A cartoon workshop organized by volunteer professional cartoonists as part of the Jeddah Summer Festival (Jeddah Ghair) was held at the Red Sea Mall on Monday. “We have been organizing this event for the past four summers with the aim of discovering new artistic talent among our youth,” said Fatima Baadim, a Saudi fine artist who was one of the organizers of the workshop. “Art should serve the community. There is no need to import art forms which do not fit our customs. We want our youth to be able to express their feelings through art properly, as every artist should have a message,” she explained. The professional cartoonists who led the workshop demonstrated how humorous, as well as effective, cartoon art can be. Saudi Gazette talked to some of the professional artists who held the workshop to find out how they became interested in cartoons as a career. Sa'eed Shamma, who works for a private company, said he started working as a cartoonist 12 years ago. In the beginning, he said, he faced a lot of disapproval, but he persevered and after drawing cartoons for a long time finally got recognition. Another cartoonist attending the workshop, Ahmed Aseery, said, “I was working with the military and was nominated to be in charge of the artistic supervision of a specialized military magazine. I published some local cartoons there, and that was my start.” He added that more attention should be paid to art in Saudi Arabia. Hussam Al-Zahrani, a young artist, who has been creating cartoons for about five years, said, “In the beginning, my family was not really very supportive. But after some time, they understood how talented I was.” He added that he got started in his career by taking art class in school and that with practice he honed his skills more and more. Al-Zahrani said that he prefers cartoons with no commentary, and added that people in the Arab World see cartoons differently with some not considering them to be a serious art form. Mazen Al- Rammal, a Saudi cartoonist and art teacher whose work has appeared in several newspapers, said that he especially likes cartoon portraits. “It was my father who motivated me to become a cartoonist. He was inspired by a number of Saudi cartoonists, such as, Al-Konifer, Al-Kuraji and Al-Whibi,” Al-Rammal explained. “Drawing is a way to see the world in beautiful perspective,” he said, adding that Arabic cartoonists are amongst the best in the world.
