24 Incredible Egyptian Artists Taking Over Inktober
The global online art event #Inktober is getting some serious Egyptian masterpieces this year!
Our talents when it comes to art are just genetic; we've been creating gorgeous artwork on walls for saba3talaf sana (forever)! In our day and age, we've been blessed with seeing illustrations, graphics, graffitis and visuals on the streets and on social media that reflect on our condition as Egyptians and all the changes we're going through – in both implicit and explicit ways – just as art should. So, you know when #Inktober comes around, we as Egyptians are totally on board. We have innumerable extraordinary artists across the country; as a matter of fact, four of the best illustrators in the country are right here in our offices – so we got to ask them up close and personal about what they think of Inktober!
We have Barbatoze, the infamous social media illustrator, who let's just say, doesn't let anything slide on regular days without turning it into lines and colours and words, so you can imagine he's going all out for the month, "Inktober is important for all artists, you get to experience the traditional method of drawing – most people work digitally, including me, because it's faster. But, gettin the hang of using actual ink and brushes and pen, it's fun to experiment and fun to try."
We also caught up with Ganna Hesham, who told us all about how it can be used to connect to others on more than one level, "It's inpisiring, especially when you get to see how others are expressing themselves through the Inktober key words of each day. More than that, you get to connect to people through the hashtag, and have them see your work, everyday." Hesham here speaks about the themes that are set for each day of the month, which is kind of a rule everyone likes to go by, which Dina Bahr adds to, "It's a challenge for me because it kind of forces you to follow up every day – which is great, because it's forcing you to do something you actually love! And, for me it's been challenging in the sense that I always add colour – so, to draw in black and white – which of course, I add some colour to – has been different and experimental, and my Instagram feed totally changed now!"
Her sister, and equally talented artist, Noha Bahr also gives us her insight, "It is a great opportunity to share my kind of art and receive people's opinions and comments. Also, it helps improving one's skills because you have to draw everyday. So many people from around the world follow the Inktober hashtag, and that helps showcase Egyptian talent!"
We swear that if you just open the notebook of any Egyptian child in school, you'd probably find fine works of doodling that they sketched while not listening to their teacher. That being said, we're going to encourage you to participate by showing you the artwork we got hold from some of our favourite artists:
Hefne
Shankspot
Noha Bahr
Ganna Hesham
Bassem Gad
Dina Bahr
Barbatoze
Mohamed Salah El Din
Tameem Youness
Maged El Sokkary
Mahmoud Refaat Aboel-fotouh
Okacha
Mina Sawiris
George Azmy
Yamen Elgamal
S3D
#inktober2016 #inktober #day7 pic.twitter.com/Yjrf2JXvzl
— سعد (@iamS3D) October 7, 2016
Mostafa El-agamy
Tariq Hassan Nabil
Hatem Aly
Nesreen Mamdouh
Hani Mahfouz
Eslam Abo Shady
Hala El Sharouny
And, actually, Tara Emad
Main image by Ganna Hesham.