Ayat al-Kursi

#ArabicDesign #arabiclettering #arabic #ArabicCalligraphy #mastoart

Completed: the 28 different lam-alif ligatures I prepared for my Book of Abjad! Now on to drawing ful character sets from various untapped sources.

The campaign still has 13 days to go:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/majnouna/the-book-of-abjad/
#arabic #ArabicCalligraphy #script #artist

Some sketches for a personal stamp using Square Kufic. Sadly the guy I was planning to order them from does *not* have a small circular stamp. His small stamps are oval, which I didn’t like these designs into.

Who needs a personal stamp anyway.

#arabic #ArabicCalligraphy #arabiclettering

In today's Caravanserai post, we chase blessings around the haunting loveliness of Alhambra: Walls that Speak, part 4

https://majnouna.substack.com/p/walls-that-speak-part-4

#substack #IslamicArt #ArabicCalligraphy #alhambra

A number of poems by Ghazi Al-Gosaibi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghazi_Abdul_Rahman_Al_Gosaibi published in various points in Al-Jazira newspaper.

The lines were written by a calligrapher (scribe? lettering artist?) very interesting style and shaping of letters. Similar a bit to the decisions made in font Sultan Mada .

From twitter thread: https://twitter.com/mansoralassaf/status/1590252197627179009?s=61

#arabic #arabictypography #ArabicCalligraphy #arabiclettering

The word فيضلك is very very long. Must be a variable font

#ArabicCalligraphy #islamicart #arabic

Column inscriptions !!

#arabic #islamicart #ArabicCalligraphy #arabiclettering

Earlier in the exhibition there was an old Quran written with gold powder in the Kufic style.

Red circles are the vowels. Blue circles are the shadda. Green are the hamza. Above the letter they’re a fat’ha, they’re a kasra, and in front of the letter it’s a damma.

One of y’all can make a color font out of that.

#arabic #ArabicCalligraphy #islamicart #arabiclettering #arabictype

Currently visiting the 1st edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, #SaudiArabia

One of the exhibits is a collection of tombstones from a graveyard in Mecca. Itched on basalt and are in different forms and styles.

Here are some of them. Is it calligraphy if it’s not with a pen?

#islamicart #arabic #ArabicCalligraphy #arabiclettering

Here is Saad al-Thuraya’s (a lettering artist and typographer based in Saudi) coverage of the event in his instagram highlight reel.

https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3ODc0Nzk1NTU3ODQxNzA4?story_media_id=3055302397479990054&igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

This is an event by Arab designers who speak and read Arabic. But the western community is exposed instead to weird simplistic articles of “oh wow you have to follow how the pen rotates to get the proper thickness in Naskh” like it’s some huge revelation or the all end all of the field.

#arabic #arabiclettering #ArabicCalligraphy

There are two types of Arabic type designers (and letterers): those who are participating or following the Hadath Hebrayer حدث حبراير event in Egypt, and those who are followed by the western type design community. There is weirdly 0 overlap.

https://instagram.com/hadath.hibrayer?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

#arabic #arabiclettering #ArabicCalligraphy

A couple of shop announcements:
• I updated my reed pen listings (in the Art Supplies section) to offer them as sets of 3 or 5, with or without ink.
• I'm going away soon (without email access), so any order placed after March 12 will only be dispatched after April 5!

Shop here: http://majnouna.com/shop

#calligraphy #ArabicCalligraphy

I have one more online talk coming up with the Letterform Archive on March 14 before I go offline for a while. It's free to register: https://letterformarchive.org/products/freedom-in-restriction-my-journey-with-kufi/
#ArabicCalligraphy #majnounaArt #calligraphy

New post for lovers of writing systems: The Story of Kaf, forgotten metamorphosis of an Arabic letter.
https://majnouna.substack.com/p/the-story-of-kaf

#ArabicCalligraphy

Experimenting with Qalam Online on https://maryamsoft.com/ . I don't speak Persian so browsing the website was a challenge.

#arabic #arabiccalligraphy #persiancalligraphy

It's not too late to sign up to my #SquareKufic class, which kicks off Friday on Zoom and doesn't require prior knowledge of Arabic. Based on the tradition as it flourished in #Khorasan between the 13th and 16th centuries, we'll learn to work with multiple grids and how to get creative with the script without breaking it.

Details and sign up here:
https://www.arabbritishcentre.org.uk/courses/square-kufic-calligraphy-with-joumana-medlej/
#IslamicArt #ArabicCalligraphy #OnlineCourse

This is happening tonight:

"Avielah Barclay and Joumana Medlej are both deeply engaged in the Art of the Book…
Their practical skills, as well as extensive knowledge of historical texts, offer unique glimpses into this traditional art. The evening’s presentation will touch on the global nature of the medieval world, the dynamic exchange among scribal cultures, and how their own work is a living extension of this ancient tradition…"

#ArabicCalligraphy #HebrewCalligraphy
https://princes-foundation.org/school-of-traditional-arts/open-programme/lecture-a-conversation-between-calligraphers-4b30e1

The SOAS show is an opportunity to have a throwback to older pieces such as SHADOWS, 2014:
This composition first appears to be a take on traditional blessings: health, happiness… Yet something dark looms behind the bright hues. Closer scrutiny reveals, behind the cheerful facade, dark words in another register: greed, violence, pain…
So do we learn to cover up our inner darkness, the socially unacceptable parts of ourselves, and paint it over in order to fit in.
#ArabicCalligraphy #artoftheday

Speaking of #SquareKufic, I'm teaching it online again starting February, no experience needed. More info and booking here: https://www.arabbritishcentre.org.uk/courses/square-kufic-calligraphy-with-joumana-medlej/

#IslamicArt #ArabicCalligraphy #OnlineCourse

A blast from the past with this piece I finished just over 7 years ago. Aflāk/Heavenly Spheres was the most labour-intensive wall piece I ever made. It's a calligraphic interpretation of the medieval geocentric cosmos, from the 4 elements ranging to the unknowable divine Throne, using materials that were associated with each sphere. A reminder perhaps that there are vaster things to contemplate than human pettiness.

Full details on http://majnouna.com/portfolio/heavens/

#Kufic #ArabicCalligraphy #VisualArt