Intro
On 15th October 2012, I attempted to set a World record for the amount of Charcoal sketches drawn in one day. Here is the video outlining my achievement.
Before attempting any major challenge, make sure you're fit enough to cope with the stress levels and the long hours. If you don't think you're fit for these challenges then try something lighter. I've been getting ready for this challenge for over a month so I knew I was ready for it. It is both exhausting and mentally tiring so make sure you're ready for it. Safety first!
Clothing
Knowing that I would be glued to a chair for the whole day, I decided to lay off the usual heavy jeans and hoodies or even full sleeve jumpers. Instead I wore really comfortable shorts and a really light shirt. This shirt had a large neck area (no collars) so it didn't irritate me. I would avoid keeping keys, wallet and phones in your pockets as they will annoy you after a certain time. You're hands may also be covered with Charcoal or whatever medium it is that you're using for your event and the last thing you want to do is reach for your pockect when the phone rings, ruining your brand new trousers.
Preparation
Make sure you plan the day well in advance so you have no one disturbing you when you're doing your thing. You don't want to be answering phone calls, door to door salesman and realise half way through that you have a doctors appointment. I got round all these by choosing a day at which my mom and dad both had a day off. This was vital as I later found out that they really helped me stay focus throughuot the day. All my devices were set to either Airplane mode or Do not disturb mode so they don't buzz for every facebook or twitter notification I receive.
Also test your devices that you're using for your event. I had a webcam streaming upside down all day but since it was right next to my phone recording the main livestream I couldn't move it. Make sure you test yours so your audience can enjoy the show.
Equipment
For this challenge I made sure I had adequet Charcoal to last me the whole day. I used a really comfy chair, although I would recommend an ergonomic chair if you suffer back pains of any sort.
To mount the camera I used a home made rig using some very simple techniques. I was using two table lamps to get enough light on my page throughout the day, so I just used a elastic cable to form a bridge in between the two to hold my cameras.
These elastic cables have been a life saver for me throughout this journey. You can easily bend/ fold them in any shape you like and at £1 each they really are great value for money. I used two of these to hold both my webcam and my phone over the drawings. It is crucial that you test the borders of your image and mark things down to make sure your drawings are cut on any side.
These Ikea lamps are good but the hotspot from these were too harsh overexposing the sketches, so to overcome this problem I covered them up with printing paper. This helped diffuse the light and I really love the effect that you get from it, a really smooth soft light. If you're going to do this to your lamp make sure you leave a small space for the heat to escape, you don't want your paper to overheat.
I used an app called LapseitPro (cheap as chips) to record the timelapse. According to my budget I knew no camera or webcam was capable of recording 17 hours in a go, so this was a real treat. I set the phone to take a pictures in intervals of 15 seconds and to make sure it doesn't corrupt the file I restarted the recording twice in the day. It worked, and I was really pleased with the result at the end.
In order to protect the trestle table from all the charcoal marks and to give me a good underlay for the paper I used an A3 card. Make sure you mark the card or board you're using so it keeps in line with the camera. In the video you'll see some brackets on the table and also on the card itself, it was just to make sure the drawings stays in one place throughout the recording.
Food
You should really plan your intakes to make sure you don't starve yourself, but this is where you really have to keep your balance. It too little and you'll be dizzy by end of the day, eat too much and you'll have to use the toilet wasting previous time.
I started my day with a bowl of cereals and slowly munched through them in the next 6 hours. Water is also important to keep yourself hydrated but again, too much water = frequent pee breaks. To make sure I avoid this, I only filled up a quarter of my bottle and was sipping it every hour or two. When you do eat, make sure you don't eat anything too heavy or oily as that will make you feel sleepy and tired. I ate a pack of fruits with my left hand after the first half of the day and my mom also made me some smoothie, which again I took really slowly. Using this technique I didn't really feel hungry and was able to go for hours. I managed to get the balance just right which helped me go for almost 18 hours with less than 20 minute of break in total.
Timing
Timing is quite important if you'r attempting something which involves numbers. I wanted to reach a 1000 drawings in a day so I knew I had to finish by midnight so I can call it 1000 sketches in a day. I chose www.lovecastle.org as that has a really nice script which changes images after every minute or whatever you set it to do.
I got up early in the morning (4:30am) and did my usual chores and doing some last minute arrangements. I was on the table by 6:15 and I asked my mom to record a quick intro video before I get started.
It was almost like watching a timelapse video of a flower through its life into different seasons. I felt everyone slowly waking up, having their breakfast, leaving for their journeys and then coming back home having their dinner and going to bed. All whilst I was in my chair.
According to my original calculation I should have reached 1000 sketches by just 7pm but you have to take into account is that the site doesn't take into account the time it takes to load a page and the time in between two images. Ocassionally a few images were quite high in resolution slowing down the page load time, this in turn slowed down the overall number. I had a minute timer for each sketch so I really concentrated on big gestural marks and trying to get a pose sorted out the first 30 seconds.
Vision
Having a good vision will help you see through the difficulties in challenges like these. Believe in yourself and know that you can achieve anything you set your mind to. Don't loose focus and don't let things wind you up.
My goal was to reach a 1000 sketches by the end of the day and I wasn't going to let anything stop me. When I was racing against time in the last hour I used my other hand to do two drawings in the minute.
I hope that has been of some help to you and I wish you all the best for your challenge. :)
GDSWorld
GDSWorld
