9/17/13 9/17/13

Pakistan Day Celebration with Zanbeel Art

So often our cultural celebrations do not include hands on creative activities or art, and yet when given the opportunity, people of all ages enjoy creating art, or connecting to pieces that show them another point of view. All it takes is a little space, and a chance to share.

A month late, we celebrated Pakistan's Independence in downtown Los Angeles. Thanks to Zanbeel Art, and the organizers of the celebration, there was a booth for children's art activities. Kristeen, Azeem and I shared art with kids, encouraging and facilitating drawing and creativity along with Dario Mellado and the art project that he was sharing. It was such a joy to see kids walk up and participate in several activities, all for free. Some kids grabbed a marker and just zoned in on their creativity, leaving everything else behind. Others needed a little guidance before they were convinced that they too could draw.

There's something really beautiful about working with kids and creating art together. So often, as adults we live in fear of failing or not being good enough, and so to see kids draw freely and express their rich thoughts and imaginations is an excellent reminder of how it could be. One little girl, probably not even 3 years old, came up and sat at the table. I handed her an orange marker, and she started "drawing" with it, without removing the cap. She did this for about a minute, before I gently removed the cap and slipped the marker back into her little fingers. She spent the next ten minutes drawing curved lines with such focus and dedication.Other children drew what they love about Pakistan, from flags, to fruit and clothes. Kids drew rocket ships, worms eating snacks, sunshine and all kinds of things that flowed freely from their rich minds. One little boy asked if he could draw Bangladeshi culture, and it really made me happy to say yes and encourage him to draw anything he wanted. In the end we had rolls of paper full of art, after an exhausting, but rewarding day.So often our cultural celebrations do not include hands on creative activities or art, and yet when given the opportunity, people of all ages enjoy creating art, or connecting to pieces that show them another point of view. All it takes is a little space, and a chance to share.Some photos from the parade that preceded the event.

7/26/13 7/26/13

Thor 8 Bit

I created an 8 bit design based on Marvel Comics' Thor, inspired by video games from my childhood and the epic stories written and drawn by Walter Simonson.

I created an 8 bit design based on Marvel Comics' Thor, inspired by video games from my childhood and the epic stories written and drawn by Walter Simonson. Please vote for it on threadless, so it can be the design chosen for their contest.

Thor 8 Bit design for Threadless contest.

It was Walter Simonson, who created what to me is the definitive mythology for Thor in comics. I remember my brother and I scrounging through dusty stacks of comics in book stalls wherever we went in Pakistan, in search of dog eared comics. Every time we saw a book store or stall, we'd make our parents stop so we could go in and ask if they had comics. Sometimes they only had Archie, and we'd walk away disappointed, but every now and then, there would be some well worn copies of Marvel and DC comics. You'd get issue 300 of something, and maybe the year before we picked up 298 and eventually we would have a semi solid run on a book. These were some of the best times for reading comics. When the electricity would go or we'd be stuck at home, for long hours, unable to go anywhere, we'd dive into the imaginative worlds created by the likes of Walter Simonson, Chris Claremont, Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen, Ann Nocenti, Peter David and so many others.Eventually, we moved back to the US and started going to comic book stores to fill in our back issues and countlessly reread these rich and exciting stories. That was my inspiration for taking Simonson's epic story of how Surtur shattered the Rainbow Bridge between Asgard, home of the gods and Earth, leaving Thor, always caught between worlds, unable to be there when he was needed most. Those were great times in comics. Stories would develop over many years as writers and artists who had grown up reading comics and consuming literature and fine art brought a deeper sensibility to iconic characters. Thank you.

7/19/13 7/19/13

Feeroozeh Golmohammadi - Rumi's The Merchant and the Parrot

Feeroozeh Golmohammadi - Rumi's The Merchant and the Parrot. A beautiful watercolor adaptation.

In putting together an iPad graphic novel adaptation of my short film "Gul", I looked at many books for inspiration on page layouts. I tried a lot of different ideas, but none seemed to work, until I happened upon Feeroozeh Golmohammadi's adaptation of Rumi's "The Merchant and the Parrot." The book is absolutely beautiful. Her watercolors and the design of it really struck me. A simplified version of the typography and design in this book influenced how I designed the text for my graphic novel as you can see with the pages from her book and then a few from my graphic novel. Read Rumi's "The Merchant and the Parrot" here.

7/1/13 7/1/13

Islamic Calligraphy: An Introduction by Aslam Kamal

Islamic Calligraphy: An Introduction by Aslam Kamal and how I applied it to a logo design for Gul.

It was among a stack of dusty books that I lucked out and found Aslam Kamal's Islamic Calligraphy: An Introduction. A few years ago, I was visiting book stores in Lahore as I love to do. Besides newer books, there are lots of treasures to be found in piles of old books. Often, that is where I learn about interesting artists and stories. Art books in Pakistan have very limited print runs as the audience of those who can afford art books and appreciate them is a small one.The book has a good deal of variety when it comes to calligraphy in Arabic script and more. There are pages with ancient examples from earlier forms of Arabic writing in the Quran, to exquisite pieces throughout the ages. Of particular interest to me were the pieces by Sadequain, one of Pakistan's most celebrated artists as well as the beautiful juxtaposition of architecture and calligraphy in the work of Aslam Kamal, the author of the book as well as an incredible artist himself.