[bestcigsnick]

Mashallah, Can I use this one for my icon?

Assalam alaikum brother! MashAllah your paintings are beautiful!
Brother pls help me with one question- can you do an oil painting on a wooden plank rather than a canvas? If yes, can you give some tips and if no- what is the other option I can use as I would like to make a huge painting and a canvas of that size would be difficult to find...
JazakAllah khair!
wasalam.

I Have never used oils on a wood surface, but I know brothers who have. Another option is to build your own canvas - Jackson Pollack used canvas' 20 feet by 40' feet - but he built the canvas.

I plan on making two huge paintings, 1 of the 99 names of Allah and another of the 99 names of Rasoolullah - I want to send them to my Sheikh to hang in the Mian Mir Khnaqa.

...But anyways - you should be able to use oils or acrylics on wood - my suggestion would be to use a small ratio of paint to solvent (2:1, or maybe even 1:1) so that the paint is thicker - take into account that oil tends to drip off treated wood that has lacquer on it or something.

[Illirmpipse]

Ya Mujahid, do you still sell your paintings?

[bestcigsnick]

Ya Mujahid, do you still sell your paintings?

Most of the paintings I posted are for sale.

The Swan - is sold
Muhibba and Hijrah - are sold
I dont have any Muraqiba Ismullahs left, but I can paint one quick
The painting entitled "Nisbah I" - is sold
the tree belongs to my wife

but the rest are for sale

[capeAngedlelp]

Assalamualeykum wr wb

Bro Mujahid how can i contact you?

[JessePex]

great thread ! and greater its content!

[HaroTaure]

When you say "water based" do you mean water colors or acrylic paint?

If its acrylic (acrylic is water based and easily cleans up) than your good because the two are simalar - except oils dont clean up as easily and they take days to dry.

My "mursheed" of painting was a guy named Rocky - I grew up in a town called Manitou - this town is very artsy - There is a famous painter there named Rocky, and as a kid I used to go to his studio and watch him work, he taught me how to work with oils.

Its not that hard - you should do what poring rain suggested and just buy some and start experimenting - thats how I learned when I was a kid, and Rocky got some of my artwork in galeries when I was 12. One thing to remeber is that oil paints are worked in conjunction with solvents (flak seed oil, linseed oil) the common ratio is 1 part paint two parts solvent - the more solvent you use, the longer the paint takes to dry - you can add Alkyd resin or Japan drier to speed up the drying process. Adding solvents and driers can affect the texture and appearance of the painting - so experiment with all differnet types of paints, solvents and driers to acchieve your desired affects.

For example - if you look at the painting "Haqqiqat Muahmadi" - its very glossy (and hard to take a picture of) - this is because I used a large amount of solvent (4:1 ratio) - this was so I could achieve the right texture I wanted - and it took about a week to dry.

Also buy some mineral spirits to clean up with - and keep them in a re-sealable container. Its also good to keep your oil brushes seperate from your acrylic brushes and seperate from water color brushes - each medium effects the bristles differently, and oil brushes work best after multiple uses.

Also - on the topic of brushes, be careful on which brushes you buy, because some are made with Bores hair - and I dont know the fatwa on that, but I wouldnt feel right painting the name of Allah with pig hair.

And dont sweat being a romantic - the painting of the tree was one I did for my wife - the chicks really love sensitive artist guys.

For the advice bro. I predominantly use water colours and not acrylic paint.

I might give it a go, but I'm worried that everythings gonna end up one incoherent, murky mess. Do you have to let one colour dry before you paint on another? and do I need any special equipment to build the canvas?

[bestcigsnick]

For the advice bro. I predominantly use water colours and not acrylic paint.

I might give it a go, but I'm worried that everythings gonna end up one incoherent, murky mess. Do you have to let one colour dry before you paint on another? and do I need any special equipment to build the canvas?

Start using acrylics first - that way you can get a feel for the way that kind of paint behaves when you mix it and when you paint with it - water colors are an entirely different world compared to acrylics and oils.

You dont HAVE to let one color dry before you begin applying another color - it al depends on the efect you want. - lets say you start your painting with a blue base background - you cover the whole canvas with blue - then, you want to paint a rose over the top of that blue background - the red and blue will combine to make a purple rose - so in that instance you either want to waith for the blue to dry - or you leave the part where the rose is going to be placed blank (dry canvas), and come in later and make the two meet in the middle.

Dont be afraid to mix two colors together on a canvas - you can get some interesting results. For example, look at the Tear drop "Alhumd..", the squiggley lines in the background are the result of placing blue paint on one have of my brush and white paint on the other half - they then combine a little and blend to create the effect I wanted - but I wouldnt know about these things unless I experiment.

The other advantage of starting with acrylics is that they dont have as thick of a texture as Oils when they dry (unless you really cake the paint on) - so if you paint something you dont like, you can white it all out with canvas primer and start fresh - they also take hours to dry rather than days - you can use them right out of the tube (no solvent) - and they clean up with just water - all that allows you to experiment with ease - I have probably 10 "test" canvas' that are just a jumble of lines and colors and different effects I tried to figure out.

as far as building canvas' - Depending on the size, you dont need many specialty tools - youll first need a roll of canvas, in the US some rolls come stretched and treated, some dont, so figure out which kind your buying - a roll of canvas here is about $50 for 100 yards - price depends on if its treated and the dimensions of the roll.
If you get untreated "raw" canvas - youll need to stretch it and prime it - specialty art stores in the US sell stretching tools (clamps, rollers, frames)

For the wood frame of the canvas all you need is a tape messure and a ban saw or circular saw to cut the pieces to fit - oh, and youll need a staple gun.

If you dont plan on making hundreds of paintings in a year or making a huge canvas - dont worry about building canvas', they sell them pre-made at affordable prices - you only need to buy in bulk if the cost of pre-made canvas' exceeds the cost of hand made ones.

[bestcigsnick]

Assalamualeykum wr wb

Bro Mujahid how can i contact you?

Ill get your email from the mods (if they see this)

MODS - PLEASE SEND ME ZAIDF'S CONTACT INFO

AND ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO CONTACT ME VIA EMAIL

[Rithlilky]

Br. Abdullah, in what sizes are your paintings? I'm suprised that people are so interested in this style (nothing against your skills, you're great at it), maybe I'm simply too young and accustomed to art usually done on Photoshop etc...

[bely832new]

Brother Mujahid was you on a site called Muxlim bt any chance? There was a brother there who did beautiful art work and showed it on there. Never stole any mind you, even though I was tempted

[bestcigsnick]

Br. Abdullah, in what sizes are your paintings? I'm suprised that people are so interested in this style (nothing against your skills, you're great at it), maybe I'm simply too young and accustomed to art usually done on Photoshop etc...

Anywhere from 15"x 8" to 54" x 36" - Photoshop??? what?? thats not art - thats computer skills - can you smell the paint and canvas of a photshop pic? can you see the brush stokes on a photoshop pic? can you feel the texture of the brush strokes as they morph into the beutiful Ismullah? can photoshop morph waht seems to be a linear sentence in arabic to form an image or design?

Raw paint on canvas is much better than photoshop

Brother Mujahid was you on a site called Muxlim bt any chance? There was a brother there who did beautiful art work and showed it on there. Never stole any mind you, even though I was tempted

I dont think so - but I might have been - A few years ago I had my paintings on all sorts of different web sites trying to get them out there - I cant even remeber any of them now though.

I havent seen caligraphy done in the way I paint it (with the backgrounds and the contemporary look) - The caligraphy I most often see is classical Islamic art - Except the artist who does the covers for Al Baz publishing - she adds a creative contemporary flare to caligraphy.

[Rithlilky]

Anywhere from 15"x 8" to 54" x 36" - Photoshop??? what?? thats not art - thats computer skills - can you smell the paint and canvas of a photshop pic? can you see the brush stokes on a photoshop pic? can you feel the texture of the brush strokes as they morph into the beutiful Ismullah? can photoshop morph waht seems to be a linear sentence in arabic to form an image or design?

Raw paint on canvas is much better than photoshop

I guess I hit a wrong nerve.

[AnetTeilor]

I Have never used oils on a wood surface, but I know brothers who have. Another option is to build your own canvas - Jackson Pollack used canvas' 20 feet by 40' feet - but he built the canvas.

I plan on making two huge paintings, 1 of the 99 names of Allah and another of the 99 names of Rasoolullah - I want to send them to my Sheikh to hang in the Mian Mir Khnaqa.

...But anyways - you should be able to use oils or acrylics on wood - my suggestion would be to use a small ratio of paint to solvent (2:1, or maybe even 1:1) so that the paint is thicker - take into account that oil tends to drip off treated wood that has lacquer on it or something.

Assalam alaikum brother! JazakAllah khair for your response-- very helpful. I shall give it a try with oils on the wood -- if it starts to drip off I shall switch to Acrylics! InshAllah!

[bely832new]

Paint does smell good ahemm.. oh yes so true. You can't do art on the computer it's so different from the real thing, and I don't think it's appreciated as much nowadays. khair insha'Allah watever people choose, I'm sure it's fine.

[GarryPaterson]

nice work . I visited a local art gallery last week and the lady inspired me to experiment on canvas.She said she'll sell my first painting lol,I do have the creative mind but not the patience.Seeing these beautiful pieces have motivated me to experiment insha'Allah.

[AngelinaTheElf]

I like to draw and paint but I'm not great at it at all (awful more like), so it's purely as a hobby. Mostly I like writing in both English and Arabic. Using paper and pencil just gives another feeling. I wouldnt mind seeing some more paintings though!

[Ijkavylo]

I would have shared some paintings with yall but I don't have permission.

I used to paint back in my spring days but it's become a buried talent.

To me, painting is like cooking. I could never enjoy what I'd done as much as the next person.

[TodeImmabbedo]

of course photoshop is art. its just a different medium thats all.

there are many different and diverse mediums that can be used for art. example, there is a type of graffiti called reverse graffiti, where instead of adding something to create the art, they take away from it to create the art. http://www.reversegraffitiproject.com/

[TodeImmabbedo]

how about this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElrldD02if0

drawn using microsoft paint! btw turn the volume off.

[HaroTaure]

of course photoshop is art. its just a different medium thats all.

Ahan, so is elephant dung....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/226000.stm