Original or print? What you are paying for
Facts checked 22 September 2026
A paint is a print of a composed design. An original is one sheet written by a calligrapher's hand. That is the whole difference, and it is why one starts at AED 60 and the other at AED 550.
Side by side
| Calligraphy paint | Signed original | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A print of a phrase set in Mashq Studio | One sheet written in ink by the calligrapher |
| Price | AED 60 rolled; AED 90–700 framed; AED 95–855 framed under acrylic glass | AED 550–8,265 |
| Sizes | Ten, from A4 to 90 × 120 cm | The sheet's own size, stated on its page |
| Surface | Cotton canvas, rolled or stretched | Paper, named on each page |
| Framing | Eight hand-finished mouldings, in the framed price; acrylic glass optional | Ships unframed; framing with glass is a flat AED 300, UAE deliveries only |
| Time | Made to order in 5–7 working days | In hand: in the UAE now. Written to order: 3–4 weeks |
| Signed | No | Yes, by the artist |
| Delivery | AED 50 per order in the UAE; Worldwide Express AED 250 per order, within 8 days | |
What a calligraphy paint is
The phrase is set in a real typeface in Mashq Studio — the letterforms are vector, shaped and spaced by us, never drawn by an image model. We print it to order on cotton canvas, in our own UAE workshop, in 5–7 working days. Rolled A3 canvas is AED 60; framed A3 in one of eight hand-finished mouldings is AED 100; A2 framed is AED 195; the largest size, 90 × 120 cm framed under acrylic glass, is AED 855. Every copy is identical to the picture on its page, and the same design can be printed again.
What an original is
An original is a single sheet: ink on paper, written by hand by Ahmed Alhawary, Anwar Alhulwani or Rasha Kasim, signed by the artist, photographed as it is. Nothing is printed. If the piece is in hand, the sheet in the photograph is the sheet that reaches you, and it is in the UAE now. If it is written to order, the artist writes the line again in 3–4 weeks — a second sheet in the same hand, not a copy. Prices run from AED 550 to AED 8,265; framing with glass is a flat AED 300 for UAE deliveries.
Which one to choose
- A paint when you want a phrase on a wall, at a size and in a frame you choose, at a price that lets you buy two.
- An original when you want the hand — the pen's pressure, the ink's pooling, the artist's signature — on a sheet that was written, not printed.
Both are made or checked in the UAE, both carry the same flat delivery (AED 50 per order in the UAE, AED 250 worldwide), and both can be gift-wrapped with a card and no price. See the calligraphy paints and the originals.