Portfolio of artwork by Karim M. El - Araby The title, composed of a blend of Arabic and English characters, reads my first name from right to left. This is the signature I usually end my artworks with, and it represents both my home country and my origins.
Face anatomy, self portrait Graphite on drawing paper & Transparent paper All originally 18" x 24" A project for drawing class which studies the dimensions and anatomy of the human face. The half-skull, half-flesh face was done first from a bust, and then the self-portrait was created on transparent paper. The self portrait was then used as a layer.
Drapery
Compressed charcoal, vine charcoal, and contĂŠ crayon on drawing paper 18" x 24"
A project on representing light distributionon on drapery in black and white produced in studio draiwing class.
Vase in the Dark
Charcoal on drawing paper 11" x 14"
A quick work using charcoal for the background and a kneaded eraser for the form of the vase to study the chiaroscuro effect (the treatment of light and dark in a drawing). Produced in drawing class.
Masks
Pastel on pastel paper 26" x 20"
A piece produced in drawing class to represent still life using an array of colors that strictly excludes black.
Head Bust I Black and sanguine ContÊ crayons on drawing paper 18" x 24"
This piece was drawn in drawing class from a plaster head bust copy using a technique that was adopted by master artists who used the color sanguine to create greyscale.
Head Bust II
Black and sanguine ContÊ crayons on drawing paper 18" x 24"
Again, using the same technique of converting sanguine to greyscale, this piece was done roughly three months after the previous piece to reflect on the progression of my abilities in realistic drawing over the course.
Hand Study
An independently produced study of the Charcoal, contĂŠ crayon, human hand coupled with a self portrait and graphite on cotton using the chiaroscuro effect. This piece paper was produced as part of a supervised 22 x 30 in. study course for credit.
Boxes
Graphite, vine charcoal, compressed charcoal, and contĂŠ crayon on compressed cotton paper 22" x 30"
Another piece produced independently as part of my supervised study course to study multiple linear perspectives in one setting.
Gravity Pastel, white charcoal, and vine charcoal on compressed cotton paper 22" x 30"
This project was done independently for drawing class on the topic "gravity".
K a r i m
E l - A r a b y