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.
The Borrower Arrietty
Of all the Studio Ghibli movies I’ve seen so far, The Secret World of Arrietty remains my favorite. Look it up! —> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp2nb9Vq0yY
My newest watercolor painting to date, is a homage to this excellent piece of animation. I based the painting on one of the movie’s famous scenes, wherein Arrietty is shown amongst the flowers.
A little background on why Im doing fanart this time around: I used to be a BIG fan of anime fifteen years ago, even making my own geocities website where I used to upload gouache drawing of favorite characters from various anime series. Anime is partly the reason why I am drawing and painting now; it is also responsible for teaching me how to use photoshop and illustrator and all that.
Although my illustration style now is worlds away from what I used back then, I am not averse to making fanart from time to time for a movie that is really inspires me.
I drew the character of Arrietty in my own style, but in the composition of the famous scene. I also replaced the toon flowers with references from actual flowers.
Getting her hair right was a little tricky. I am still not sure whether I should have made her hair brown red rather than orangey brown.
Here it is, with an original framed Studio Ghibli print that I bought from Cartoon Gallery around 3 months ago.
Of course, the guys over at Studio Ghibli are the best, and I can only humbly hope that I did a bit of justice to Arrietty’s character.
I am going to try and make this available as prints for the upcoming MEFCC (Dubai’s first comicon), where I’ll be showing my art-based accessories alongside with fellow Brownmonkeys (www.brownmonkeys.com)
Alice and the Cat
watercolors on A4
Miss B Haven
22 x14 inches
oil and acrylic on wood
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.
She Dreams in Mysterious Ways
22 x 14
oil and acrylic on wood
Victoria Viray - V is for Vicious, V is for Vice, V is for Vanity
Rush of Blood to the Head
acrylic and oil on wood
13” x 10”
Once again, we interrupt our regular programming to bring you:
GENIUS: an exhibition of UAE based illustrators
GENIUS features the works of 28 UAE based illustrators working in a range of styles from caricatures to commercial illustration to fine art and then some pushing the boundaries of the medium.
GENIUS will showcase over 60 pieces of work that explore and challenge definitions of illustration, its origins and its future.
Curated by The Domino GENIUS is the 3rd in a series of initiatives that promotes and supports a growing community of talented illustrators in the UAE.
Genius happens on February 1st, at Cartoon Gallery, Al Quoz 1, Dubai.
The Crush
A spur of the moment watercolor painting done in 6 hours, the fastest I’ve done so far. I took some watercolor paper that I was gonna throw away because the initial sketch had some pencil marks that couldn’t be erased anymore for some reason; turned it over and used the unmarked side.
I used Campap paper, a brand of watercolor paper which is made in Malaysia. Good value for price, as I think the paper is really resistant to warping and absorbs color beautifully. The only downside in my opinion is that it is almost impossible to get mistakes out of this paper, once a blot is there, its there forever. For people who live in the UAE, its available at any Dubai Library District bookstore.
Im relatively new to this medium, but its easy gratification compared to painting with oils. Low commitment art (?) :)
I have other paintings in watercolor, acrylic and oil, available on Facebook, so please feel free to visit my facebook page.
