charlotte shama

16.11.18

back to work!

It doesn't show online, but I have been working on a new book since october! With a publishing house that I really like, they are so nice to work with (I can't say more right now). After maternity leave and other smaller projects, I was eager to dive into the creation of a book, and the dedication that it implies. with 3 kids getting sick one after another, I had less time than ever to draw, and more time than ever to think about this project, and my work in general.
I have been reading a bit too, ''show your work!'', by Austin Kleon. He wrote that if one is not embarrassed from previous work, there is a problem (meaning that we should go out of our comfort zone while working and try uneasy stuff). I felt in the right path!
Therefore, I decided to try again to work with watercolor (and photoshop). A few years ago, I did a book entirely in watercolor, at the request of the publisher, and I had promised to myself never to touch a brush anymore, the working process had been long, painful, and at the time, I had not liked the outcome. Thanks to the graphic designer who had done a very good work, and maybe time, I like it now...anyway I thought I would give it a try once again. I am sharing here the research, characters and all

29.9.17

9.4.17

simsim

''simsim'' was just released by Dar elkitab wal makateb, written by lubna nashef and illustrated by me. I wanted to try to do illustrations the old way, without photoshopping anything, and with 1 color only in addition to the pencil's grays.

covers for capstone publishing

I have been contacted by Capstone publishing to design 3 covers for 3 books. The instructions being very precise, it was very fun and relaxing to draw animals and stick to the instructions.

10.10.16

shaun tan and water battle

a month ago, a new website was launched by the ILC, directed by writer Ala Hlehel:
http://hkaya.info/
This website is dedicated to kids and children's literature, it is brand new and will be updated regularly. I am very enthusiastic about it, I have great expectations, and I'm proud to have been asked to contribute with a few illustrations (http://hkaya.info/%D8%B4%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AF%D9%91%D9%89-%D9%82%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B9%D8%A9) ; this month I did a portrait of Shaun Tan, great artist and book author (''the lost thing'').
I had to portrait the artist, featuring his crazy and hybrid creatures. It wouldn't have been funny if this commission didn't arrive just before the week end, with my daughter's birthday to prepare and entertain...so, waking up at five, working until 10, with a birthday party in between and a water battle, here is what I did:

5.9.16

pattern research

New exciting project! For the next few days I will be trying to get familiar with the patterns of palestinian embroidery. For once, and that is a challenge, I'll use only warm bright colors, decorative patterns and clear lines. I'm in unknown territory here, let's see what come out of all this.