My work gets stolen
Let me start off by telling you about New Era Introducing.
According to the blurb on their website, “New Era Introducing is a global creative project showcasing unique talent from across the world. The project gives creative minds of tomorrow an opportunity to make their own statement using a blank New Era 59FIFTY as their canvas. Those judged to show the most unique display of self- expression will go on to form a touring gallery exhibition and be published in a limited edition New Era Introducing book.”
Back to September of 2011. I made this.
It was pink, it was pretty, and it was mine. However, since it was for a competition, I packaged it back to London, and kept my fingers crossed, that if it didn’t win, at least it would make it as a finalist and travel around the world.
Which it did. My cap together with 50+ other caps, travelled around Europe, stopping at London, Paris, Sweden, Barcelona, South Africa, etc. The last scheduled stop was for Dubai, and I looked forward eagerly to the day that I would be reunited with the cap again.
On the day of the exhibit in Dubai, a lady emails me to tell me that they had “misplaced” the cap.
Or rather it had been stolen.
According to the New Era people, my cap went missing around February, during the Barcelona stop of the travelling exhibition. Apparently, somebody put it on his head, and walked out of the gallery with nobody the wiser.
Heartbreaking, since I had put a lot of effort into the artwork; it rather felt like somebody had kidnapped one of my kids.
On the eve of the exhibit, they were considerate enough to place a note on a pedestal where my cap artwork was supposed to be. Basically, it just says my cap was taken and never found again.
Here are other hats from the exhibit that I particularly like. Anyway, I just feel sad that the artwork I had most wanted to see had been stolen away from me.
Lina Al-Amoudi’s beautiful and well-crafted artwork. It was the winner of the competition.
Typewriter hat. It was another piece that caught my eye.
Art Bank
If you’re sick of staring at the generic Ikea picture on your wall that you (and probably 5,000 other people) bought, make a beeline for Artbank Dubai’s online shop where you can order limited edition fine art prints of my illustrations and paintings. They ship anywhere around the world. Needless to say, the quality is stellar and they have my official stamp of approval!
“Art Bank is a passion project, founded by Prolab digital and quint. Art Bank offers a vast online “bank” of artwork and affordable limited edition prints from an international source of up-and-coming talented artists, photographers, and illustrators. The limited edition art can be exclusively purchased in our online store.”
I was lucky to be invited as one of 5 artists involved in the Launch Party and Auction for Art Bank held at JamBase, Madinat Jumeirah last April 16, 2012. Among the other artists involed were illustrator Aliz Buzas, painter Luca Rozsa, designer Karoly Kiralyfalvi, and photographer Aya Atoui.
The highlight of the launch party was the auction of the artworks, and the auctioneer was none other than Dubai-based standup comic Mr. Hisham Wyne, looking very dapper in his bowtie and cane. The auction was something else, as I have never been to any auctions, so I was a bit blown away by the prices that people were bidding on the art. Honestly I was floored when the last auctioned piece (mine, titled “Ladder to Oblivion”) sold for AED 2,500.
I had a few beers and that made mingling with other people go down a little easier. Haha! Anyhow, cheers go out to the good people a Quint and Prolab who made this amazing night possible.
Miss B Haven 22 x14 inches oil and acrylic on wood
Miss B Haven
22 x14 inches
oil and acrylic on wood
fresh from the painting factory! (when i say factory, that means…
fresh from the painting factory! (when i say factory, that means my bedroom slash studio)
Entitled “Miss B Haven”, its 22 x 14 inches oil and acrylic painting on wood.
It is part 2 of my ongoing “War” series of paintings. More or less it is inspired by wartime pinup girls, history and a dash of politics.
I keep the first painting of the series close by, so i never lose track of the continuity of the series.
The painting is full of tiny details that are worth zooming into, because they are hardly visible from afar. I enjoy doing these tiny details; one detail for example references the smiley icon from the graphic novel “Watchmen”. Another is the seal that says “IN WAR WE TRUST”. This detail pretty much explains the whole painting.
I started painting this around February 16, 2012 and finished…
I started painting this around February 16, 2012 and finished this just a couple hours ago tonight. I was hoping to include this for a March exhibit, but I ran out of time :)
It took two weeks or so of work, but this time, I worked purely in acrylic, and no longer felt the need to glaze it with further work in oil. I think its already rather saturated in color. Breaking away also with my usual habits when finishing a painting, I decided to use a non-gloss varnish. Although I feel that a gloss varnish makes the colors in a painting seem really deep and saturated, the negative thing about it, is that it makes the painting difficult to photograph.
As always when working with acrylic paint, I feel very partial to Golden. Lately, I started using the Open Line of Golden acrylics, and they are wonderful to use, in terms of drying time and blending ability. It dries much more slower than the traditional acrylics, so that there’s more time to blend or smudge the paint. Which I think is great because Im really stingy with the paint and need to save as much as I can. Golden Brand is more expensive than other brands like Winsor Newton, etc., but you’re paying for quality, and you get that with this brand.
I am trying to get into the habit of rotating the painting mediums I use, so as not be stuck in one medium. Next painting I make will be probably be in watercolor :)
Rendered Emotions will be the first time Im participating in…
Rendered Emotions will be the first time Im participating in group show outside of Dubai, and it will be at Ghaf Gallery Abu Dhabi (yeah, like that’s far).
March 1st, 2012 at 7pm. See you!
Rush of Blood to the Head acrylic and oil on wood 13” x…
Rush of Blood to the Head
acrylic and oil on wood
13” x 10”
My lack of tumblr posts is due to the fact that I’ve been…
My lack of tumblr posts is due to the fact that I’ve been quite busy the past two weeks working on one painting only. Once in a while I feel that its good for me to be able to focus, and not be working on two or three things at once. For a change of pace, I used acrylic and oil paint this time around.
I bought the frame from Zara Home store. It is slightly smaller than A3, so the actual painting dimensions is quite small.
Halfway through the painting, I decided belatedly that the composition was dull, and needed more elements, so I added additional roses and apple blossoms to the background.
Acrylic layers done, it actually looks finished enough so that I can leave it this way, but I like the way how oil paint makes the colors of the painting “pop”, so I applied glazing over the acrylics, with 2 or three oil layers. In my opinion the colors seem brighter and more saturated somehow, not to mention that shading and blending with oil is a breeze because it doesnt dry so fast.
I customized the Zara frame as well; I spray painted it black, with a final coat of varnish for shine.
This will be one of four pieces that I will be showing (and selling) in Abu Dhabi for the Rendered Emotions show on February 29, 2012. I will post a proper photo of the painting as soon as it dries, as I cant scan it yet because the oil paint is still wet :)
Strange Woodland Creatures watercolor on paper, A3 For me,…
detail
Strange Woodland Creatures
watercolor on paper, A3
For me, there are always high and low points during the process of making any painting; with this one particularly, there were frequent times that I just wanted to crumple it and throw it in the trash.
For one thing, I had wanted the graphite marks to show through the paint; my intention was to make the watercolor to be as transparent as possible. Anyway, my good intentions were washed away with the water :) and I ended up using the paint too thickly again. I am too used to acrylic paint for my own good.
I also had problems with the composition at some point; actually Im still not entirely happy with how it turned out, but that is watercolor for you. Mistakes are permanent. I was struggled with trying to fix the faces of the girls most, I cheated a bit, and used white acrylic for the highlights on their faces.
Total working time on this piece is approximately 5 days (with plenty of time in between for snacking and reading :))