Artist Name: Sana Almimar
Location: Iraq Baghdad
Title: Shanasheel
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 60 x 50 cm
Comments from the Artist: I have always loved drawing and painting since my childhood but unfortunately i have not had enough time to draw and paint only one year ago after retirement. My subject is about a style of building in Iraq called “Shanasheel “. It is a cultural style.For me painting Shanasheeel is a challenge because and as you see this kind of building has a queer features and drawing or painting it is not an easy task . Please give me your opinions .Thanks a lot .
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Angeline on Wed, 11th Feb 2009 4:44 pm
Sana,
Nice job! I love the fluid motion of your building. I’ve not been to Iraq, but I have been to Turkey. It looks like you captured the cultural building very well.
Nice colors, great trees!! Keep it up!!
Angeline
June Smith on Wed, 11th Feb 2009 5:49 pm
Beautifully done — I almost feel like I can reach in and touch it
Keep on going —
Sincerely
June Smith
Lucan , Ont., Canada
James on Thu, 12th Feb 2009 1:09 am
Hi Sana, nice and very cultural as you say. I would like to say as a United States citizen that that I am pleased to be sharing in the beauty of your art. I am not political, yet believe that all people of this small world could benefit from the coming together in peace through the arts. This is indeed unique architecture and I guess to offer an honest critique I would have liked to see a bit more contrast in the shadows. From what I know of your country ( and that is not much) that it is very sunny and the shadows would be well defined. I have become interested and will be soon placing a painting that I’ve just completed of a great and interesting bridge on my website. Or submitting to artist spotlite if Ralph.
allows second attempts since i was featured several moths ago.
I hope to see more of your work in the future.
James.
John on Thu, 12th Feb 2009 2:00 am
Nice work on the arch shapes and the fence on top. Two things I seem to have a problem with.
Christy McGuire on Thu, 12th Feb 2009 11:57 am
This looks fantastic! Keep up the great work!
MUKALLAF NAJIM on Thu, 12th Feb 2009 12:27 pm
the building looks like the house where i was born . I wish as i see the painting to be living in it now , not as a child but with my wife Sana , so i will have been living in it as a child and as an old man .
The most beautiful thing in this painting that who looks at it thinks that it is a real house not a painting.
I really love your painting Sana
Doreen Lickacz on Thu, 12th Feb 2009 5:34 pm
Good job Sana; So nice to see art from other parts of the world. What a lovely painting. Keep up the good work. Doreen
Warroya on Thu, 12th Feb 2009 7:43 pm
Great work Sana I love the warm comforting colours of your painting gives me the feeling of a memory or a dream of the past even though I have never been to your country I feel as if I know it well through the window your painting has opened in my imagination.
Thank you for sharing your work
MUKALLAF NAJIM on Thu, 12th Feb 2009 8:47 pm
this house looks like the house where i was born . I wish i am living in it now not as a child but as an old man with my wife Sana .
Looking at this painting make me feel that it is not a painting but it is a real house.
I really love your paintings
farah . the artest's doughter on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 9:11 am
since i was a littel girl i have many different things in my personality,
when i grow up i become a special person . and when i wonder why
. i look at my mum , i watch her when she is drawing and painting , and writing articles , and working in our garden , taking care of flowers . i guess i have the answers for my wondering .
i wish you the best mum , as you gave it to me
Saif ( Artist's son ) on Sat, 14th Feb 2009 9:32 am
Its really a great and very detailed painting , looks like real , keep on the great work …with my best wishes.
Dr. Derek P. Blake on Sun, 15th Feb 2009 12:28 pm
Sana, what can i say that otheres have not? Your colours are great, muted as they are I can feel the dust and the heat, I can feel the breeze rustling the leaves of those great trees. A very ethnic and well executed piece of work, well done, I’ hang it on my wall.
Derek
nawal on Sun, 15th Feb 2009 4:00 pm
Iam very pleased and surrprised to sea your wonderfull work ihave never thought you can do such picture ,Iam proud of you my dear sister
Nawal
Vin on Tue, 17th Feb 2009 11:39 am
Really beautiful work!! I liked the way you painted the window panes. The top verandah shadows effect is excellent. Fence is giving a 3D feeling…..good job..
Lynn Marlowe on Thu, 19th Feb 2009 12:47 am
This does look like a difficult building to draw, lots of measuring and values, etc. Well done.
Sana Almimar on Thu, 19th Feb 2009 12:35 pm
Hi everyone ,thanks a lot for your precious comments .I really feel very happy to have such encouraging comments from you all. .I would also like to thank Ralph for giving us all such a wonderful opportunity to share our artwork no matter from which part of the world we are .For those who are interested to have a friendship of art , here is my email address sanatelween@yahoo.com Thanks again and God bless you all
shams kamal on Thu, 19th Feb 2009 5:01 pm
hiiii how are u ??
….. I realy liked the painting very much
and I’m realy surprised because i didn’t imagen it as this beauty.
i liked every thing in it specialy the trees its very beautiful.
wish u the best ….and i hope to see more of ur work
Ingrid Albrecht on Wed, 25th Feb 2009 4:20 am
Hi Sana,
Thank you very much for your email, as I had not received the notice of this post for some reason! ;-/
You have done an excellent job giving the viewer a peek into the particular, beautiful architecture, “Shanasheel”, of your country! The drawing of this beautiful building is precise and it shows your passion and love of this architecture. Your handling of the painting is good, the trees are well done and the building is well painted. It is all documented very well.
Now I would like to share some of my thoughts with you. First of all you need to ask yourself the question….What am I trying to say in this painting? What is my intent? You have done a great job of documenting the FACTS, but if this were my painting, I would want to put a little DRAMA into the mix, over and above the facts!
What do I mean by this? Maybe have this building painted in the late afternoon sunlight, where the glowing late afternoon sun is shining its warm golden glow on the building, and then have the sky a dark gray-blue violet, used as a complimentary accent to the golden glow of the building. Within the building itself, maybe have one area emphasized a bit more than other areas. The upper area of the building is quite intricate in detail and would be an ideal focal area, glowing with a warm glow against a dark blue-violet sky. This change would be only IF you wanted to give your painting a bit more DRAMA and focal area. As your painting is now, I feel that the sky “shape” is too bright and blue and detracts a little from the beautiful work you did in your building. By emphasizing the building more and the sky less, more attention and interest is then given to the building….the subject of your painting.
In closing, please know that these are only my “eyes” offering this suggestion and you are the artist. Always ask yourself this question ……..what is my intent? You have great talent and a passion for drawing which is so very important.
THANK YOU for sharing with all of us and please keep painting! I am looking forward to seeing more of your wonderful work!
Happy painting!
Ingrid
sami almamar on Wed, 25th Feb 2009 5:47 pm
I can smell the air in that old house without touching its walls , beautiful work. i love it best wishes.