Globally, the creative process, known as “digital art”, has been gaining a lot of traction lately. In essence, this kind of art demands ample creativity and imagination because your creations can take you anywhere. It also gives artists a creative outlet and opens up a wide range of new technological possibilities. To get the details we need about this field, we talked to Egypt’s Hesham Ali and Amr elshamy whose work has received official recognition and served as an inspiration for many other artists.
Amr Elshamy
Elshamy is an Egyptian award-winning visual/digital artist, photographer, and filmmaker. He is the artist behind Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 splash screen and is one of the best 36 artists worldwide. Through his exceptional artwork, he received “The Promising Youth Honor Award” from President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the 2019 World Youth Forum. Apart from creating 2D & 3D digital artwork, Elshamy also does some filmmaking, and photography as well as owning Hotamr Studio.
When we asked Elshamy how he draws his inspiration for his artwork, he responded that inspiration hits him from his dreams, music, or even specific places or situations in his life. So essentially everything has an impact on his creative progress. We were most interested in learning about the abilities required for this line of work, and Elshamy did not let us down with his response, “the most important thing is to have an open mind about trying different styles and tools and not be stuck in his safe zone.”
Elshamy then emphasized that the idea is not to aim to be successful, as many artists become successful but later no one hears about them; therefore, the idea has always been to create something that will live on for eternity. He continued by citing a quote by American writer, Chuck Palahniuk, “everyone dies. The objective is to produce something that will endure, not to live forever.”
As with many artists, some tend to get caught into what the audience demands or what’s “trending”, but Elshamy had a strong response to that trap. He expressed that he does not create work with a particular audience in mind and instead makes it available to everyone. Elshamy loves to experiment with new digital work while staying current with cutting-edge tools and technology in the industry, such as artificial intelligence that may be incorporated into the designs and as a consequence, his work stands out.
To get the bigger picture of the digital art scene in the Middle East, Elshamy thinks that “art, in general, will be different in the next few years and will never be the same with the new artificial intelligence engines that create art in just a few seconds.” This is because it is a new tool mostly for artists to take advantage of to develop their style and become more efficient in their work.
Finally, Elshamy expressed that there are a lot of special projects for him, and one of his favorite projects is the one he did for the splash screen of Adobe Photoshop 2017, “I was super happy for Adobe to choose my work to be featured on the most popular software on the planet.” This is also not the first project he worked on with Adobe previously working on The Bully Project Mural: The Eyes back in 2013 where he was chosen to create artwork with the best 16 artists in the world and became the first Arab Egyptian artist to work with Adobe.
Hesham Ali
Ali is a visual artist who mostly specializes in manipulation art and 3D art. He works as the art director of an advertising agency in Maadi. As part of the advertising firm where Ali previously worked, he contributed to the design of the 2019 El Gouna Film Festival poster. Moreover, Ali created the poster independently for the Aswan International Women’s Film Festival and was nominated three years in a row to work on it. Aside from participating in film festivals, Ali worked on books and publications in Australia and the U.S. In 2015, he held a UNESCO-sponsored exhibition to display his digital artwork.
Ali draws his inspiration mainly from the streets of Egypt as he is very much influenced by culture and heritage due to the richness of culture in Egypt. As a result, Ali focuses on houses and buildings that convey the true essence of Egypt. In part, Ali likes to think of himself as an artist who is in a way preserving the culture and heritage of Egypt by utilizing them in his work.
Details are also one of the biggest things that digital artist has to pay attention to. This is because these small aspects can help you detect small errors and enable you to convey your true vision. Additionally, exposing one’s eye to a number of artworks is crucial. This helps artists widen their horizons and further their imagination.
Ali then asserted that his biggest joys are when his artwork gets applauded by ordinary people who are not necessarily art enthusiasts, proving that his work is for the people.
When asked about the scene for digital art in the Middle East, Ali expressed that 3D art especially is becoming very important as the metaverse is something most of the countries within the region are partaking in. This is because 3D art is more practical as you can explore a whole range of detail that couldn’t be achieved before through 2D designs. So in the future, Ali thinks that 3D designs will not be popular just through artwork, but they will engulf all facets of our day as more people want to see objects through different angles and shapes.
Finally, when we asked Ali about how he deals with a mental block, he said that he takes a break and maybe watches a movie or even looks at a picture that he really likes. While some of us may take this answer as mundane, Ali stressed that inspiration is the key to unique artwork. This inspiration can be drawn from anywhere, even if it was from simply watching a movie or a TV show.
Many young digital and graphic artists are pursuing their craft with passion as they are motivated by Elshamy and Ali’s outstanding creations. Both of their works, each of which has its own set of ideas, embody the essential essence of art.