calligraphy | Arabic Calligraphy

Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition in Paris – Sep. 2020

Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition
September 19, 2020

During the lockdown related to the COVID health crisis, I offered online classes to allow my students and new ones to continue learning Arabic calligraphy. My courses were focused on 2 subjects, technical mastery and the search for creativity.
During her hours of sharing my passion, the students developed the quality of their writing and explored new ideas for the artistic use of calligraphy.
Exhibiting my students in my new Parisian studio is a great honor for me.
Passing on your passion also means sharing the happiness and success of others.
7 students presented their creations each in their own style.
Samra came up with colorful calligraphy. She added her mastery of other artistic forms.
Madina chose some pretty texts which she represented figuratively. She also paid tribute to the Lebanese people as an expression of their sadness and solidarity in the severe trials they are going through at this time.
Isabelle is a painter and has integrated calligraphic elements into magnificent canvases which take up other oriental artistic expressions
Dhikra prepared a series of multicolored calligraphy with lovely proverbs
Nora proposed figurative calligraphy on colored backgrounds
Rassil who lives in Beirut sent a magnificent Lebanese flag covered with the names of victims of the Terrible Explosion of the Port of Beirut
Mehsen who also lives in Beirut has produced a fantastic series of celebrity portraits using carefully chosen texts.

A big thank you to all of you for your enthusiasm and the good time spent with you in Paris. I physically met some of my students the first time during this exhibition.

Workshop in Beirut – 1st edition

The idea came from a very good friend of mine.

Last year, he asked me: “Hey Hicham, why don’t you come over here and teach?”

My answer was fast and clear: “Let’s go !!! “

Since then, we have organized already 3 events this year and the fourth is already scheduled.

It is a great honour and pleasure for me to travel over to Lebanon and teach about my passion. The way I teach differs from traditional calligraphers. I listen a lot to my students and adapt myself to their objectives.

It takes years to become a very good calligrapher but only few hours to start having fun and enjoying the pleasure of this practice.

My idea is to show that light that will give people motivation to work hard. When students see what they can do after a few days, they want to learn more…

Long story short, please enjoy the few pictures below.

Open session on fashion design with calligraphy

gvf

Latin or Arabic?

Being born in France, the first language I learned to write was French with its Latin alphabet. My passion for Arabic calligraphy started later when I was a student.

I was attracted by the harmony and the flow of the Arabic letters and got offered the possibility to be trained by a Master. I focused initially on the Diwani style for which I received an intensive training. When I felt more comfortable with Diwani, I tried the Koufi style which is more geometric. In fact, this style is usually integrating architectural elements.

example

Full of imagination, I noticed that Arabic letters written with Koufi style were showing geometrical similarities with Latin letters.

The letter “noun” can look like an “i”

The letter “ain” can look like an “e”

The letter “waw” can look like a “g”

The letter “alif” can look like a “l”

etc.

And for the letters that are not so similar, I noticed that you could split the Arabic letters into basic elements that can be combined subtly to appear like a Latin letter.

Take away:

Arabic calligraphy has a rich panel of styles and scripts

Calligraphers with imagination can be very playful

It is possible to write a text with Latin letters and make it look like Arabic

How to make very thick lines

Calligraphy is the art of writing beautiful letters. To do this, you need to use the right tools: pen, ink and paper. In this post, I will focus on the pens that allow you to draw very thick lines.

Calligraphic pens are made to fit comfortably in your hands. This ergonomic allows you to have full control of your movement and draw very precise lines. In Latin, Persian or Arabic, one key element is the alternation of thick and thin lines. A calligraphic pen has a special shape. The bottom part in contact with the paper is wide. The ink flows from the cartridge or an area that can contain a volume of liquid ink. When the ink reaches the bottom, the structure and geometry of the pen makes the ink regularly distributed all along the width of the nib.

In regular shops, calligraphic pens have a nib up to 3mm wide. If you look for wider pens, you need to go to special shops where you may find pens up to 6mm wide. Some manufacturers propose up to 2cm. The wider the pens are, the rarer they are to find.

Imagine now that you are looking for a width of 10-15cm… Where can you find a pen that distributes in a control manner the ink across the whole width? Not easy to find and if you find one, it will be quite expensive…

When I started calligraphy, I was a student and I did not have a lot of money to invest in numerous calligraphic pens. When I spoke to my teacher about this dilemma, he asked me to buy the cheapest ink pens and he showed me how to make my own pens.

So I will show you how to build yours for a very cheap price.

Steps

buy a painter spatula
buy adhesive felt
past the felt over the spatula edge in such a way that you create a small reservoir to hold your liquid ink

job done !!!

photos

Take away

If you cannot find or afford the right tools to make beautiful modern calligraphic pieces, do not worry. You can build your own tools.