First Calligraphy

As I mentioned in my last post, my love for arabic calligraphy began somewhere around freshmen or sophomore year of college, during winter break. In retrospect, I really wish I had written the date on this piece, lesson definitely learned.

 First I remember just making a border and layering it with designs and colors with a big space in the middle. I think I had somewhat of an idea of what I wanted to put into the middle when I began, but the idea kind of developed as I went along.

This is what I came up with. It's done entirely with acrylic paint on a 16x20 inch canvas

The calligraphy says:

  Bismillah Hir Rahman Nir Raheem

Translation:

In the Name of Allah, most Beneficent, Most Merciful 

This is one of the most beautiful phrases, and is used at the start of almost every chapter in the Holy Qura'an. In the Muslim Tradition, Bismillah is also said before doing almost anything, including eating, driving, taking a test or exam. It's basically meant to invoke the name of God (Allah) before anything that you do. 

The Calligraphy design itself was not originally my own, but one that I found online and used in my painting. As this was my first calligraphy, I wasn't as familiar with how I could manipulate the arabic letters, etc. I know how to read arabic and so it was easy for me to notice how each letter was written artistically, and I slowly began to learn how to create my own calligraphies. I'm still not completely there yet, but with practice, I'm getting better. 

My First Ever Post

Hello World!

This right here is a great feat for me. I've been thinking for ages how fun it would be to blog about something, realized I had nothing to blog about, and then continued to go about my life. That is until my cousin recently gave me the suggestion to blog about my art work, and then it clicked. So, here I am. 

A little bit about me, 

I have always been an artist. My parents and grandparents have videos and pictures of me as a little kid drawing all over papers, writing my own stories just so I could illustrate them and lots of other normal little kid things. My interest in art however never really subsided. I started off college as a Fashion Design major, but soon learned that although I loved the drawing and designing part of it, I was probably the world's worst sewer, so then I took a 180 degree turn and began to study elementary education. 

The Fashion Design part of my life plays a big part in my artistic development because of one amazing thing: Markers. Yup, through my years as a Fashion student, I discovered the wonder and amazement of Prisma Color markers, that I use for absolutely everything. It's become a mild obsession, and my siblings and many family members now know that if anyone needs markers, I'm probably where they should go. If you've never used them, I would highly suggest it. Yes, they're a little pricy, but the quality is amazing and they last for a long time, completely worth it.

Somewhere at some point in college, it must have been a winter break around freshmen or sophomore year, I started painting arabic calligraphies. I should also probably mention that I'm Muslim, which is where the interest in Arabic Calligraphy began. I realized that this type of art could not only be beautiful but it was also very rewarding. It gives my art a purpose, and having a purpose is one of the most inspiring things for me. Purposes are what give me my greatest ideas. I was also incredibly incredibly inspired by my aunt, Salma Arastu, who has become a very well known artist (salmaarastu.com) and also does beautiful arabic calligraphies among many other things. 

My family is originally from Hyderabad, India which has been widely known for its arts, be it poetry, painting, etc. This could be a reason for all the encouragement and support I've gotten over the years. A lot of my art is also inspired by Indian designs and colors. I love anything bright, vivid, and filled with patterns. I always use acrylic paints because I love the way they layer on top of each others and the many layered patterns you can use with them. But, I'm sure there will be more on that later. 

Well, I think that's it for now, 

Keep the creative juices flowing, and Art Away!