Novi Maleševski Zurli at Discostan

I had the pleasure of seeing Novi Maleševski Zurli (Milo Destanovski and Jessica Ruiz on zurla and Dominique Rodriguez on Tapan) live at Discostan along with some of my favorite DJs playing some of the most diverse music from around the world. Their sound reminded me of the murli played by Jairam Jogi.

Gonzalo Bergara Quartet at the Blue Whale

Went to see some the incredible Gonzalo Bergara Quartet at the Blue Whale in downtown Los Angeles with a few friends. Here are some sketches I painted during the first half of their set. 

Whalesound at Crossroads Sam Francis Gallery

I went to see my friend Whalesound perform at the Sam Francis Gallery at the Crossroads school. It was the gallery opening for an exhibition curated by Christine Nguyen of Sea Moon She called "Relative Dimensions" with work by Deborah Aschheim, Matthew Brandt and Christine Nguyen. I managed a few sketches of Whalesound performing with Varuna on tabla.

Whalesound Intimate Sea Album Cover

Album Cover

My friend Azeem Khan is a talented musician, working under the name Whalesound. He came to me with a concept for his album "Intimate Sea", that I made into this album cover for him. Below you can see pencil sketches and some watercolors I did for the piece as well as the artwork on the cd itself.

sketches

cover drawing

watercolor study

watercolor study

cd art

Pakistan Day Celebration with Zanbeel Art

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.

Tarek Yamani at the Blue Whale

I went to see Tarek Yamani's solo piano performance at the Blue Whale. There's something special about being lost in music, and letting the brush flow. These are some watercolor sketches, before and during the performance.

Eid Festival Anaheim 2013

Enjoyed some food, friends, family, games and music at the Eid Festival 2013 in Anaheim. Here's a sketch I created of a great performance by a doumbek and flute player at the show.

Presentation at Interfaith Council of Garden Grove, Stanton, and Westminster

My friend Ann Nguyen, who inspires with all the care and good she does, invited me to share a presentation at the Interfaith Council of Garden Grove, Stanton and Westminster, at their monthly lunch time meeting. It was a lot of fun to share the story of the Girnari Jogi Group, and how I met them through creating my short film Gul. I talked about my work, and more importantly, the story of how it was that through the help of many dear friends in Pakistan and the U.S. that journey led to a short film with music by incredible musicians, practicing their centuries old tradition, a crowd funded album that raised funds for them, and even today continues to bring them to new audiences.It seemed almost appropriate what happened afterwards. Ann found that she had a flat tire. As I was pulling out the spare to change it, a young man named Elrod walked up and asked if we needed any help. We said sure, and had a little chat and changed the tire. It turns out he's a student, and teaches swimming close by and happened to be on his break. There's something great about simple acts of kindness. I know that nothing I have done would be possible without endless help from people who step forward to ease things along the way. Thank you.

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. 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. 

Elephants with Guns live at Sounds and Vision

Went to see my friends Elephants with Guns at Sounds and Vision, presented by Cannibal Flower and Venice Grind. Great show, and as always LC put together an amazing mix of pieces in the gallery, live paintings, DJing and live music. I managed a sketch of the band.

elephants with guns at sounds and vision

Feeroozeh Golmohammadi - Rumi's The Merchant and the Parrot

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.

Red Baraat and La Chamba at FIGat7th Downtown Festival

Joined lots of friends for Red Baraat and La Chamba live at FIGat7th in downtown Los Angeles. What an amazing show! Here are some watercolor sketches from the performance. These ones were painted straight to paper without any pencils, which is fun. The first is of La Chamba and the second is of members of Red Baraat.

la chamba watercolor figat7th

red baraat watercolor figat7th

Yemen Blues at the Levitt Pavilion MacArthur Park

After an important protest in solidarity with Trayvon Martin and the inequality of justice as applied particularly to African Americans in the US, I head over to the Levitt Pavilion in MacArthur Park for a beautiful concert by Yemen Blues. It made me feel great to hear music from all over played and enjoyed by people of all races, as a reminder, that things can be better.

Yemen Blues live at the Levitt Pavilion

Yemen Blues live at the Levitt Pavilion

Las Cafateras at Grand Performances

Hopped on the metro and caught a great noon show by Las Cafateras at Grand Performances. Here's a sketch I created during their performance.

Las Cafaterias at Grand Performances

Metalachi at Levitt Pavilion Macarthur Park

Enjoyed a fun show by Metalachi at Levitt Pavilion in Macarthur Park. They play mariachi metal, and it is really a lot of fun. I managed some sketches of the larger than life musicians. Good times.

Metalachi at Levitt Pavilion Macarthur Park

Adunni and Nefertiti and Martha Redbone at Grand Performances

Dropped by Grand Performances to see Adunni and Neferetiti and Martha Redbone for another show and some painting on saturday. It got a bit cold, so I only stayed through the first two acts, missing Dessy Di Lauro, but it was fantastic. Adunni and Nefertiti came out for a soundcheck about before the show, and immediately they were captivating. Their voices, merged into one along with drumming was mesmerizing. Redbone with their steel guitar, banjo, vocals etc were so full of energy and fun. Here are sketches I made at the show.

Adunni and Nefertiti at Grand Performances watercolor sketch

Martha Redbone at Grand Performances watercolor sketch

Nina Simone Tribute at Grand Performances

I went to a beautiful free concert at Grand Performances in tribute to Nina Simone. It was a great night of classic Nina Simone songs played by a great group of musicians. The entire area was packed with people. My friend and I walked all around to find a good spot throughout the show, and eventually settled on standing with a view of behind the stage. It was actually a good spot, considering the place was so packed. It was an interesting way to enjoy the show. It was from there that I put this little sketch together.

Sketch I created at the show from behind the stage.

Islamic Calligraphy: An Introduction by Aslam Kamal

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.

Aslam Kamal Islamic Khatati Calligraphy Introduction Book Cover

Aslam Kamal Islamic Khatati Calligraphy Introduction

Aslam Kamal Islamic Khatati Calligraphy Introduction Book. Sadequain art.

It was with this inspiration that I did a series of sketches to come up with a title logo for my short film Gul.

Gul logo sketchbook page

Gul logo sketchbook page

Gul logo sketchbook page

Gul film title logo black

Gul film title logo photoshop

Gul Logo

Animated painted test for the Gul logo.

Malathi Iyengar's Love Trajectory at Grand Performances

I went and Malathi Iyengar's "Love Trajectory" at Grand Performances. Here are some sketches from the night.

Beat Swap Meet

I took my prints to Beat Swap Meet, in one of my favorite parts of LA, Chinatown. There was DJing, vendors, lots of records for sale and breakdancing! It was really fun to share my art with people, and groove to some beats.