OS PhotoArt
Nine
Two aspects in particular inspired this project; dreams and memories. I wouldn't say the drawings are about dreams, but rather they're abstractions that are meant to confuse. I wanted to create something that makes the viewer think and probably feel what I had felt and maybe achieve an instant connection.
During the past few years, I have developed bad habits that I'd like to think of as black stains. The use of black ink made the painting part feel more like I'm letting out something that I simply couldn't say in words. I wanted to take things back to where they're supposed to be, so as a person, I wanted to convince myself that it's time for a change.
I intentionally worked on these drawings late at night, because it's the time when I'm usually by myself and I can set up the right mood for it without interruptions. I also listened to all kinds of music that evoked my senses and kept me going. Shadow is one element that I would consider as a link between reality and illusion. I think it created the contrast I wanted to convey and reflect lucidly.
Nine was the perfect title for this project because as I said I wanted to metaphorically squeeze out a poison that filled my body from all nine openings. Yet, each drawing has a relation to its number.
I intentionally worked on these drawings late at night, because it's the time when I'm usually by myself and I can set up the right mood for it without interruptions. I also listened to all kinds of music that evoked my senses and kept me going. Shadow is one element that I would consider as a link between reality and illusion. I think it created the contrast I wanted to convey and reflect lucidly.
Nine was the perfect title for this project because as I said I wanted to metaphorically squeeze out a poison that filled my body from all nine openings. Yet, each drawing has a relation to its number.
To view all 9 drawings, please click on the link below.
Growing Young
How can I forget where this bird belongs. This watercolor piece is a dedication for my beloved sister Ruba on her birthday. All the best to the best.
Saint Helena
A 12" x 16" oil on board portrait of my dear friend Lama Khayyat. The hair part was a challenge for me and I couldn't just simplify it.. so I decided to take the extra mile!
Hello, Goodbye
Kazuhiko Sano was my instructor for the Narrative Illustration class and some other directed study classes at the Academy of Art University/San Francisco.
I honestly loved his classes as he was very encouraging and his works were very inspiring. On the other hand, I am one of many others who used to pose for him. You can see above some of the paintings where he used my figure as a reference. I can't be more delighted having been part of his work and talent.
However, Kazu passed away a while ago and we all miss him dearly. Lois Wang decided to launch an art project to honor his memory. You can check out some of the work that was done by his friends and students as a dedication for him at www.tributetokazu.blogspot.com.
Thank you Kazu...
"ARE YOU READY..."
A 12" x 16" oil on board painting of Jonathan Davis; the lead vocalist of the metal band KoRn who inspired me greatly.
Truth Can Be...
As we were hanging out in New York City that day (ano tgul bil 7ara), Shereen pulled out a paper from her bag and showed me a little note that she once wrote and wondered if we could put it into a short video. And I said "No"... Just kidding... We started taking the shots right away. Enjoy :)
Digital Paining...
I discovered that my true joy comes by working traditionally. However, I also try to keep my digital work fresh by practicing. The work above represents two pictures that were redrawn and painted digitally using Photoshop. As you may have noticed, each of them has a totally different flavor reflecting certain characteristics and feeling...
Soaring Stage
I finally got the chance to throw out a bunch of watercolor pieces I've been working on. I'm quite happy with the outcome... I didn't have to spend much time worrying about any details this time, instead, I was freely letting out some negative energy.
Little Me
An experimental sketch showing one half of my face at an early age and another at the age of 25 incorporated into one photo. Whenever I look at it I always wonder if we were born with certain personalities that develop but don't change...
I'm thinking I must try this once again when I'm 50, since my head will be more rounded and it'll be a better match with little me!
Downtown Oakland Map
"Design Your City" is a graduate thesis project by Denisa Trenkle. She's a graphic designer whom I helped to create a 2D/3D style map for downtown Oakland. In her project she aimed at promoting this region by an efficient use of space and adaptive reuse and rehabilitation of existing structures and improving public facilities.
Blackout
boXes... (by Shereen Amarin)
I have learnt to block any kind of human related emotions… the titles are nothing but fake to me… I don’t believe in friends forever, because there’s no such thing as forever… I don’t believe in love either… love doesn’t last… those beliefs save me tons of future disappointments and they help me enjoy the moment…friends of the moment…love of the moment… You can’t keep a candle burning…the spark and the thrill are always in the new experiences that we encounter… everything else lies in the common comfortable used up zone that we get used to after the fire burns out…
The moment can be tricky though…I should know that…I’ve been trusting people blindly…coz if the future doesn’t exist they won’t betray me…but the future happened and it is now the past…and everything I told them in secrecy has been coming back to me in the strangest loops…sometimes in the exact words…other times, a hint behind a twisted truth…the moment was supposed to be simple, but whether we want it or not, we always seem to be getting ourselves in the midst of it all… A knot in an empty space creates tension and attracts us like silly particles having no control upon ourselves… we seek drama…and none of us can keep their mouth shut…we add more tangles to the knot…until it’s a world of weaved up connections and dead ends… we either spend the rest of our lives trying to untangle and break free… or we simply escape but soon enough run into a brand new knot…
The dark side of the moment is that the moment always passes… and in every moment we are born, we live and then we die… in every moment we create the first knot…our belly button and then we grow into a huge entanglement…and we burn out and the blood drains out of our earthly flesh and to the earth we go back…we die… in every moment there is a box… in every person a box… and a million possibilities… We can decide to open or close or seal it up…we decide whether we want to lock it and swallow the key or keep an extra key in an extra pocket… we decide what we put inside…what we take out… we decide to keep it or discard it…drown it…give it to another pair of hands…or burry it… The box is trust…and it’s betrayal… the box is the secret… or the gossip…the box is the moment we lived and it’s what died inside of us… the box is a box… but what’s inside is… is the inside…
Akram 6
This watercolor portrait of my Dad was done before christmas 2010. I also meant to finish it before my visit to Amman to give it as a present to him. What I really liked about the original picture were the highlights, shadows and cast shadows along with this particular look on his face that reflects his diligent character.
I called it Akram 6 tp place emphasis on the six drops at the bottom that represent his children, who he constantly keeps fighting for.
Recently Robotic
These watercolor paintings are samples of the visuals that represent an editorial piece written by Shereen Amarin. The article is a self expression -from a personal point of view- concerning the material fast-paced world we're living in nowadays and how its affecting most of us. Besides the verbal voice, my visual exploration shows humans as bulky helpless robots, who lack all sense of control... lost in a world that doesn't care anymore...
Metal Time
Few weeks ago I watched an old video of the band KoRn doing a live performance. The originality of their sound, lyrics and style in that video couldn't be better... Music is their way of expression, it's their only way out... It's Their lives...
The videos above are two sketchy jokes that I did for fun. One of them is a nice drum solo fixed into a video of my Dad; playing around in Guitar Center "Reno". The other one is a KoRn Flakes pack!
Écorché
An Écorché is a figure drawn, painted or sculpted showing the muscles of the body without skin. I signed up for this class with my friend Mo on Spring 2010. We both were interested in learning more about the human anatomy, knowing how important and essential this would be for our majors. The image with the full figure front and back shows my work. The detail shot shows part of Mo's work with its absolutely nice finishing. I recommend this class to every artist willing to improve his skills.
Skype Magic
It has never been easy to be far away from the people you love the most. "I miss my family" has become my permanent status. Thanks to Skype that made this a bit easier... I talk with whoever is available on the other side almost every week... I also get to see their cheerful faces, and they get to see mine. Topless brothers, balloon face dad, my sister's sweet little babies and much more. But something always bothered me when it's time to say goodbye and hit the hang up button... I can't feel them anymore... They're not around... and their image doesn't leave my head... Even when I'm asleep!
Traditional Animation
This short clip was an exercise of someone drinking something and reacting to it. It was shot on a program called flipbook. It took me about 70 frames to create the whole thing. My brothers helped with creating the sound effects.
How They Met
This is one of the works that I submitted for the AAU Annual Spring Show 2010. It was done for the Graphic Novel class that I had in Spring 2010. Originally, it's a 3 page short story, but I'm only showing the first page. As you can see above, this is the process that I went through to get this done; pencil sketch, Inking and then digital painting. I also looked into some old pictures of my parents, as this story was inspired by them...
Amarin Family Tree 2010
I finally managed to work on some modifications concerning the Amarin's Family Tree 2010. I started working on this project a year ago... Ammo Balsam asked me to create a nice and clear tree for the family that has the names of all the males and females in the family. He did a great job contacting some people and getting all the needed information to make it accurate. This image is the finished version that was printed on Easter 2010.
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