Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Drawing Chairs in Iran

Since 2003 when I made my very first trip to the Middle East (Jordan, Syria, and Egypt), I have been drawing chairs in most of the hotel rooms I’ve occupied. And there have been quite a few.

I love to draw chairs for several reasons: drawing them helps me practice perspective, grounds me in the here and now (this city, this hotel room, this chair), and later helps me remember where I was and what the room looked like. I also take photos of the room and the view from the window. More grounding I suspect. And probably chronicling too.

I draw the chairs in permanent ink on little 7 x 5 pieces of paper. I carry a small bag of colored pencils, along with pens and paper. Once I’m done drawing, I use the pencils to color in the chair, just as if I were at work on a coloring book when I was young. I even try to stay inside the lines. Shadows have been interesting to me lately and I’ve been trying different ways of executing them.

I've taped the drawings into my journal which was actually, before I altered it, a book entitled Oriental Rugs Today by Emmett Eiland, a rug dealer in Berkeley, CA. So what you are seeing as the background of some of the chairs are the rugs pictured in the book. Nice, don't you think, given that I was in Iran and all.

So here they are, my chairs from Iran.

 Tehran                                                        

Hamadan















 Zanjan










Tabriz




















Mashhad












Shiraz
















Yazd


Esfahan

3 comments:

Bibby Moore said...

What a great idea to pick something doable but different at each site...so relaxing and interesting.

Miranda said...

Aunt Katharine,
I am slowly working through your Iran blog. I have lots thoughts about your process and I hope we can talk a little more in New Orleans in person! I was delighted to come across these chairs in particular, as it seems that we are both dragging black ink pens and little pouches of colored pencils around the world. Anyhow, I am impressed by your process and the way you are delving back into the place after you conclude your trip. Much love and see you soon!
Miranda

lwilshusen said...

great post about your chair drawing affinity. xo