sketching urban landscapes

karama . 2011

with march coming to a close, it's time to focus on new projects. i'd like to create a series of sketches/illustrations based on architectural landscapes & communities around the city. it's amazing how each area in dubai has it's own characteristics & visual aesthetics defining what type of area it is & the communities that live there. i started mapping out the area of karama through a series of photographs a year ago (view previous post krossbreed photography) & finally came up with this illustration shown above. it's taken me awhile to create an illustration based on the findings. but i'm quite happy with the final result & am motivated to go around town to explore & document new areas & have a series of architectural illustrations around dubai. from the new glizty high rise communities, to the run-down areas long forgotten, i'd like to have a series of illustrations representing each of these iconic areas that make up the city as a whole. & who knows; maybe these illustrations will find their way on future krossbreed products...

the good ghaf

the good ghaf 1 . 2012

the good ghaf 2 . 2012

the good ghaf 3 . 2012

the good ghaf 4 . 2012

here's another series of illustrations i worked on for a soon to be released publication honoring children's fables & stories from around the world. my previous drawings for the assigned story 'the boy who cried wolf' will unfortunately not be published, which is why i was approached to create new drawings for the emirati story titled 'the good ghaf'.

in short, the story is about a young shepherd girl called mariam who notices her dog baroot runs off in search of a sheep that's lost it's way. when following baroot, mariam gets lost in the desert wilderness away from her village, and hides under a ghaf tree from protection against the bad weather. eventually mariam finds the missing sheep, and runs back to her village, fearing a wild desert wolf might attack her along the way. once home, mariam is safe with her family and grandmother, who tells her stories about the good ghaf tree and how it is both 'a comfort and shelter for both man & beast'.

the visual interpretation of the story is very similar to my previous attempt mentioned earlier, focusing on the characters without literally interpreting the written text. i'm really looking forward to seeing these published in final book form to share with the rest of the world. i guess everything happens for a reason, & i'm happy to say i now have two solid works of illustrations for children's publications to add to my constantly expanding portfolio.

tanak

camel flower stencil design . 2012

tanak . 2012

here's the third and final krossbreed product i'm working on, to be launched & sold along with the latest tees & vinyls at the second edition of the dxb store at this year's art dubai. i'm super excited about all these products & look forward to seeing the response...

i attempted to create a series of plates last year with a similar 'camel flower' design. but unfortunately, the end product was a total disaster, & did not see the light of day. so for this year, i wanted to attempt making plates again, & push the idea to another level.

i am fascinated by traditional serving plates made out of tin, found in many traditional arabic homes here. i remember as a child, i loved seeing these kitschy serving plates around the house, & used at my grandma's when we gather together for meals. these beautiful plates are slowly disappearing from homes, replaced by modern, ugly kitchenware. they're so rare to find nowadays, unless you go on a scavenge hunt in traditional souqs..

so, i wanted to pay homage to these serving plates and their floral aesthetics by making a krossbreed version, honoring the 'tanak'!
a big shout out goes to my favorite girls tulip & layan, and my boys ahmed & bader. without their help, these tanaks wouldn't exist...

krosbreed vinyl

krossbreed vinyl package design . 2012

krossbreed vinyl . 2012

another official announcement from the house of krossbreed! along with the latest king & queen tee's released this month, i am also releasing the first series of vinyl wall stickers for anyone interested in decorating their boring walls! vinyl stickers was always something i wanted to venture into, and i finally had the opportunity to do so.

still playing with visuals inspired from playing cards, & queues from my culture that i find visually exciting, i came up with a simple pack of coloured vinyl stickers which you can purchase & stick on your wall according to your liking.

what you see above is a simple teaser of what to expect. stay tuned for more updates, including one more new krossbreed product announcement very soon. until then, if you spot the krossbreed vinyl pack around the city, make sure to pick one (or more) up. you won't be disappointed...