So this was the first of — what I hope to be — many more experiments to come. Here’s the story…

Last night, I was checking out the insanely awesome Eric Canete’s blog (http://kahnehteh.blogspot.com/) and marveling (as always) at his 90 minute “sketches” (If you aren’t familiar with Eric’s work, PLEASE do yourself a favor and check out his work). I’ve always been amazed at his 90 minute sketches and have been curious to try my hand at a timed drawing. Well last night, I finally summoned up the courage to do it.

So here’s what I did — I wanted some sort of timer without having to keep checking a clock, so I used Conan O’Brien as a timer! 😛 I started when Late Night with Conan O’Brien came on. I did layouts through the opening monologue and first skit. Then when the first guest came on, I switched to the pen to ink the figure. When the second guest came on, I switched to the graytone markers. When the musical guest came on, I went to a brush pen for touchups and to add some line weight. When the show was finished and the credits stopped, I stopped. Before posting it tonight, I took a picture with my digital camera, did some minor cleanup in Photoshop, and added the lighting gradient before posting (like 5 minutes worth — I still want to retain the spontaneous energy the piece has). The above sketch is the result (the original is 11″x14″).

By no means do I think this is the best drawing I’ve done. BUT, I gotta say it was a very liberating feeling to sit at the desk and just barrel through a drawing. I didn’t do any preplanning and there was barely enough time to think. I just went purely on instinct. No questioning “will this work” or “will that work”. I just “did it”. There was no “right or wrong”. There was no time to think about “right or wrong”. There was only time to “go”. I can’t think of the last time that I did that…

By nature, I’m a very careful person. I plan things out and I’m a creature of habit. I had a lot of fun being impulsive and spontaneous on this piece. I hope to do many more of these experiments! 😀

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[11″x14″] Col-Erase Pencil -> Micron Pens -> Prismacolor Pens -> Photoshop