Photos courtesy of Thierry Chehab
Doha: The time comes to a standstill as one flips through Thierry Chehab’s sketchbook as it captures scenes of the FIFA World Cup through vivid drawings, sealing the festive memory with each stroke of his pen.
A Lebanese French urban sketcher based in Dubai, Chehab is among the over a million fans who flew to Doha to experience the World Cup. Cheering for Les Bleus in its group stage match against Australia, the artist only had 24 hours to soak in the World Cup fever. Yet given the compact nature of the tournament, Chehab didn’t really have to look far.
“The whole country looked like a big festive carnival where people from all ages, origins and destinations were celebrating together their love for football. These incredible vibes were present outside and inside the stadiums,” he recounted.
As an urban sketcher who had documented big events in the past, such as the aftermath of Beirut port’s explosion two years ago, Chehab thought that the World Cup was a no-miss event to cover despite a race against time.
He said: “Such a global event was a must to cover, and I tried to sketch as much as I could from the airport to my arrival in Qatar, to the game that I watched.”
Chehab’s style is known as ‘Urban Sketching’ which pertains to an “art discipline that consists of sketching in situ”. Its main objective is to capture places, stories, and moments in an artistic way before it flees with time.
Thierry Chehab sketching Al Janoub stadium on the night of France and Australia match.
Setting aside the convenient features of a smartphone, he chose ink and watercolour to seize every moment in the first World Cup hosted in the Middle East and Arab world.
When asked about the top scenarios he had illustrated during the month-long event, Chehab chose fans.
He said: “The most fun moments happened when I was sketching the fans. I loved spotting unique characters with their national costume, jersey, or cosplay and it’s always a big thrill when you start drawing someone with the hope that you’ll able to finish before he goes away.”
Mexican fans at Doha Metro station.
He sketched fast and, on the go, oftentimes in the busiest venues during the tournament. Ranging from Doha Metro and fan zones to in and out of the stadiums. Chehab’s sketches reflect the rollercoaster of emotions spectators experienced in what is now known as a ‘World Cup of shocks’.
Much like when he encountered a group of Mexican fans at a metro station — clad in green and adorned with sombreros — focused on a TV screen as they watch Saudi Arabia defeat Argentina in the group stage.
The fans seemed oblivious to the flurry of lines and colours on the page of the artist’s sketchbook, but a huge grin covered their faces when they saw the finished artwork.
Thierry Chehab's finished sketch of the France-Australia match in the Group Stage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
On Instagram, Chehab documented his artworks and his subject’s reaction to them.
“When the subjects were seeing themselves in my sketchbook, a sort of human connection was naturally happening between us; they suddenly smile, show big interest, ask for photos next to their drawn-self, all that regardless of their language barrier,” he said.
“Art is truly universal and creates bridges between people,” Chehab told The Peninsula.
Apart from this, he had also sketched the match between France and Australia at Al Janoub Stadium on the third day of the tournament on November 22, 2022.
“What an experience, what a game and was a crazy stunt to be sketching in a stadium with very limited tools!!!,” captioned Chehab on his Instagram page.
The artist revealed that the art piece took an hour and a half to finish, with 2018 champions France opening their World Cup title defense with a 4-1 victory against Australia.
'Happily surprised'
In his everyday life, Chehab works as a creative director for an advertising agency. Before the FIFA World Cup kicked-off, he had already met a few of the sport's big stars.
He was filming a commercial for a professional project in Abu Dhabi when he had the chance to do an up-close sketch of a few players from the Saudi Arabian national football team. The encounter in itself, is surely one for the books.
"We were shooting with actors all the time and were told that we would have only two hours to shoot with the real players," he narrated.
"The first player to join us was Mohammed Al Owais, the goalkeeper. An impressively tall and muscular man who turned out to be very outgoing and humble," he said.
"He was then followed by his teammate, Abdulelah Al-Amri, a defender who was more reserved," Chehab added.
While waiting for the third player to join them that night, Chehab was quick to retreive his sketching tools. Due to high security on the players, all he could do was sit at a distance and sketch the Saudi player Al-Amri, discreetly and extremely quickly.
"He noticed that I was looking at him and asked me if I was drawing him. When I nodded, his face went from reserved to happily surprised. Few quick brush strokes later, I showed him the result," Chehab told The Peninsula.
The artist relayed the Saudi player's excitement as he recalled the memory of Al Amri excitedly capturing photos of his artwork and showing it to the team that accompanied him.
"Al Owais, wanted to be sketched too and the ambience drastically changed from waiting silently to a bubbly discussion, excitement, and sketching talks," he said.
Thierry Chehab has been urban sketching for five years now since he first discovered it in 2018. Since then, he's been putting in hours of hardwork and practice in illustrating the events he witnesses through art.
"Sketching has a magical power. It helps me capture a timely event in my very own style and point of view," he said.
"It has a sort of personal and intimate link with this particular moment." he added.
To date, his drawings were a subject of collaborations with brands and non-profit organizations. His form of story-telling through pigments of colours and ink also allowed his art pieces to be a part of various collective exhibitions in art galleries
"I become a witness of a minor or major historical event and I’ll be able to share with all those who didn’t have the chance to witness it. History becomes my own story!" Chehab said.
