hi folks

our destination today: KUWAIT!!! a very hot place with a very hot artist called AHMED aka *OwaikeO i'm very proud to present you my interview with this soopa nice guy:


1) introduce yourself in a few words
Hello My name is Ahmed Al-Refaie. I’m 21 and I was born and raised in Kuwait.

2) how did you fall in love with vexel art?
Me and vexels have a close relationship that started by accident. Usually I’d design stuff with no particular style, until i spotted vexel artworks all over Deviantart. I was extremely bored of creating posters, brochures and other client work and started to learn vexelling as it exposed to me creativity in one whole piece that can be appreciated on its own.

3) since when are you vexelling?
I began vexelling about two years ago. I started off creating simple vexels and proceeded with more complex ones that take me away from just simply recreating or vexelling an existing image.

4) what software are you using for it?
Photoshop Cs3 is what I currently use. Now I do realize Illustrator or Corel Draw are the perfect softwares for creating vector but to me Im not really sure, because Photoshop provides me with so much more to work with. With that said, my work can be entirely made on illustrator but I use Photoshop as I’m used to it and like it very much.

5) do you have a favourite vexel technique/style?
vexels are in general objects but there is a certain magic in a way an artist places them. Of course there are plenty of styles out there but I’ve come up with mine. It has the basis of a regular vexel but with a lot more. I tend to take reference and use its outlines and proceed by making my own vexel rather than recreating an existing human figure or object. I do this because I like to express meaning and create something not already provided in order to create an interesting artwork.

6) if you like, please let us know how you create a piece
My style is not complicated, it is just like any vexel but it’s meanings and stepping away from creating existing images that makes it different. One major thing in my vexels is that I pay a lot of attention to Outlines. To me they are the base to my artwork, while most other vexel artists concentrate on the coloring and at the end may add a bit of outlines or none. While that being said, each artist has his/her own way of creating a great artwork. an outline by itself isn’t good enough of course, but perhaps along with the coloring is what really makes certain vexels different from others. In short, creating something like my vexels is very basic, you pick a picture, outline it, add your own vision, color, outline the background, add objects, add lighting, add effects, etc. It is as simple as that it just requires a lot of patience and certainly you have to know what you're doing I end up losing it sometimes.

7) how long does it take you to finish a piece?
When I first started vexelling, my vexels were made in about 2-3 days. As I have shifted away from just recreating existing images and started to insert my own visions and sceneries. A single vexel could take 1-2 months depending on my mood. Of course in most cases, I generally don’t have the patience so i end up abandoning the work and coming back later on.

8) what is your current vexel-project?
Currently I’m working on a new project. However, due to my extreme moodiness caused by Final Exams, I’m a little behind and get bored often. Aside from that, all I could say is that it’s the most detailed vexel I have ever done

9) does your real life job also has to do with vector/vexel art?
Right now I don’t have a job. I study English Literature as my major in University. I have not taken any classes that have to do with vectors/vexels or even graphic design. Client work in general in my opinion takes away the artist’s own visions, because they are asked to create something from a Client’s way or point of view, and to me I tried but I can’t mix my own visions with a client’s. When I create my work I create it depending on my perspective and I find it hard to do it otherwise. For the time being, Im only selling prints and perhaps some day I’ll be able to create client work.

10) what are your plans for the future?
I live for today and remember yesterday, I do hope however to improve upon my style and perhaps come up with new stuff. That’s all

thank you ahmed, for your cooperation and all the interesting answers!

let's have a look at some awesome examples of *OwaikeO's artwork:








*OwaikeO calls himself VECTOR artist and so did i since i realized that he's using photoshop for his work. as you can see, there's confusion about vector and vexel at many places...
he doesn't use any special effects like blur or filters for his beautyful pieces. they really look like TRUE vectors to me. but because it's all created with photoshop i've to call him vexel-artist, even if the way how they're created is the same like in illustrator.
since we have the rules about vector and vexel plus the many different categories, i thought it would make sense to explain this once again, just to avoid misunderstandings.
photoshop is a pixel-based software, which makes the result a vexel.