Hatem Aly's Blog: Open Mic Disaster

So, September is coming to an end! I wanted to touch on a few things before we begin the month of October and hold myself accountable. I mentioned #PEACETOBER in my previous post, which I will elaborate on and provide some cool links with cool graphics below. But first, I have got some news!

A new book I illustrated was out earlier this week, and it’s called The Boldest White. It is the third companion book by the same team behind The Proudest Blue and The Kindest Red. Written by Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad and S.K. Ali, and illustrated by myself.

It was described as a call to bravery in which Faizah overcomes her fears, as well as a celebration of family, fencing, and community.🤍

Kirkus called it "heartwarming... A winning tale to be shared over and over." and gave it a starred review.⭐

How cool is that?

We knew Faizah from previous books as a caring, advocating, and kind person. A sister, daughter, and a friend. Her community, family, and faith were always there to support her. Now we see her struggling to see herself as capable of accomplishing something on her own, with all eyes on her. Bravery is a strong action of putting yourself out there despite obstacles, and it requires a lot of moral strength and soul searching.🤍

It also takes courage to point out what is wrong and refuse to ignore injustices. I believe Faizah has always had it, dating back to The Proudest Blue. She may also inspire us to do the same.

I plan to share some of the process at some point. Meanwhile, I recommend that you check out the book at your local bookstore or request that your public library order it. However, it is available wherever books are sold. I will leave a link to the book's publisher's page, which includes a few links to purchase a copy.

The Boldest White

Now let us talk about #Peacetober, which begins TOMORROW.

Since INKtober's inception, October has been THE art challenge month, with various prompt lists to inspire daily creative outlets.

I recently joined the amazing Coffees For Gaza collective, which is made up of some illustrators and authors with good hearts who help families in Gaza by raising funds through encouraging donations in addition to their Patreon page! Please make sure to look into them.

So we started #peacetober with Coffees of Gaza, where the idea is to, you know the drill, try to make a creation every day in October. The difference here is that we will then choose as many creations as possible to auction in order to raise funds for Gazan families in need.

There will also be a series of 5 Live draw-along online sessions with some artists(I’ll be one of them!) that you can attend! Tickets are ‘pay what you want’ with a minimum of US$5. Proceeds go to the families supported by Coffees For Gaza. So you get the idea! Sessions will be recorded so that those in different time zones can catch up on replays for a month. Members of the CFG’s Patreon in the highest tier (Cappuccino) will have access to all the sessions for free if you’re willing to try that option.

Here is the lineup:

3.10: Safdar Ahmed & Ellen O’Grady

10.10: Nabila Adani & Ibrahim Shiddiq (time and link tbc)

17.10: Hatem Aly & Raahat Kaduji

20.10: Sarah Dyer & Yusef Goolam-Hossen

25.10: Catarina Sobral & Miguel Pang Ly

We must be aware that winter is rapidly approaching and there is an urgent need for additional assistance. So this art challenge will include people who want to create written pieces, knitting masterpieces, beautiful music, painters, crafters, and whatever else they can think of to help a good cause while also making the world more beautiful and hopeful.

Big words? Well, why not? Let us keep our hopes high and make the best of it.

Okay, I am not sure if I will post here every day or in batches throughout October, but I will be showing and telling this and that. I will do my best to contribute to the majority of the days of the month.

And that is the promise I made to myself.

Let’s see what happens.

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I will leave you with a few Instagram links to slides that explain everything in detail if you want to read or save them for later.

Salamat

Ok Now that I figured out how to do this

I am still unsure about it! Or the title! Or the profile picture!
But I am here, so we'll see how it goes.

My current strategy is to choose something and stick with it until something changes my mind.

So, hello!- My name is Hatem, and I am an illustrator of several children's books that can be found in bookstores and public libraries, just like that! Which to me is unbelievable! I currently live in Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada, but I was born in Cairo, Egypt, and moved to Canada only in my late 20s. A few of the books I illustrated are also in Arabic, though I have not done any in a while.

I have been wanting to start a newsletter/blog and found Substack to be ideal for this. Because I am not very methodical at work, and I am both too busy and too lazy to devote time to a serious publication of any kind, let alone a newsletter, each new project feels like a fresh scare. So I will use this space to help me process my own thoughts and share some of what I am up to, while trying not to irritate you or myself.

I expect to be as messy as usual, but I hope to find my way around.

What I intend to do:

Show and tell bits and pieces about my work and process.

Post some personal work or sketches that I am not sure where else to put them.

Share my participation in online art challenges like Peacetober (Which starts in a few days!), Folktale Week, Hourly comics day..etc.

Share any good news and explain what is the big deal.

Answer your questions to the best of my abilities.

Share a range of exciting to incredibly boring life experiences.

Share things I liked at a specific time!

Establish some meaningful connections.

Give a little glimpse of my meltdown moments, because life.

Other fun things…

Subscribe now

How often? how long?- I have no idea, but I will try to post at least monthly. And if there is a daily art challenge, I will definitely post more often.

I am not in a position to promise something you can not miss, but I am hoping this becomes something enjoyable and useful to you while you are online. If you are okay with that, please subscribe here:

I understand that this is a brief, fresh post with many gaps, but if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.

Thank you for making it this far, and I hope to see you next time.

I am not sure why I can’t figure this out!!

I am ready to start a @substack publication/newsletter/blog, whatever you call it.

I see people with publications having them separate from their account profile, but they share the same handle or username.

For example, "substack User" has a profile with a photo, a bio, and so on, as well as a publication called "My Publication" by Substack User, which has its own profile picture, header, bio, and so on (its own entity that I can recommend and interact with), but they share the same username. ​T​hey are the user @ substackuser, and ​t​heir substack newsletter​ address is substackuser . substack . com. (spaces to avoid creating a hyperlink) - Sorry if I'm overexplaining, but you get the frustration!—I hope.

When I try to create a publication using the same handle, it says it is already taken. By me!! But who am I? Where am I? Any work around? or my only option is to give my potential publication a different name/handle ?

Any help?

Thank you!

Yes, this cat is looking at you. ?‍⬛?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSNw9t6jnTy/?utm_medium=tumblr

Maybe I should post some unrelated-to-work sketches? ☺️
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSKt_gfr82s/?utm_medium=tumblr

⭐Happy Eid⭐عيد سعيد⭐
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRhfpjGjAW9/?utm_medium=tumblr

The Books for Palestine auction is officially open for you to please consider helping to raise money for Palestinian children.

I’ve donated these items below (and shown in the pictures above (swipe to see all!!)) to #BooksForPalestine to raise funds for @mecaforpeace and @thepcrf . You don’t want to miss out on the bidding! The auction will run June 1-4. Auction link in @books_palestine bio.

I am offering 3 things but there are so many wonderful items to bid on if you go to the website(Link in bio) and it is indeed something worth your time and an opportunity to get a lot of wonderful items from the publishing community for a great cause.

My items are:

1- *PICTURE BOOK BUNDLE*

Get 4 picture books signed by me, illustrator of all these books  (along with a surprise doodle inside each book-right next to signature). These Books are:

-The Proudest Blue with Ibtihaj Muhammad & S.K. Ali (Little Brown/ USA), 2019.
-In My Mosque with M.O. Yuksel (HarperCollins) 2021.
-Raj’s Rule (for the bathroom at school) with Lana Button (Owlkids) 2020
-How to Feed Your Parents by Ryan Miller (Sterling/ USA), 2018

This is all together one bundle group from myself, the illustrator.. with love.

2- * CUSTOM BOOKISH ILLUSTRATION*

A custom 6"x9" (or any not so big size) drawing related to any of the books I  illustrated. This includes any drawing request related to the books shown up in the pictures (swipe to see!):

No shipping is required if all is needed is a digital file that you could print at any size you wish..
other than that we could arrange something to be sent by post if bids are high enough! 

3- *ILLUSTRATION CONSULTATION*

If you have questions to ask, illustration advice, or and critique related to visual storytelling. I am offering a 45 min up to an hour consultation session to discuss all of the questions you have. Or email if you prefer or a mix of both if needed.

***
Remember, The donation deadline is Friday, May 28 11:59pm EST. The auction will run from June 1 - June 4, 2021.

Thank you for supporting this important cause.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPn1AQ6DJ8o/?utm_medium=tumblr

Me getting mentally ready for the publication of THE UNICORN RESCUE SOCIETY: THE MADRE DE AGUAS OF CUBA. Yes it’s out tomorrow!

#kidlit #kidlitart #illustration #UnicornRescueSociety #URSART
https://www.instagram.com/p/CADSL7ZjWW-/?igshid=urybxbq8u47j

I think Uchenna is so cool as a character! She might appear to be angry here but believe me she should be!

#illustration #UnicornRescueSociety #Kidlitart #URSart
https://www.instagram.com/p/CABgD5VD-94/?igshid=iqfxiqcr6qfh

THE MADRE DE AGUAS takes place in beautiful Havana. My pen and ink won’t do it justice so while you read please imagine it colorful for me. ?

#illustration #UnicornRescueSociety #Kidlitart #URSart
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAA6alnDz0g/?igshid=qnc54gtx6v2a