It has been many years since I entered university back in Tehran-Iran my home country, a dream came true when I saw my name amongst the successful candidates. At the tender age of nineteen, it seemed like my golden ticket to becoming an artist. The first year was all about learning how to look, how to draw, how to mix colour and how to come up with original ideas.
I met my beloved tutor and mentor, Mohammad Ali Baniasadi when I was in my second year, he was so different to my other tutors. He was, and still is, serious about his work, extremely passionate, and highly curious about art and creativity. Mohammad Ali Baniasadi is one of the most celebrated Iranian Illustrators of our time and a renowned painter and sculptor, he’s a unique and distinct character who is humorous and approachable.
He used to talk to us about the value of our dreams, not as in our goals in life but our dreams when we slept – the visual images we saw every night. He was the first one ever who asked me about my dreams. He encouraged us to write them down and to draw from them with our eyes closed. This method took me by surprise, even though it was not easy at the beginning to allow the hand to do what it needs to and allow the mind’s eye to dream. Slowly, slowly, I got the hang of it and could draw well with my eyes shut. I still use this method. He inspired me to always think out of the box not just for fun but to have some sort of conviction for it, too.
He was playful and curious and encouraged us to explore any found object to draw or to mark-make with. Always encouraging us to create a bank of loved images and patterns to keep for reference (and this is way before Pinterest and Instagram). His lessons often lasted all afternoon and late into the evening when the school doors would be closed. Many times we had to run after the caretaker to let him know not to lock us in! All of his students including me were eagerly working behind our desks oblivious to time, week after week for two years.
Mohammad Ali Baniasadi became my dissertation supervisor for my final graduation project. He was tough on me and pushed me to my limits without mercy. I worked day and night for four months tirelessly desperate for a sign of approval. He confessed to me later and said “I had to push you over to the other side of being a student into becoming an artist, thinking and creating independently”. Ever since I have remained his student. I declare myself as his eternal student.
Fast forward 20+ years when we were deep in the pandemic a mutual friend asked me if I wanted to join an online drawing circle with Mohammad Ali Baniasadi. I couldn’t believe it, here again, technology was helping to melt physical and geographical barriers. I joined without hesitation. Four of our group are currently living inside of Iran, I’m in London, one’s in Vancouver and the other in Tulsa USA.
We meet online every Thursday. We sit together across the world; talk, connect and critic our drawings for the week.
The basis for Thursday Drawings is:
A human being or two
An animal
A plant
An object
How many different versions of a drawing can you make by including all of the above or just a few of them? There is no theme or story to it, we are free to create one or allow our hands and the paper to create one for us. The first drawing we receive is by our tutor then we draw in our own time our own version. What you see on this page is a selection of my own drawings.
To challenge myself and develop further while taking part in this collective I choose to use pencil as my medium. In my everyday practice, I mainly use acrylic ink but here I work with the humble pencil, working with pencil and covering the whole page requires patience and persistence as well as planning. There is no room for accidents or covering up any accidents, also the drawing skills present themselves too. I have to observe closely everything that I draw. There are days that I am short on time or patience but have to slow down and dedicate time for it to happen.
For the past three years I have been drawing every week no matter what was going on for me in my professional or personal life. This and only this gives me something to be proud of. My drawings never have a narrative, the different elements come together mainly because of my mood and the amount of time I have to complete it. I often listen to a podcast or music while working and just allow my mind’s eye to coordinate the task with my hand.
These drawings have ended up on my studio wall to help me see them better and make new and fresh ideas for the next one. Over the years during Open Studios Weekend, where I receive many visitors, what attracts the majority of people is the unusual, one-of-a-kind ‘wallpaper’ of my studio, made up of all my drawings.
I adore Thursdays. For the past three years, Iran and the Middle East have gone through so much. There have been weeks that the internet was cut off or slowed down by the government to minimise people’s access to the wider world.
The Woman, Life, Freedom movement took place two years ago, a fear of war was lurking over our heads and much more. We never gave up though, always showing up for each other and finding a way to make the connection possible as it was and still is a lifeline for all of us.
Just to know that we can draw, talk about art and find new ways of drawing in the most harsh and uncertain moments in life is so important. For a short time, we can step away from the worry and the power of destruction around us and tune into beauty, and harmony and keep doing what we love. At the end, we can declare we survived the many storms of the political climate of our land but we have lived and dreamed together and held each other’s hands across the world and connected in a deeper way.
Drawing together matters.
If you are curious to follow my weekly drawings follow me on Instagram @tanazassefi. We have an Instagram page where you can see the work of all my fellow artists: @Thursdays.illustrators