Waqas Jawaid | Works-In-Progress 2009

Pantheon ~ charcoal on paper ~ 25"x45"

"Space and light and order. Those are the things that men need just as much as they need bread or a place to sleep."

I was struck in Rome especially by the sheer magnitude and beauty of art that religion has inspired and funded. If religion is a human need then so is art. Le Corbusier's quote above reflects that as well.

In this drawing I wanted to capture how the light strikes the interior of the Pantheon. It started off very painstakingly, and then stayed on the wall, incomplete, for several days. Yesterday I just played some loud music and worked on it with a lot of post-sehri and post-iftar energy to finish is ASAP, so I could move ahead.

When I was done my hands and feet, and the entire white-tiled floor, were covered in black charcoal.

Detail shots