Right to left - Arabic Graffiti

[Phat 2]

the arabic lettertype is very interesting to play around with... the lettering is originally curvilinear and containing a whole lotta punctuation, accents and extras. its calligraphy is widely malleable and open for bending and mixing making it an extremely graffiti friendly typeface which allows middle-eastern writers to express themselves in their own language through a media that has been typically interpreted as a western art form.
although arabic graffiti hasn't yet fully developed and hasn't reached its peak in style and flow in middle eastern countries, due mainly because of its recent apparition in the area. some writers have taken it upon themselves to spread this new kind of graff by painting conceptual pieces rather than just their names. peace messages. promotional campaigns. commercial works. and motivational commissions are some of the ways that arabic writers are using to popularise this phenomenon... a phenomenon that is not yet understood by locals here.

here's some examples of what I'm talking about and what they mean under the pics:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs262.snc3/27786_127758183917766_100000507545549_245098_12703 67_n.jpg
"Rish Khila'ak" by Phat2 ACK SDF, Character by Eps ACK
rish khila'ak means "spray some steam" (as in blow some steam) in arabic. the character illustrates this concept. it's basically supposed to point out how graffiti is a way for individuals to express themselves, just like any other art form, but because it's a more dynamic kind of art, you have to move your whole body, and you're painting big scale. doing a lot of going back and forth to check your dimensions etc. so it kinda is a stress buster, thus "spray some steam"... have fun, let your mind out and blow some steam. basically channel your stress into art rather than doing something that's harmful

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs014.snc3/12143_101501176543467_100000507545549_38097_3215_n .jpg
"w er ! " by Phat2 ACK SDF
w er ! literally means "and a dick ! "
it doesn't really have an explanation in english terms because it doesn't really make sense in that context. but it's basically an exclamation that lebanese guys use in almost 50% of their slang... it's a curse word. almost like when you say "fuck, this burger is awesome" the "fuck" at the beginning of the sentence isn't meant to be an insult... that's how it is with "w er" so I decided to draw what that word really means (a dick) so as to remind people of what they're saying coz they seem to have forgot that this word is an insult... in case you're wondering, this is what the word's typography looks like... it's in the arabic tag under the piece.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v79/165/20/607825416/n607825416_335551_6321.jpg
"Beirut in hakat" by Physh REK ACK
it means "if beirut spoke..."
if beirut spoke it would tell all kinds of stories, stories of war and battles and bombings, stories of love peace and good ol 70s, endless stories on all kinds of shit it's been through.
This piece has become a landmark in the bare center of the industrial area. known and copied by so many cats. served as one of the starting points of lebanese graffiti, at least in my opinion. so mad props to my boy physh

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v79/165/20/607825416/n607825416_335552_6764.jpg
"Fish" by Physh REK ACK
just his name in arabic

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v79/165/20/607825416/n607825416_368127_5587.jpg
"a'ib" by Siska REK
it means "shame on" in arabic... it points to the fact that they thing of what we're doing is vandalism, something that is looked down upon, we should be ashamed of ourselves ruining society blablabla

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs275.snc1/10222_293749785061_553205061_9155192_3461356_n.jpg
"hafiz a'l bi'aa" by M3alim REK
it means "watch over the environment" it's an anti-pollution campaign led by a youth center in a significantly polluted area of the city to raise awareness about the subject

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2217/165/91/553205061/n553205061_5720558_8721.jpg http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v376/165/91/553205061/n553205061_4636429_7135.jpg
"el m3alim" by M3alim REK
just his name in arabic

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v376/165/91/553205061/n553205061_4644170_6293.jpg
"Bil Share' ana el malak" by Kimewi
it means "In the street, I'm the king"

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v376/165/91/553205061/n553205061_4644167_5755.jpg
"Yalla nehre'ha" by Katiba5 crew
it means "let's burn it"

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v376/165/91/553205061/n553205061_4644169_6113.jpg
"Man huwa al a'rabi" by Pascal Zoghbi
means "who is the arab ?"
it's a controversy in Lebanon whether we as people are arabs or phoenicians, the debate has been going on for years and years... I guess some lebanese don't like to be refered to as arabs for some reason. not me though :>"

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v376/165/91/553205061/n553205061_4644261_9612.jpg
"setteh kaf" by Siska REK
setteh = six in arabic
six (pronounced "sis" is the number 6 in french)
kaf is the letter k (which is pronounced "ka" in french)
so in french it says "sis-ka": his name

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v350/165/91/553205061/n553205061_4232013_4227.jpg
"badna balad" by M3alim REK
it means "we want a country"
it seems he's just sick of the situation we had here in 2008, and wants to be in a REAL country already - guess no one's contempt with what they have

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v274/165/91/553205061/n553205061_3695551_9218.jpg
"Medmin bas mesh mejrim" by M3alim REK
means "an addict but not a criminal". it's another campaign that M3alim took part of that focuses on the idea that drug users are not criminals and should be treated with disrespect and like they were trash, instead we should be helping them out etc. u know.. that kinda shit

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v200/165/91/553205061/n553205061_2342943_4063.jpg
"Ajmal Balad... balehoun" by M3alim REK
meaning: "it would be the best country... if they weren't here"
he's talking about politicians... them damn corrupt politicians ruining our beautiful country. according to M3alim, everything's their fault.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v189/165/91/553205061/n553205061_2481396_2482.jpg
"La arzak mnetwahad" by M3alim
it means "for your cedars, we unite"
a praise for the lebanese population's unification. a hope of the writer that they'd put their differences aside and just unite for the sake of our country's cedar - the cedar, our national tree, a symbol of endurance and strength. it lives on and on for hundreds and hundreds of years and no force can detach it from its roots :)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v231/165/91/553205061/n553205061_2635586_7318.jpg
"Jawwa3touna" by M3alim
another rant by the guy, aimed at the politicians, saying "you put us in famine" because of all their lies and stealing of our taxes...

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v231/165/91/553205061/n553205061_2642515_8754.jpg
"Sha'eb Ne'sen" by M3alim
means "sleepy heads"
he's talking about this new generation and how sleepy these boys and girls always are. He wants them to wake/get the fuck up and do something instead of just sitting their asses at home all day doing nothing but watching TV, playing video games and surfing the web and eating...

ugh I know, that's a lotta talking... I'll add some more photos and infos about the subject later on as ideas come to me hehe

[Phat 2]

this post contains works by the Ashekman soldiers, they're twin rappers. got 2 albums out and shit, well known here for their arabic rap. in the graff scene, they're known to only paint arabic pieces, which make them perfect candidates for this thread...
a little 411 on them, they were 3 guys in their crew: Carbon, Mejrim Kaleim (Lyrical Assassin in arabic), and another dude who never settled for a name, and just tagged whatever name he could think of (don't ask me why, we never figured it out even though we've known him for 2 years) but we call him Abe... anyway, at a certain point around last year Abe got sick of doing just arabic graff the whole time so he decided to leave Ashekman and join REK instead.
and in my opinion, their works started falling backwards ever since... the way I see it, turns out that Abe was the whole driving force behind their crew.
anywho, enough talk
FLICKS:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/174/21/517186292/n517186292_992354_1794.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs118.snc1/5180_132614511040_505376040_3330113_7260234_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs171.snc1/6410_160378841040_505376040_3855397_7480184_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs171.snc1/6410_160378831040_505376040_3855396_3721256_n.jpg
All these say "Ashekman"

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v105/232/80/505376040/n505376040_590046_6565.jpg
Fann Sheri'i (Street Art)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v153/232/80/505376040/n505376040_709747_7193.jpg
Robot

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v153/232/80/505376040/n505376040_725290_2957.jpg
El 'ouyoun 'a Beirut (All eyes on Beirut)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v171/232/80/505376040/n505376040_833630_3013.jpg
Lsheri' elna (The street's ours)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v171/232/80/505376040/n505376040_871533_3250.jpg
Ashekmante'te (Ashek-my-turf)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v194/232/80/505376040/n505376040_962865_7237.jpg
Takati (My energy)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v260/232/80/505376040/n505376040_1493546_8507.jpg
Moulouk L le'be (Kings of the game)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v336/174/21/517186292/n517186292_1790384_2410.jpg
Ihene harfiyye (Litteral insult)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v834/232/80/505376040/n505376040_2199932_3772.jpg
Hip hop

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs024.snc1/2649_86021606040_505376040_2708544_7382872_n.jpg
Ghazza fi kalbi (Gaza in my heart)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs171.snc1/6410_160378826040_505376040_3855395_6689629_n.jpg
Bishaghaf (with passion)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs236.snc1/8330_178916896040_505376040_4118501_852568_n.jpg
Al hitan 'am tehkine (The walls are talking to me)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs169.snc3/19673_279023526292_517186292_4916025_6967481_n.jpg
Graffiti men beirut (graffiti from beirut)

[SECH]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs220.snc4/39338_1547093963234_1411594558_1511105_7007747_n.j pg

[Ronathon]

Its all very interesting.
But probably more so if you can read arabic.
Otherwise its just fancy shapes.
If you know what I mean.

[Phat 2]

ye ronathon i gotchu.
that's what's interesting about it if u ask me... a person that doesn't speak arabic just sees the shapes and not the letters :) I'd say that's a change of pace to not be able to recognize any english letters at all

and sech, what does that say? :P

[Stigma02]

this stuff is pretty crazy not going to lie is it more detailed if u could like read it? like if u spoke that langauage?

[SECH]

it says mohammed (my name)

[Phat 2]

stigma yeah u can read it if u spoke the lang, of course, just like english speaking people can read english-letter graff :)

sech, word :)
but where's the second m?
and that thing sticking out of the top of the d is making it look like a lam-alef (la)

[SECH]

it does kinda look like a la but if it's LA it looks like shit :D

[SECH]

and the second m is the cross between the D and H

[SECH]

there is a plenty of ways to write a single arabic letter depending on what kinda arabic handstyle that u use also depending on the position of the letter if it was the first letter in the word it will look a lot different than the same letter in the middle of the word....(complicated)

[Aesir]

it's interesting, but a lot of it just looks bad...

[SECH]

a handstyle
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4589803556_f929e37f99.jpg

[SECH]

it's interesting, but a lot of it just looks bad...

most of the arabic graffiti writers are toys about, 90% of them.
and those who are really really good only use there talent to write calligraphy.

http://www.masjidhamza.org.uk/wp-content/random-gallery/islamic-calligraphy.jpg

[DukeOne]

Hey sech can you read Arabic?

I punched Duke & Duke One into a English to Arabic translator, wondering if it came out correct

Duke
أ. دوق, نبيل, كرز, يد

Duke One
ديوك واحدة

Wanna try my hand at this

[SECH]

ur name means noble in arabic . دوق ,نبيل
those are the write ones.

[SECH]

i can do a handstyle for ya am not that good in calligraphy but i still have a decent arabic handtyle.

[Phat 2]

ahh, excellent comment... allow me to explain :)
(Keep in mind that the order is right to left)

ديوك ا
^that's the right one
I'll hook u up with this:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs185.snc4/37583_143938188966432_100000507545549_331031_65753 93_n.jpg

now, since it's a person's name, you don't write it differently... you write it the way it sounds exactly, coz it can't mean different things in another language
so your name is pronounced "dyook" ---> that's a "d" and a "y" and a "oo" and a "k"

this is the arabic "D"
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:tAkvrxFo-JpzVM:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Uyghur_-_Arabic_script_-_isolated_form_-_%D8%AF_(IPA_d).svg/400px-Uyghur_-_Arabic_script_-_isolated_form_-_%D8%AF_(IPA_d).svg.png

the "you" is made up of two sounds, the "y" (or "i" same thing in arabic) and the "oo"
the "i" -when used in the middle of a word- can look like either one of the last two on the right in the flick below (ignore the blue line):
http://www.learnlangs.com/RWP/Arabic/images/yaa2.gif

but since the "D" never connects to a letter that's placed after it in the word, it'll look like the last one on the right (in the flick above). otherwise we'd have choosen the third "i" from the left

this is the arabic "oo" (ignore the blue line again)
http://www.learnlangs.com/RWP/Arabic/images/waaw.gif

and this is the arabic "k"
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:7PxpH1u-01EMDM:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Uyghur_-_Arabic_script_-_isolated_form_-_%D9%83_(IPA_k).svg/400px-Uyghur_-_Arabic_script_-_isolated_form_-_%D9%83_(IPA_k).svg.png

so your four arabic letters that spell "duke" in arabic are called the "dal" (that's the D - in red), the "ya" (that's the Y - in purple), the "waw" (that's the OO - in green), and the "kaf" (that's the K - in blue) :
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs221.snc4/38372_143942898965961_100000507545549_331039_50451 04_n.jpg

and the rest are just extensions and extras like the halo, the quotes and the number 1 that's on the word's LEFT (remember arabic is written right to left)

Hope I elaborated enough :)

Aesir, here's why it looks bad:

arabic graffiti hasn't yet fully developed and hasn't reached its peak in style and flow in middle eastern countries, due mainly because of its recent apparition in the area

[Zookyook]

yea i like the handstlyes more than anything... more than ANY handstlyes ive seen in any other language hah... tell me how to write consume!

[SECH]

ديوك واحد is kinda like the same letters of ur name in arabic but if u want the meaning it is نبيل ,دوق

[SECH]

yea i like the handstlyes more than anything... more than ANY handstlyes ive seen in any other language hah... tell me how to write consume!

ur name have a meaning in arabic which is استهلك
u can also write it like this كونسيوم same as ur name letters just in arabic

[DukeOne]

ur name means noble in arabic . دوق ,نبيل
those are the write ones.


i can do a handstyle for ya am not that good in calligraphy but i still have a decent arabic handtyle.

Ya man that would be sick if it's not to much trouble


ديوك واحد
^that's the right one

So wait, confused now lol

دوق ,نبيل - Transleates to Noble? This translations is more meaning oriented rather than text related, correct?

Phat
ديوك واحد - Translates to Duke as well?

I'll end up trying both out sooner or later, just don't want to be completly ingnorate of what I put down haha.

[SECH]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4154/4842176768_416f549ba9.jpg

simple

[SECH]

ديوك واحد.نبيل.دوق all are translated to ur name or have the same meaning.

[Phat 2]

here's a bunch of delicious arabic flowing handstyles... but obviously they're english

http://logoblink.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/arabic-tags.png

[DukeOne]

Ok sickkk man thanks a lot!

Ill hopefully have somthing to show in a few

[Phat 2]

wait wait wait, I just saw ur question
no man, read the one where I explained about your name step by step with each letter back in page 1, I think you'll get it

duke means noble, but sech was using a translator apparently... since it's a name, you don't translate it by meaning... you just copy its sound... what it sounds like: "dyook"
so you just do this: ديوك

follow my little tutorial and do something urself, should be clear enough :)

and yo sech, let's see some good arabic flowin' handstyles... exchange me, what do u write? hook me up a فاث with an ithnayn next to it :>

[DukeOne]

OHHHHH ok lol understand now

haha sry, a bit slow today. Ill work with that for now, hopefully I don't lose any critical portions of the letters with extensions.
Thanks Again guys

[SECH]

didn't use a translator but phat2 is right.

[Phat 2]

here's consume... egh, hard word

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs116.ash2/39126_143950765631841_100000507545549_331284_32694 28_n.jpg

and off for tonight, been a tough day. see y'all tomorrow

[Zookyook]

god fuckin damn, now i know what illiterate people feel like

[Phillip McDougall]

I'll pass... I think Arabic should stay in its calligraphic state. but that's just my opinion. More power to those who continue the scene though.

[Ronathon]

Ooooh, if were playing this game...

Whats Cuban in arabic?

[DukeOne]

Maybe should have thrown a 3d on this, but was my first attempt at this. Hopefully this still is visible and readable – ديوك
SECH & Phat you'll have to let me know

"Head in the Clouds, Hands in the Sand"

http://i581.photobucket.com/albums/ss260/someguyok/DukeArabic.jpg

[massacreman]

The pieces suck, but it's cool to see the evolution of graff happen over there.

[Phat 2]

duke, that was ace... I just cannot make one single comment about it :) excellent job bro, two thumbs and a toe up
now go ahead and add your effects, 3D, forcefield whatever u want... the 3d most probably would have to go to the upper right corner of the composition as to not ruin that quote down there and to fill the empty space..
and try to add colors
but again, regarding the lettering, you got it down perfectly... maybe you'll work some extensions and make it wildstyle in your next one (if you're planning on doing another) this one is the simple straight letter arabic style. :)

and this is Cuban: كيوبان

[SECH]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/4843059507_eb3a46fb8d.jpg

[Phat 2]

chyeahhh
lemme drop some more knowledge

[Phat 2]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v361/116/65/674011604/n674011604_2045104_3279.jpg
"Shere'na wahad" (our united street) by Revo Crew

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v361/116/65/674011604/n674011604_1999674_1158.jpg
"Beirut" by Revo Crew

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs039.snc4/34319_10150217947630486_635065485_13327064_4748880 _n.jpg
"Jardon" (Rat) by Rat REK

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs401.snc3/24328_419129382183_592707183_5670774_6919025_n.jpg
"Beirut jannit baton" (Beirut, a concrete heaven) by Khat ahmar crew

Khat ahmar are basically Ashekman's children in graffiti, they're 100% purely inspired by em. Like ashekman, khat ahmar are also rappers, even in rap their style seems to be similar to their inspirers...
and just like ashekman, I'm not their biggest fan at all =\
but hell, I think they deserve credit for trying

[SAEO-GS]

ill get in on this, can you do anything for saeo? (pronounced say-oh)

[Phat 2]

saeo: سايو

handstyle example:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs103.ash2/38470_144293562264228_100000507545549_333980_48471 85_n.jpg

[SECH]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4086/4845437749_ecf2d2994f.jpg

[Phat 2]

sech what do u write?
let's do an exchange

[SECH]

english or arabic ????

[Phat 2]

actually let's do both

[SECH]

ok i write sech,محمد
u phat,فات ????

[SECH]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/4846349449_2d0d491e2f.jpg

[Phat 2]

cool I'll hit u up, but can u do one that's a graff handstyle instead of calligraphy?

[SECH]

i'll try my best but i suck at arabic graffiti handstyles only good at calligraphy.

[Alts13]

damn these arabic handstyles are nice, what would Alts be in arabic?

[Phat 2]

alts = التس
go ahead and give it a shot, show us what u come up with

and sech/mohammed:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs212.snc4/38948_144424785584439_100000507545549_334594_20670 83_n.jpghttp://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs232.snc4/38948_144424782251106_100000507545549_334593_24011 62_n.jpg

[SECH]

here u go phat

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4127/4846903949_911842b6fd.jpg

another handstyle, out of markers did this one in 2 pencils attached to each other so it is a handstyle.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/4847532786_a04ab31d62.jpg

[SECH]

alts here ya go.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/4847624152_5cac1fa7fa.jpg

[Phat 2]

thanks breh, what does the second one say though ? the one with the pencils

[SECH]

عرب ج,arab graffiti

[SECH]

another duke,ديوك
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4123/4849530326_8639787999.jpg

[MoganOne]

another duke,ديوك
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4123/4849530326_8639787999.jpg

That is tight!

[Phat 2]

hehe, he liked that word

[Alts13]

cheers Sech and Phat

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj259/decyferone/IMG_0072.jpg
should have spent more time on this literally knocked it out in 5 minutes

[Phat 2]

yes sir, u got it down. just don't add that extension coming out of the last letter on the right which is the arabic A, it's supposed to just look like a line, or else it could end up looking like a different arabic letter... you can play around with extensions coming outta its top though :>

[Alts13]

yea I thought that as I was doing it, but thought I could blame it on me having no clue about Arabic, thanks for the heads up though

[Stigma02]

i have no idea what any onf these says but they are sick! haha

[DukeOne]

cheers Sech and Phat

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj259/decyferone/IMG_0072.jpg
should have spent more time on this literally knocked it out in 5 minutes

Alts! Good to see you over here, trying this out. Definitely take another swing at it, maybe square it up a bit with thicker bars.

But I know had hard this is, not being able to read or write or speak Arabic either, its like drawing blind haha


another duke,ديوك
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4123/4849530326_8639787999.jpg

DOPE!
Thanks sech, deffinatly gonna try this out again soon

[SECH]

^thanks.
i speak and write arabic but it still is HARD to write the letters in graffiti.

[Task977]

pretty dope. lots of bad can control down there tho

[Ronathon]

Thanks Phat.

[Phat 2]

more flix

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs128.ash2/39736_455509027183_592707183_6662727_3767093_n.jpg
"inna el ihbat laysa kadaran" (depression is not fate) by Yaz (from Khat Ahmar)
I donno what's his point but meehh it's worth posting

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v235/185/106/1014103149/n1014103149_30061209_47.jpg
"Damir el arabi" (the arab's conscience) by Kim

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v320/185/106/1014103149/n1014103149_30144987_676.jpg
"Ramadan Kareem" (Happy Ramadan) by Kim

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v235/185/106/1014103149/n1014103149_30060497_417.jpg
"baddna nwalle'ha" (we gon' fire it up) by Kim

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v198/187/20/752860526/n752860526_2553600_2691.jpg
"manta'etna" (our turf) by Kimewi

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs092.snc4/35975_144923898867861_100000507545549_338701_71114 51_n.jpg
"Beirut ma bet moot" (Beirut never dies) by REK crew

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs118.ash2/39219_144924165534501_100000507545549_338702_33651 76_n.jpg
"Frez" (strawberry) by Fres SDF
my brother and crew mate to whom I extend all my respect - much props to him, the godfather of lebanese graff

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs218.snc4/39219_144924172201167_100000507545549_338703_29199 71_n.jpg
"mazej beirut" (beirut's mood) by Siska REK

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs144.ash2/40563_144924178867833_100000507545549_338705_64449 62_n.jpg
"taht el asef" (under the bombing) by Kabrit REK

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs218.snc4/39219_144924182201166_100000507545549_338706_18188 29_n.jpg
"Sha'er bel Sheri'i" (poet in the street) by Siska REK

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs105.ash2/38580_144924185534499_100000507545549_338707_71761 39_n.jpg
"tol'it brasna" (expression: we took the bullet) by M3alim REK

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs118.ash2/39219_144924188867832_100000507545549_338708_12856 89_n.jpg
"abas" (in vain) by REK crew

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs257.snc4/40203_144924548867796_100000507545549_338710_40101 25_n.jpg
"Ya Beirut" (in arabic, "ya" is placed before someone's name when you're calling them, like "YA DAVE!" - "HEY DAVE!) by Fish REK

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs277.snc4/40203_144924552201129_100000507545549_338711_53836 34_n.jpg
"Lhara" (the hood) by Kabrit REK

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs257.snc4/40203_144924555534462_100000507545549_338712_81090 06_n.jpg
Beirut by Kabrit REK

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs137.ash2/40203_144924558867795_100000507545549_338713_15741 40_n.jpg
Beirut by Fish REK

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs135.ash2/40082_144924565534461_100000507545549_338715_37626 88_n.jpg
"La lil ta'ifiyya" (no to sectarianism) by I don't know who

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs273.snc4/39990_144924572201127_100000507545549_338717_49163 86_n.jpg
Berlin by Stone

[Ronathon]

Lovin that first one with the pic of the guy on.
(I realise hes probably some famous arab but I dont recognise him lol)

[Phat 2]

yeah that's Samir Kassir, a famous journalist who was assasinated... he was the voice of truth
they set a bomb in his car and it went off when he started the engine. the accident happened only a block away from where I live. he was parked right under the building where he and his wife lived... she never knew that it was the last time she kissed him goodbye

the character's great, but the piece has toy letter structure.

[SECH]

any1 one want his name written ?????!!!!

[PREA672]

i would :D PREA

[Stigma02]

yeah that's Samir Kassir, a famous journalist who was assasinated... he was the voice of truth
they set a bomb in his car and it went off when he started the engine. the accident happened only a block away from where I live. he was parked right under the building where he and his wife lived... she never knew that it was the last time she kissed him goodbye

the character's great, but the piece has toy letter structure.

thats funny cuz it looks pretty good from an english standpoint lol

[SECH]

sure ,btw i write arabic calligraphy not graffiti just so u know

[Phat 2]

not really, stigma, you don't have to have an english standpoint nor an arabic one, the aesthetics of graffiti are universal, and wherever ure from, the rules are gonna be the same, so are the factors that define whether your pieces are good or not

in Yaz's piece's case: no flow, unproportional dimensions, the lines aren't solid enough, perspective errors...

look at the flow in "Ya Beirut" and "Beirut" by Fish, and "Lhara" by Kabrit. Both dudes are from REK crew - look at their flow, now that's some dope shit, that's what I'm talkin about

look at Frez's hollow bomb, if it were in a battle with Yaz's shit, it'd kick its ass without a doubt, and I'm not just saying that coz he's my crewmate... but just look at how great a flow and style it haz

[Akosta Phoebia]

the arabic language looks much better just written on paper than the english language.

english NEEDS graffiti because its letters are just plain ugly
arabic seems to have a much 'prettier' language in general

so to make arabic graff look sick is going to take alot more skill than english. because almost anything is an improvement on english

just my 2 cents worth

[Phat 2]

the english letters are too stiff in nature, they're just different combinations of circles and straight lines, while arabic letters are made of curves and dots and accents, ligatures, links, cracks and creases and shit... there's so much going on there that it makes the arabic calligraphy a piece of art itself just the way it's written.
although there's no such thing as upper-case and lower-case letters in arabic.

[Alts13]

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj259/decyferone/IMG_0075.jpg

[Alts13]

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj259/decyferone/IMG_0076.jpg

[Phat 2]

hmmm... yeah that's great mano
except that you have another stick missing before the U shaped letter at the end of the word
look closely: التس

[Alts13]

shit haha I was doing it from memory, thought it seemed shorter

[Romikxx]

Personally i like the meanings i just think that its all kinda toy looking tho.

[SECH]

prea, بريا
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4863301609_6c532a6536.jpg
it's not much, not used to write one word names.

[Phat 2]

sech post pics of arabic graffiti from your area

[SECH]

there is none am only one drawing graffiti here, the only one in a population of 100,000 more or less.

[Phat 2]

oh naaaaa come on man, u gotta dig deep... go look in hidden places.
I know for a fact that they're like nazis when it comes down to graff where you live, I got a friend there that tells me about it... everyone bombs in really hidden really underground really chill spots. just think like a bomber and ask yourself where would u go if u wanted to bomb without getting caught.

[RES4]

can someone translate aspek?

i looked at different alphabets and they all seemed different

[Phat 2]

if by translate you mean "what it MEANS in arabic" then it means nothing, like I said earlier, it's a name - they don't have a translation

and if u mean u wanna know what it looks like then it looks like this: اسبيك

[RES4]

thats what i meant mate thanks

[biblebeltbangerz]

i wish i knew how to write in arabic its soooo dope to me.
some complex stuff going on in there!!

[SECH]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs230.snc4/38856_1564923728967_1411594558_1564622_6969323_n.j pg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs134.ash2/40047_1565913353707_1411594558_1567508_4375525_n.j pg

[Phat 2]

Ramadan Kareem to you too moe, and to all muslim people here

[Gyse]

Can either of you tell me what Aegr looks like in arabic?
Also, if you have any pictures of throwups in arabic I'd like to see them.

[Phat 2]

I'll tell u, but 1st: how do u pronounce aegr ?

and there's some throws:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs014.snc3/12143_101501176543467_100000507545549_38097_3215_n .jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v376/165/91/553205061/n553205061_4644169_6113.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs171.snc1/6410_160378826040_505376040_3855395_6689629_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v171/232/80/505376040/n505376040_833630_3013.jpg

[weakfingers]

Yo can someone hook me up with the proper translation for squint in Arabic?

[Gyse]

I'll tell u, but 1st: how do u pronounce aegr ?



Strong A sound, then grrrr. Like Ay-gur.

[Phat 2]

aegr : ايغر
squint : سكوينت

[weakfingers]

geah this is gonna be fun

[extinct]

wha bout "made"

[Phillip McDougall]

Get me a Brains and I'll try to make it as cool as possible.

[Phat 2]

made: مايد

brains: براينز

u guys try these words out. I think it would be something special to have an arabic piece of your name in your blackbooks. not every writer has that ;)

[proNYNJA]

can you be so kind and translate SURGE too please.

[weakfingers]

Its kinda hard to wrap my head around the bars and shit. Ill try working on it abit more its something I'd try to get more into when i get the time.

squint : سكوينت
http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt300/2wayducttape/DSC_1021-1.jpg

[Phat 2]

haha alright, no let me explain.
your problem is that you're reading it left to right. when it's supposed to be right to left, like the title says here :)

so it has to be on the same line, you can't do one above the other like u did here, it's one word even if it looks separated at that reverse "e" looking letter

and just like u wrote in that throw. your name is pronounced skwint

here are the translated letters


SKWINT سكوينت

so you see the two dots that you put as part of the arabic W (blue letter) are actually part of the arabic I (red letter) and should be under it.
that's why it doesn't work to have each part of the word on a line :)

ask questions if I wasn't clear

[weakfingers]

if your reading right to left why does it mean hows the word is split and positioned? Is the thing completely unledgible. I already feel bummed on the whoel thing.

[Phat 2]

coz it would be ok for the first half of the word to be above the second half IF you were doing an english left to right word
but since ure doing an arabic right to left word. then your first half is now under the second half which doesn't work. or else people will read your name as "int squ"

either way you don't split it coz it's just one word :P

just try again man, it's cool. that was just a bic sketch.

[Phillip McDougall]

made: مايد

brains: براينز

u guys try these words out. I think it would be something special to have an arabic piece of your name in your blackbooks. not every writer has that ;)
m

[-Wings-]

can anyone hook me up with how Seyo Or Seyor looks in arabic?

[Phat 2]

allah is god in case u didn't know

but I'm not religious so I donno who here cares :P


can anyone hook me up with how Seyo Or Seyor looks in arabic?

saeo: سايو

handstyle example:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs103.ash2/38470_144293562264228_100000507545549_333980_48471 85_n.jpg

they basically both look the same because Seyo and Saeo practically sound the same in pronounciation

[(SoS)Viruz]

Yo Can anyone do the name

DIRE?

Oh and this thread is pretty catchy if I do say so myself

[IbuprofenTablets]

That Saeo looks pretty tough, Phat.
Hook me up with a Hair. :D

[Phat 2]

Oh and this thread is pretty catchy if I do say so myself

That Saeo looks pretty tough, Phat.
thanks gents :)

dire = داير

hair:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs211.ash2/47468_151191558241095_100000507545549_378253_79656 75_n.jpg

[SECH]

hair would be هآير right ???

[SECH]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs387.snc4/44984_1592999350840_1411594558_1646959_8264452_n.j pg

[Phat 2]

yes!

[SECH]

yo phat post some sketches ,keep the thread alive :D

[SECH]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4955953344_4db4d3bf73_z.jpg
not happy at all with this one but no one will know :D

[SECH]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs202.ash2/46498_1597044251960_1411594558_1654694_5204312_n.j pg

[SECH]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4151/4957243185_2745b3a86f_z.jpg

[Phat 2]

oh I'm not doing any arabic graff lately man - I prefer western much much more.

but ok

I've posted this piece's photo at the beginning of this thread:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs262.snc3/27786_127758183917766_100000507545549_245098_12703 67_n.jpg

here's its original sketch:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs414.snc4/47731_153644287995822_100000507545549_390032_18138 86_n.jpg

and here's a treat for the creative minds in BS:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs034.snc3/12143_101501496543435_100000507545549_38116_623521 9_n.jpg

it's an english piece from last year that says "Typographic Terrorism" written with arabic letters ;) (Ignore old shitty ass tag)

[SECH]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs328.ash2/60794_1605133254180_1411594558_1675097_7157874_n.j pg

[CuCCui]

aegr : ايغر
squint : سكوينت


what are you using to do this?if it's in an earlier post sorry but I read newest to oldest posts kinda like right to left ...come to think of it I read magazines like that too,seems more natural

[Phat 2]

it's an arabic lettertype... u gotta have arabic enabled in your operating system to be able to do it I think... it's something that you get installed with your initial setup of the PC.
could be wrong though

[||BREAD||]

I would so love to get into this writing, so insane, very artistic.

[Phat 2]

u should try it, tell me what you write, and I'll show what it looks like in arabic then you can give it a shot

[proNYNJA]

can you be so kind and translate SURGE too please.

can you translate Surge for meh plz, i wanna try doing my name in a different language.

[Phat 2]

yemen, my bad i didnt see ur post

surge = سوردج

[WoRdSmYtH]

Did a quick sketch on my desk Phat.
Nothing special, but it's def interesting...

The biggest problem is that I have no way of knowing if anything I do to it makes it illegible, know what I mean?

http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff379/MonkeySaysRelax/DEFACEArabic.jpg?t=1290375587
ديفايس / 'DEFACE'

Anyways, there it is. If you notice, it also abstractly says DEFACE in English left to right...
The A is hidden between the bars, if you know what I mean.

[Phat 2]

The biggest problem is that I have no way of knowing if anything I do to it makes it illegible

think of it the same way you think of english fonts.
see that arabic deface I typed up for you? that's the base font, that's what regular arabic with no style and effects at all looks like. the raw lettertype. just like english keyboard letters. simple and straight letters with no add-ons or extensions or anything.
so consequently, the exact same rules of latin graff apply to oriental graff. the more your letters are similar to the original font, the more legible it'll turn out to be.

so if you're gonna start doing arabic graff, you're gonna have to go about starting the same way you would start when learning english graff: doing simples and straight letters without any effects, add-ons, extensions, cuts, or any other manipulation. u gotta keep practicing your letters until you memorize their proportions, what they look like, which letter is which etc, just like u do with english...

I hope this helps
btw, that's a pretty decent try u threw up there. keep going man, and stick to what I told u up there. don't make cuts where there isn't in the original font. it changes the word
think of it like when u make a cut in the bottom bar of an E. it'll make it look like an F with a dot under its middle bar, and if it's in the middle of a word, it'll end up just looking like an F to people who donno ur name. catch my drift?

[Phat 2]

ugg yours, bot! don't spam this thread!

[Phat 2]

that's good for a start shaman :)
a couple shadow mistakes here and there
some tweaks in the flow/letter consistency of your piece and you got yourself a basic arabic simple :) works in chrome/black :)

[weedeater]

thanks man, im trying to go as simple as possible until i can clean everything up and get my drop shadows and 3d down. then ill start working on bending bars.

[Solace_one]

This thread is the shit, man; Phat2, I've always envied your handstyles. I see now where the influence comes from. Could you hook me up with "Smoke"?

[Phat 2]

thanks man, I appreciate the love... although I gotta be honest, arabic fonts have zero influence on my handstyles even though I live in this culture, I'm not really that into it. and I get flak from local writers sometimes for almost never writing in arabic... but ehh :P

sure I'll hook u up. u want smoke in arabic or english?

[Stuck]

man call me close minded but i find this shit gay as fuck.....

[massacreman]

agreed with stuck...
its OK if youre from arabia yourself but its whack to do this stuff on the streets

no hate, but the islam is spreading too fast allready

[Phat 2]

stuck, I'm done arguing with you... you're just proving to be a major pain in the ass lately. so I'm gonna peacefully ask you to please lay the fuck off my motherfucking back already fucktard

the thread wouldn't be moving forward with this many people interested in the subject if it was gay


agreed with stuck...
its OK if youre from arabia yourself but its whack to do this stuff on the streets

no hate, but the islam is spreading too fast allready

these kinds of comments arent good for the forum's image at all. can u guys please stop being racists without even knowing what you're talking about? that would be nice, thank you.

wtf is arabia? it's called the middle-east man...
why is THIS whack, but any other language graff is fine? if anything, these kinds of letters come with sick ass flow by default. so how about taking THAT and adding even more style to it. wouldn't even compare with rigid, straight english letters... give it the time english graff has had since the 70s to develop into what it is today and see what happens.
and question: what the hell does islam have to do with arabic graffiti?
another question: where's the problem if islam is spreading quick?

I'll understand if you didn't answer my questions (maybe it would even be better if you don't)

[Stuck]

K this is how i seee it, we live in america. The main language being english. Its bad enough we force out "art" on them. (ps i dont see it as art, im no art fag)
That annoys the average person enough butt if u write one word everywhere in english people are gona recognize it. the point being its universally understood. This arabic shit although is only gona be understood by the people who speak/write it or w.e. i dono i dont care

i dont mind the thread its a unique idea and its cool if u wana draw this in ur books, but i swear if i start seeing kids posting these letters in the painted section im gona be like " o lord what has this site come to"

[Phat 2]

fuck me? u faggets?
I'm not even muslim to begin with dipshit
in case you didn't know, allah is just the arabic word for God. pious christian and jewish parents teach their children to praise the lord too don't they? hate dem for being religious too?
what those muslims around you wanna paint is their own business and none of yours, tis the land of the free, innit?
and I'm sure dem mans keep fighting you for a reason. if your prejudiced ass never provoked them in the first place, none of that shit would be happening to you.

now if you don't mind, I'd like for this kind of bullshit to stay out of the topic, it's about graff. nothing else. it's only a different language. I bet that if it was called "Chinese graff" I wouldn't hear a peep

edit: you edited your whole reply up there while I was writing this. so now it seems to be off-topic. but no matter.
just quit flaming stuck

[Phat 2]

smoke :

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1150.snc4/149255_176536152373302_100000507545549_521867_6437 110_n.jpg

come on stuck, what do ya say. want me to put up an arabic "hear" for ya? xD

[Stuck]

yeah i provoked them wen i was ten and they would be robbing me, same wen i was 12 and still a shrimp, theyre fucking idiots around here,Thank god i grew fairly big and can now smash a few heads in before getn stomped . and yes i know allah means god. AND FYI i hate all people who blindly follow religion and use it as a crutch for life. Dont be another blind follower or extremist

[Phat 2]

smoke :

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1150.snc4/149255_176536152373302_100000507545549_521867_6437 110_n.jpg

come on stuck, what do ya say. want me to put up an arabic "hear" for ya? xD

bottom page bump - NEW PAGE!
PS: I'm not religious. I too hate people who blindly believe in things that have been force fed to them on an unconscious level and through propaganda... be it patriotic or religious or of any other aspect whatsoever.
Dont be another blind follower or hater

[Stuck]

smoke :


come on stuck, what do ya say. want me to put up an arabic "hear" for ya? xD

go 4 it

[Phat 2]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1354.snc4/162612_176543202372597_100000507545549_521915_1411 049_n.jpg

:>
cool huh?

[Stuck]

not floating my boat but respects for doing my name.....

[Phat 2]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs586.ash2/150872_178276002199317_100000507545549_534484_6688 228_n.jpg
"La Wein? L ahwe 'al nar!" (Where to? Coffee's almost done) by Phat2 ACK SDF

ignore the stencil on the left

it's a saying we have here for when someone who's getting ready to leave after visiting your place for a short time. like an invitation to hang around longer...
this was part of a competition with the theme of immigration. pointing out the fact that these people are always in such a hurry to leave the coutry as soon as they graduate or grow a bit older. a praise for them to hang around longer in their homeland...

[weedeater]

thats pretty dope bro. i had to save/crop out the left side of the flick, but after i did, that piece just popped off that green background.

[Phat 2]

ye i guess it turned out fine

[fruitfulanomie]

this is beautiful stuff. what i understand of graffiti aesthetics is a highly criticalness on "perfection" (proportion,flow,quickness, etc.). I dont feel that way about art.
especially it seems in western culture you know everyone has to fulfill an identity. in visual arts to music - genres/styles have elitists who feel that style is who they are, or who they need to be. I've been there fall into that trap still too.

either way i just find this stuff beautiful, i choose that word cuz to me it's beyond dope or perfect. i can see the lack of skill these peices carry that other people choose to focus on, but my aesthetic really is grounded more in life being art and art being life.. so therefore everything is perfectly flawed.

[Phat 2]

absolutely true

but one thing
the lack of skill is due to the fact that it's still a new thing here. so most writers still don't have enough experience. and we don't have good materials, so drips and blurry lines and shit are common problems among the scene's members.
some of us are learning, others have already adapted are able to control shitty cans pretty well now. but the rest is still only DISCOVERING this artform.
so bear with us :) :) :)

[Solace_one]

Yo man, thanks for the tag--and feel free to put it up in english, if you feel like it. Shit's cool as hell.... I've got one with english letters that's meant to look kinda arabic, but I don't have a camera or scanner, so I can't show it to you!

The 2-letter in your sig is fat, too. Do they have throws in Arabic?

[.newk.]

this is beautiful stuff. what i understand of graffiti aesthetics is a highly criticalness on "perfection" (proportion,flow,quickness, etc.). I dont feel that way about art.
especially it seems in western culture you know everyone has to fulfill an identity. in visual arts to music - genres/styles have elitists who feel that style is who they are, or who they need to be. I've been there fall into that trap still too.

either way i just find this stuff beautiful, i choose that word cuz to me it's beyond dope or perfect. i can see the lack of skill these peices carry that other people choose to focus on, but my aesthetic really is grounded more in life being art and art being life.. so therefore everything is perfectly flawed.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Phat, you do great work and have an excellent outlook at life. It's always nice to meet people who are more into the art aspect of things rather than the status aspect.

[Phat 2]

thanks newk. although I am into the status aspect as well. it's not just about art, it's also about getting up... but art is definitely part of it
solace, i reckon I've posted a few arabic throws in the earlier pages, go back and try to find em if u wanna
I'll do a few arabic throws later and post em

[ribcage]

whats good witta reach phat?

[Tacit]

it's interesting, but a lot of it just looks bad...

i was about ot say that, glad some one agrees, most of its not BAD, but its definateley not good, borderline toy, almost.

[chumbawamba]

i never bothered to learn to read/write arabic. now i wish i have.

(egyptian living in north america)

[Phat 2]

Tacit, go back to my previous post and see why it's toy

and here's an update from me, I posted these photos in the other thread, but they belong in this one as well so why not:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/190024_206771636016420_100000507545549_733652_2574 325_n.jpg

This says "Sawra". means "Revolution" in arabic
and this next one is the arabic Coca Cola logo

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/197384_206771149349802_100000507545549_733651_3490 378_n.jpg

both of these were commissions for a Coca Cola tv commercial

and here's an arabic REACH throw and handstyle : )

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/189780_207339369292980_100000507545549_736773_4655 020_n.jpg

[ribcage]

O fasho! i bet arabic rollers are quite entertaining and they prolly look pretty steazy... I might give it a go

[Phat 2]

lol, the red one is spray paint bro. its only the background thats roller :> can controllll my man

[ribcage]

nah i wasn't sayin yours was a roller, it looks like spray paint. I was just saying that doing an a roller with arabic letters would prolly be entertaining. Cause rollers with regular letters theres an extreme amount of room for error, but these letters seems like you gotta be more precise with

[weedeater]

stole this flick, wanted to know what it says. would you care to oblige phat?

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/6180/4651h.jpg (http://img51.imageshack.us/i/4651h.jpg/)

[thepekins]

wait phat you got commissioned to do a coke logo? like payed? ????

[Phat 2]

weedeater, looks like either tadbig, tadbeeg, tadbij, tadbeej, or "that big"... it might help if you can tell me what do the tags next to it say

and yeah, I got paid for the coke

[thepekins]

damn phat thats fuckin baller dude. You gotta be mad pro to get a payin job anywhere near me. Where you from just out of curiosity? surely not US lol

[weedeater]

i wish i had a higher res version, i cant see the tags either, i appreciate though my man, i thought the shit looked mad clean and wanted to know who painted it

[camelbombing]

weedeater it looks like Tadbij to me aswell



there is none am only one drawing graffiti here, the only one in a population of 100,000 more or less.

Where are you from?
if your in the Middle East I will easily prove you wrong.

[weedeater]

thank you sir, ive been looking for flicks with arabic panels and walls, i really dig the style

[DoucheBag]

haha alright, no let me explain.
your problem is that you're reading it left to right. when it's supposed to be right to left, like the title says here :)

so it has to be on the same line, you can't do one above the other like u did here, it's one word even if it looks separated at that reverse "e" looking letter

and just like u wrote in that throw. your name is pronounced skwint

here are the translated letters



so you see the two dots that you put as part of the arabic W (blue letter) are actually part of the arabic I (red letter) and should be under it.
that's why it doesn't work to have each part of the word on a line :)

ask questions if I wasn't clear

phat you need to hook an okae up,just like this!!
with the colors and all that jazz for each letter
i deff need to try my hand at these letters.theyre to beautiful to pass up lol

[Phat 2]

I'll try to do it later... kinda bit swamped right now
is it ponounced like a normal "okay"?

[Sketchamus]

I saw this thread and thought ive got to give this a go, I found some of the arabic lettering really fun to work with. Here's a quick piece I did earlier today, it should read 'dnb' as in Drum 'N' Bass, that is providing the english to arabic translation site i used is reliable enough, the main piece is in Mashq style and the tag is in Tradition style,

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/218097_10150216275561204_746771203_8452104_3505124 _n.jpg

[DoucheBag]

I'll try to do it later... kinda bit swamped right now
is it ponounced like a normal "okay"?

yep.
Thanks man,dont feel pushed or in a rush to do it if you got shit going on :]

[Eclectic Boogaloo]

ay Phat could u do a HERVE for me yo?

[SECH]

Where are you from?
if your in the Middle East I will easily prove you wrong.
aqaba-jordan

[Phat 2]

yeah sketchamus. close enough. it's actually excellent regarding the fact that you had no help at all doing it... unless you read the whole thread and followed all the pointers

[camelbombing]

aqaba-jordan
i have heaps of flicks from Jordan, ill send you a PM later because i dont want to clutter this thread with stuff whats not Arabic.

On the other hand, fresh steeze from Oras!
i beleive this is in Spain so ill post it here instead of the middle east thread.
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/208506_1965887193863_1443407081_32261655_8128480_n .jpg

[Sketchamus]

yeah sketchamus. close enough. it's actually excellent regarding the fact that you had no help at all doing it... unless you read the whole thread and followed all the pointers

Thanks man. I read the first few pages of the thread and thought ive got to give this a go. I've always seen arabic graffiti pieces online and in graphotism mags etc but never really looked into it, but im so glad I have because the lettering is so exciting to work with. I also like the fact that you can write deep, even controversial messages and most of the puplic would be unaware of what it actual says.

[mindtrix350]

Yo Phat, I was wondering if you could show me how wilbur (Will-Burr) looks, if it's not too much trouble.

[camelbombing]

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/179800_10150127721671125_641141124_8258644_6284647 _n.jpg
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/165729_10150127721696125_641141124_8258645_4999067 _n.jpg

[camelbombing]

From here to fame have released a book about arabic graffiti

Whether on the freight trucks of Lebanon, along village alleyways in Bahrain, on the bullet-riddled walls of Palestine, or adorning the walls of Western metropolises and designer bags, Arabic script has experienced a revival. Graffiti writers are increasingly experimenting with calligraphy on walls, and young designers are creating new fonts and type designs in books, galleries and public spaces. At times, Arabic graffiti voices the suffering of a nation, while in other contexts it serves as a quest for identity. Regardless whether the writing is in Beirut, Gaza, Tehran, Paris, London, Berlin or Montréal, Arabic graffiti cries out personal and national ideas in expressive calligraphic and typographic words.
“Arabic Graffiti” brings together artists, graffiti writers and typographers from the Middle East and around the world who merge Arabic calligraphy with the art of graffiti writing...

you can read more here http://fromheretofame.com/books/arabic.html
Or
Here Arabic Graffiti, Camelbombing.com (http://camelbombing.com/graffiti/arabic-graffiti/)

[Phat 2]

yeah i know ;) im featured in that book

[Eclectic Boogaloo]

where can i buy that book?

[Phat 2]

where can i buy that book?
it was only launched yesterday... so I still dont know where it's available so far, but it still isn't released in Beirut yet, that much I know
but I think if you contact the mans on fromheretofame they might give you an answer
its 36$ fcking ayyy... i hope I get one for free or something if they throw some sort of launching party or something

follow the link in camelbombing's post

on another note, here's a video of my homegirl SENS ACK with some quick arabic tags ^_^


http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150156448290863

[Eclectic Boogaloo]

im gonna wait till its on amazon

[ribcage]

that chick has mad bars

[Eclectic Boogaloo]

i always thought sens was a dude

[Phat 2]

lol, how come u "always" thought she was a dude?
how do you know her? the only way you could have heard of her before this clip is if you lived in germany and seen some of her very few works there

[ribcage]

^lol that is strange....

@electricboogaloo you live in Cali? theyre is a sens/senser here thats up all over the north thats a dude...

[Eclectic Boogaloo]

lol ive seen u throw sens and fish up in your pics. i just assumed that you rolled with a crew of dudes

[Phat 2]

oh yeah. that's right, they're both in my crew, sens is the only chick among us :)
but u know there's like a million people who write sens or sense around the world, it's like the most common graff name

[weedeater]

other than everyone wanting to write sane or aser haha

[camelbombing]

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee419/camel9/19719363_n.jpg

[Phat 2]

even I cant read that
is it YA SALAM ?

[camelbombing]

yeah i see 'ya sa...' cant make it out, ill try to find out tho

[camelbombing]

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee419/camel9/208007-1.jpg

[Phat 2]

some of my university calligraphy projects:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/208187_214298725263711_100000507545549_788967_5136 366_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/222110_214298948597022_100000507545549_788970_8403 85_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/215682_214298865263697_100000507545549_788969_2588 637_n.jpg

[Phat 2]

non arabic readers, what do you see ?

[weedeater]

the lost language of the underwater city atlantis

[Phat 2]

lol what else ?
how about images ?

[DoucheBag]

...looks like it should be tshirt graphics or tattoos

[camelbombing]

Last one reminds me of batman for some reason man haha

[SECH]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5106/5646726553_d5c857a0c3.jpg
:D bored

[camelbombing]

Heres a flick
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee419/camel9/44861218616750jpg.jpg


also today i realised how many complete morons are in the 'scene' here in the middle east.

[SECH]

also today i realised how many complete morons are in the 'scene' here in the middle east.

LOL..saw u on that arab graffiti site thats why i guess .

[camelbombing]

LOL..saw u on that arab graffiti site thats why i guess .

nah man, thats far from it, was just a bunch of idiots talking shit on facebook about my website haha.

[Phat 2]

camelbombing, no hate my man, but I wouldn't put my web's label on flicks I didn't take myself if you know what I mean
these people have their privacy you know.
do they approve of you using their photos in your public blog ?
I myself dont mind you taking the photos from my group, coz it's public itself... but I've seen photos with your label on dem from some middle eastern writers' private facebook profiles ô_o

[Toxia]

Hey, i wanna write my name in Arabic, Toxic. The style of writing is quite interesting, and i want to give it a shot (and i don't completely trust the google translator for one word).

[Phat 2]

توكسيك
that's toxic^

and here's the video of the flicks from last page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90y4L2pDBeM

[camelbombing]

hahaha thats sick man!

[Phat 2]

HOPE handstyle for my mate

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/227416_216648778355112_202093693143954_878461_6007 347_n.jpg

[skinaone]

i want to write my name in arb how do i do it

[Phat 2]

you read this thread from beginning to end, and then take a few years to study arabic writing at college I'd say

[Eclectic Boogaloo]

thats tight phat i rememvber when u did that

[Phat 2]

I wrote that hope an hour ago

[skinaone]

Lmao

[n0b0dy]

i've always found calligraphy to be interesting. phat, could you help me out and write BAY for me to practice?

[Phat 2]

باي
sure, this is it ^

[n0b0dy]

that was quick, thanks

[Phat 2]

lol its not like i drew it or anything. i only typed it on my keyboard, the whole process took exactly 1 second. that'll be 50$ kthx

[n0b0dy]

i tried it on google, but didn't wanna risk trusting it. payment sent via paypal.

[ATAK!:3]

trying to get into this can't quite figure out if the letters are different if theyre combined with other letters since my name isnt a real word it's a bit hard

[Phat 2]

yes their form changes when they're connected to the letter before and/or after them. almost every arabic letter has 4 different forms. it depends which you use on where the letter falls in the word. at the beginning, at the end, somewhere in the middle, or free standing.

[ATAK!:3]

what would nox look like?

[Phat 2]

نوكس

[SECH]

30523
RAMADAN KAREEM :p

[Saiko]

dat looks kuel.
سيكو

[Phat 2]

there you go saiko. that's exactly what saiko is in arabic :) how did you figure it out may I ask? you write arabic or know an arabic writing friend?

sech, nice

[Saiko]

I first asked my Muslim brother, jamal..., he then wrote it down for me. After that i went to google to convert it to digital. I looked back at the paper to see if it was right.
I'm working on a hand for that right now.
I've gotta get a calligraphic pen for this.

[SECH]

30634

[SECH]

30640

[PETER]

This has always intrested me. Growing up I loved calligraphy and typography. The beauty of your written language has blown me away since childhood. Sech and Phat can I talk both of you into doing and Antik One for me? I would greatly appriciate it.

[SECH]

انتيك antek
30715

[Phat 2]

raaaaah mate, you're on it.
trust me peter, that one up there is a VERY generous piece of calligraphy... you might not realize it, but it's not just regular hand writing, it's pretty advanced and real well stylized.
props, sechie.. oh and ramadan karim brotha ! :)

[PETER]

Phat2: I can only imagine!!! I took some classes when I was in elementary school and that was english/old english caligraphy. And I am diving back into caligraphy and typography with a friend who is fairly advanced. Much about the middle east intrests me. So much more history in human culture than found just about anywhere.
Sech: That truly is beautiful. Thank you for your time. I am honored.

Both: Thank you for this thread, for many reasons. Keep pushing. Stay up. (I hope this comes across the right way.) وقد كنت على حد سواء المباركة

[SECH]

30725
np peter took me like 5 min :), and thanks phat appreciate it

[PETER]

that is beautiful. I love the red and gold digital piece up the page a bit too. Rock it out Sech.

[SECH]

thanks ,some more.
30777
3077830779
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6081/6080413614_26dd2ed0af_z.jpg

[Phat 2]

you should've went with the square dots in that last one... but sick stuff mayne, keep up.
I'll give these islamic-arabic style calligraphy later on to see what happens :)

[PETER]

Sech: I would consider a tattoo like the second one and I refuse to get a tattoo.
just a thought, but would an ambigram be possible?

[SECH]

the second one is actually two different words ,could this be what u mean by ambigram ??? reads the same in these directions???? (same for the second word)
30801
30800
allah akbar

[Phat 2]

check this out
it's a university project I was working on last year or the one before. we had to create an arabic font, here's mine, it's a handstyle alphabet.
we then had to take every letter and create arabesque designs with them, and then finally we had to combine both and use them to make an islamic-art poster:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/301400_271290122897904_100000507545549_1044760_662 6403_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/320522_271288169564766_100000507545549_1044755_122 0211_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/296030_271288022898114_100000507545549_1044753_617 2657_n.jpg

3rd flick is an arabic poem about habits.

[PETER]

Sech: An ambigram would read the same or two different words. here are some examples. http://www.celebrating-halloween.com/images/pumpkincarving/stencil-fire-ambigram.gif one word example. http://www.redchapterclothing.com/images/samples/Flipping-Ambigrams---Family-Forever.gif

Phat2: That is an awesome project. The arabesques are beautiful. I particularly like the one in the top row center. Would you mind a basic translation of the poem? I am a fan of poetry... and struggle with habits.

[PETER]

gotta bump this.... I was way excited when I found it and want it to keep going.

[SECH]

32256
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6191/6146267813_8d7125000d_z.jpg

[Don Stone]

Fnally this October: Arabic Graffiti book release events in Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt. More info coming soon!!!!!

oh yeah, I forgot that one: gotta love this thread!!!

[PETER]

Sech: They are lovely. interpertation?

[Phat 2]

hahaha whatup stooooooone. you creepy creepy boii you. you followin me all the way here to bombing science? :P

[Phat 2]

bump this bitch with 3 digi-throws
they say the same thing "what's up?", just different styles.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/312831_292006267492956_100000507545549_1128255_965 683555_n.jpg

[PETER]

I love that top one Phat.

[ZETA]

phat, those are dope as tits. i like how the dots in the bottom one are holes. clever. and itd be cooler if i could read it... how many letters/characters in the arabic alphabet? or is it like chinese where its near infinite...

[Phat 2]

it's 28 letters

[TBS]

really cool and interesting thread. that digi shit looks cool as fuck Phat! seriously COOL AS FUCK!!