Al Jahli Fort, Al Ain

My favorite place to sketch is the Al Jahli Fort,
It is a big fort, but at the same time it have many interesting corners to sketch.
There is the Jahli tower, and there is a small building inside the courtyard. I also like the galeries with the guest room where u get some arabic coffee and dates.
I went last friday with two friends. I needed some Photos to use in my sketcher profile. Me sketching and the building in the background. We arrive a little late (the fort closes at 17:00) and although we got still an hour my friends got fascinated exploring the tower and didn't came back till it was almost time to close. We just got time to do a few pictures. I did two new sketches. I have not scanned yet. But I post here some old sketches I have done before.

Forts in Al Ain

There are many Forts in Al Ain. They are built with a mud architecture system. They have been restaurated in the last years. A friend of mine, a german architect, is now working in the restauration of the Muwaijii Fort. I wrote about it in the Urbansketchers blog.

Moleskine exchange

I always forget to write about things, and never wrote the last news about the Moleskine exchange. Well, there is going to be an exhibition in Minnesotta, USA, next year from january to march with some of the group's books in the Moleskine exchange. Our group is going to participate with Roberts Moleskine.

As soon as we knew that, we are trying to speed the work in the Moleskine. Ramires (Brasil) and I have been preparing our works so that we won't loose more that 2 days work on the moleskine. Of course we still have to wait for the post but I guess express post is worth it!

So I'm ready. I had worked in the last days with Roberts portrait. I wanted to try acrylics. I was inspired by the nice works from Ramires and Tim.
I started painting a middle tone background and from them working the dark and light areas. I struggled with the tecnic but I 'm quite happy with the result. I was really a surprice! I guess I made many mistakes by working but I learned a lot with them to. The good thing about acrylic is that you can always paint over it.
I left the painting to rest for a few days and then I make some corrections I found appropiate. I draw myself with a golden caligraphic marker and made some skratches with a cutter to get Roberts beard.

Horses

When I arrived here I though finally will have the opportunity to see this famous arab horses, and "inshalla" maybe be able to paint them. I'm still looking for, I don't know where I can found them arround here.
I painted this watercolour a year ago. It was base on a picture. I'm looking forward for a live one.

First sketch Al Ain

I have not post many sketches from Al Ain here. Most of the time I have done in the urbansketchers blog.
My first sketch of Al Ain. When I arrived in the UAE I got a sketcher block. I could not sketch. Maybe was the heat in June or the stress related to getting use to this country with a short budget. Any way I was taking the bus to Abu Dhabi in the afternoon. I was early and had to wait till the bus left. The people I draw are the pakistani taxi drivers that offer rides to Abu Dhabi or Dubai.

Overheard at Al Ain Zoo 1st october 2010

I went to the Al Ain Zoo and happend to overhear this...I decided to make a cartoon with it.

I post the sketches from the Al Ain Zoo at www.urbansketchers.com you can check here

Jimi mall

Jimy mall, originally uploaded by omar.paint.

Two guys playing Chess at a lebanese restaurant at the Jimi Mal in Al Ain. The one of the right smokes a waterpipe.

Why I like watercolours

In my last flight to Abu Dhabi, I made an sketch of my seat neighbour. I posted in the urbansketchers blog. You can click here if you want to read the post.

I added here a close up of the watercolour. I love to look at watercolours very closely, specially when they are drying. You can notice that the image is just that wonderful spots of colour. The water play funny games while drying, creating strange textures sometimes. It is the surprise effect what I'm looking for and what facinates me.

Moleskine Exchange Tim's Moly

I have told you about the Moleskine Portrait exchange. I get a Moly by mail and then I do a portrait form the owner and myself and then I send it to the next on the group. So everybody have sent his Moly and the project is finished when all Molys got a drawing from all the members of the group.
This is my drawing for Tim's Moly. I choose to draw myself as a tattoo on his arm. In the original picture he was showing a roadrash he got in a bicicle accident.
The funny about this game is to choose clever ways to conect both portraits and at the same time lik to the previous drawings.
Ramires for esample use a Photo from Tim using some 3d glasses and decided that he probably could have been watching something extraordinary like UFOs. He portrait himself inside the Ufo in a pop-up way. Ramires is such a great artist! His acrylic skills and imagination are extraordinary! The first entrance of the book, was from Tim (his selfportrait) He said it was his first time using acrylic but he did a great job.
This was my first time with acrylics too (the blue background and the red shirt) I still really bad on acrylics and have a lot to learn.

Please check out www.flickr.com/groups/moly_x/ , moly_x: international moleskine exchange. Also, www.mxportraits2.blogspot.com/

A story about large formats

One of my blog readers (the only one maybe, thanks Sue!) made a comment about the size of my watercolours. I start writing an answer but it ended being so extensive that I decided to make a new post.

Once upon a time a gentlement in his 60´s visited an antique store in a small town in north Hessen, Germany. The owner of the store was a friend of mine and some of my "miniature" watercolours hanged in the shop. The guy appreciated the watercolours and told my friend that I should contact him.

He lived in downtown Kassel, in a beautiful apartment in german Grunderzeit Style. The apartment was very elegant decorated. He had recently retired from the family business and spent his new won free time between some voluntary work for the restoration of the city’s Botanic Garden and watercolour painting. He got a big knowledge of watercolours and introduce me to the works of some german contemporary watercolour painters (Horst Kohler, Bernhard Vogel..)from the books in his library. He said he liked my paintings and insisted that I should paint in larger formats...

So once afternoon we sat on his terrace surrounded by summer flowers, a tray with biscuits and tea served in Biedermeier cups, prepared to paint together. He gave me a huge watercolour paper blog and a big watercolour brush. It was a great experience.

You start with a big splash of colour…and let it dry… the most important rule is to be patient, make regular pauses and avoid overworking: that is what’s the tea for… drink some tea and enjoy watching the colours dry in front your eyes changing the intensity and creating estrange textures.

So Sue, that is story how I start painting in large formats. I painted later a view from the neighbourhood from his terrace and ended doing an exhibition in a coffee shop on the corner months later, but that is another story

Photos. Fabio Randone