, i must say i'm really happy with how they turned out. someone suggested i should make 'disco scooter' stickers – stay tuned...

from mountains to mangroves...

falcon . 2023

gazelle, mountains . 2023

gazelle, ghaf tees . 2023

camel, desert . 2023

camel, falcon, desert . 2023

oryx, oasis . 2023

oryx, palm trees . 2023

mangroves . 2023

at the end of last year, i worked on the illustrations above highlighting the fauna of the uae and their habitats for a project targeting young children and their parents. the aim was to teach children at an early age, with the help of their parents, about the various animals and landscapes found around the emirates through dynamic and fun illustrations.

in the end, my illustrations were not selected to move forward for the final project. even though it was disappointing to hear at first, i'm still very proud of these illustrations. it was a great exercise in understanding and defining an illustration style that would appeal to children. i think the illustrations are quite fun, cute and whimsical. but i guess there was still something missing in the end...

keeping this post short and sweet – i hope whoever sees these enjoy them as much as i did making them. word on the street is, a lot of people are digging the mangroves...!