From the category archives:

Art

Caricature: Tribute to Naji al-Ali

August 29, 2007 Art
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My interest in the art of caricatures was sparked in the early 90s when I noticed this interesting little scrawny cartoon guy in an old al-Safeer newspaper. It was Palestinian artist Naji al-Ali’s daily caricature depicting the ravages of the Lebanese war with his signature Handala character. That drawing with its simple lines and minimalist [...]

Illustration: Lebanation

August 11, 2006 Art
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If you’ve ever heard of Lebanon, chances are you’re familiar with this country’s contentious history. To describe Lebanon in few words, I would say it’s a boiling cauldron of sour soup with sweet bits floating all over it. There is plenty of good here and there, but it’s all surrounded by hate, bigotry, vengeance and [...]

Caricature: Middle East Blues

March 18, 2006 Art
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2006 was a tough year, on personal and global level, notwithstanding the Israel-Hezbollah War and the resulting carnage and destruction, and in these dark times I did several caricature drawings releasing my feelings towards the Middle-East and the never-ending conflicts there. Here are six of those focusing on the Iraqi invasion and its infighting, Gaza [...]

Illustration: Childhood Inspiration

November 10, 2004 Art
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It’s quite strange where artistic inspiration emanates from, and in my case it is a tiny charcoal portrait of my young mother, which was drawn somewhere in the Soviet Union when she was a teenager. This little discarded portrait laid in our family albums for decades untouched, until one random day, I picked it up [...]

Ceramic: “Trimily”

August 10, 2004 Art
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“Trimily” is a ceramic set created for my Clay Principles class in MSUM, representing the  family as a euphemism. The pieces were molded with a heavy base and light leaning tops, and designed with a concave shape within two of the vases to compliment the largest vase. The tri-set can be arranged in various configurations [...]

Ceramic: “Orrific Pod”

July 12, 2004 Art
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Molding and forming clay into shapes is a Godly experience. Blasphemy you say? Well let me explain: This amazing process combines the childish fun of dipping your hands into dirt and the spiritual process of creation. With each fold and touch, you are giving that piece of indiscernible filth a whiff of life, and with a [...]

Ceramic: Plates Collection

July 9, 2004 Art
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Presenting a selection of plates from my work in MSUM’s Pottery classes. The plates were thrown over a period of two weeks, then colored and baked within another. The plates are titled as follows: “Digital Shell”: A take on traditional Venetian Majolica painted dishes with high-temperature poly-chromes. “Homeland”: Heavy dark colored plate adorned with Arabic calligraphy [...]

Ceramic: Bowls Collection

June 1, 2004 Art
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Presenting a selection of bowls from my work in MSUM’s Pottery classes. Th particular set of bowls was influenced by the Japanese geometric throwing style, with conservative slip of grays and blacks. Each bowl was painted with specific dots, symbols and encryption. The bowls are titled as follows: “War” “Morse” “Morse Deux” “Nailed” Tools used: Clay, clay tools, [...]

Ceramic: Cup Collection

May 9, 2004 Art
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Another ceramic update: my cups collection from MSUM Pottery classes in which I’ve created around 15 unique cups each with a different motif, idea and execution. When I finished my 2004 Spring semester I gave away all of these cups to my friends and colleagues from around the globe and saved but one cup for myself. [...]

Design: The Baskerville Poster

April 25, 2004 Art
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As part of my Graphic Design studies in MSUM, Prof. Allen Sheets included several font studies in his curriculum, which I found to be incredibly impacting to my type utilization and appreciation. One of those memorable type faces was Baskerville, the better Caslon! Wikipedia tells us the following about the creator: The Baskerville typeface is [...]

Design: The Bodoni Poster

February 1, 2003 Art
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Class assignments are always fun and challenging for Graphic Designer majors, especially if you were lucky to be one of Prof. Allen Sheets‘ minions in MSUM. The early GD classes focused on study of colors, shapes, compositions and particularly font types, for which I studied and designed a display panel. The lucky font I ended [...]

Sketch: Auto Portrait

January 11, 2003 Art
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Quick update with a couple of auto-portrait sketches created before and after a buzz haircut. The hairy one is in charcoal and the bald one with black ink: Tools used: Charcoal & ink.

Sketch: Charcoal Studies

December 13, 2002 Art
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Few surviving sketches from MSUM’s painting club in addition to a couple of studies and three quick renders of my college friends (you know who you are!): Tools used: Charcoal.

Sketch: Inked Faces

December 12, 2002 Art
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A batch of quick ink sketches from my black book, which includes friends and loved ones: Tools used: Black ink.

Design & Illustration: Poetry Book

December 10, 2002 Art
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A very dear childhood friend of mine had a thing for words and poetry, which I encouraged and supported, pushing him towards writing while I critiqued and provided pointers. And for a couple of teenagers, this pursuit was nothing short of a major accomplishment! Two years later, and 34 poems in, I offered to design [...]

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