Here is a sketch I did when leaving Erbil again. My flight was early but at a tolerable time of day. I was intending to spend more time on this but they called us to board the plane. I think the sketch actually looks better because of this.
Sun-13-Sep-2026
When I did this sketch I had missed a couple of days sketching because I was just too busy with work during the day and very jet lag sleepy afterwards. However here is the chair in the Dedeman hotel where I stayed in Erbil.
Fri-11-Sep-2026
I did this sketch at about 3am, having got up at 1am (after a short doze) for my flight leaving at 4:40 am. I was pretty tired but wanted to capture at least one sketch before I left. One person came over and said “nice work” which was very kind of him.
Fri-10-Jul-2026
I only had time for one sketch during my time in Erbil, as I was very busy helping facilitate a workshop. I managed to squeeze in this quick sketch out the window of the hotel, on the morning of my last full day.
Thu-9-Jul-2026
Here are a couple of sketches I did while I had hours to kill in Erbil Airport. I was sketching to stay awake. Sleepiness is my excuse for struggling with the white on grey ceiling pattern, in the first one, which I fought to correct after I mucked it up. One sketch was not enough for the hours I had to kill, so I did the second one at the gate.
Fri-22-Aug-2025
Here are some sketches of brief moments in between hectic days of meetings making trips out with colleagues. As I drew these my head was spinning with all the information gathered but also some fantastic moments. One working day ended with a visit to farmers in Baghera and their vineyard overloaded with beautiful grapes and being fed to bursting with fresh figs. What an honour that was and what wonderful generous people!
It was a pity I didn’t have time on this trip to wander and explore Duhok. Our hotel was in an urban hinterland of highways and car showrooms…so going out to sketch wouldn’t have been fun…never mind the heat!
Tue-19-Thu-21-Aug-2025