from http://pgf-and-tikz.10981.n7.nabble.com/Draw-a-shape-use-it-many-times-td4323.html
\documentclass{article} \input{commonlatex} \usepackage{tikz} \newcommand{\MyChair}{ \draw[fill=blue!15,thick] plot coordinates {(-2,-1)(-2,1)(-1,2)(2,3)(3,2)(3,-2)(2,-3)(-1,-2)}; \draw[fill=blue!15,thick] plot coordinates {(-2.5,-1)(-2.5,1)(-3.25,2)(-3.25,-2)}; } \begin{document} \begin{tikzpicture} [scale=0.125,smooth cycle] \foreach \row in {1,2,...,10} { \foreach \col in {1,2,...,4} { \begin{scope}[xshift=\row cm,yshift=\col 10 cm] \MyChair \end{scope} } } \end{tikzpicture} \end{document}