Artist uses fashion illustration to show beauty of Amman

AMMAN — Since his early years at school, Shamekh Bluwi has been inspired by costumes of characters from comic books and the story each costume tells.

His inspiration then developed in college as an architecture student; he started cutting out the sketches of buildings and parks and using other elements as backdrops to his work.

The Amman-based visual artist and architect now uses innovative ways to display the beauty of Amman’s old buildings and neighbourhoods. 

The architect thought of a way to combine and document his love for architecture and fashion at the same time; he started applying the “cut-out” fashion style for his sketches.

“I start with a rough sketch; I draw simple ‘line art’ using the Wacom tablet for digital illustration, print it, cut out the solid material, and then I try to take photos of it with different backdrops,” Bluwi told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

“My first cut-out was published on my Instagram account... it displayed Amman’s 8th Circle and since then, I noticed that people like different displays of art,” he added.

With more than 162,000 followers on his Instagram account, Bluwi documents his progress by posting a photo of his sketches on a daily basis.

“When documenting your work online, you know where you stand and how to improve yourself more… it’s an online portfolio that can inspire people as well,” he said.

“Fashion is a statement; it is an extension of identity,” he added, “because I like contradiction. I chose buildings and fashion to reflect the identity of the city.”

The 30-year-old architect said the aim is to draw minimal modern line art to give more prominence to the background.

“Inspiration is everywhere and it all depends on the chosen background,” he added. “I feel that Amman buildings bring back memories to its residents whenever they see a picture of them. This is the story I want to reflect through my art — my childhood memories.”

“You can also document the history and landmarks of the country or city you are living in,” the artist added.

Bluwi said the beauty of contradiction is also a key element to sketching and layering.

“Drawing simple fashion illustrations will show the backdrop that brings attention to the old buildings of Amman more than the figure itself, but when using modern architecture as the backdrop, a traditional fashion dress can be used in the sketch,” he said.

For Bluwi, success starts at home.

“I had to start from Amman because in order to make art, you have to do something different; start locally then succeed everywhere else.”