LAKEWOOD, Colo. — How much can be said or done by drawing one line on a piece of paper? Teenage artist Brady Dollyhigh proved that the answer is a lot by creating a piece of art by drawing one continuous line for 24 hours straight.
“I just love to challenge myself and push boundaries,” Dollyhigh told Denver7.
The artist, just 19 years old, says he likes to draw whatever comes into his head, as it comes in. He says he’s been doing continuous art drawings for years, but had never tried anything of this magnitude before.
“I began with this panicked man because that’s how I felt when I put the pen down,” he said, pointing out the beginning of his art piece.
Set up in his garage with a roll of paper, extra pens, and food, he started drawing at 7 p.m. He didn’t lift the pen until 7 p.m. the following day, ending up with a piece of art that’s 15 feet long by about 2 and a half feet high.
“Even before I began drawing I told myself that as long as I make it, it doesn’t matter what I draw because the fact that I did it makes it good,” he said.
The teen says he was able to make it the entire 24 hours by eating prepared meals, using both hands to hold the pen to avoid hand cramps, and urinating in a bottle.
“It was a pretty crazy mental battle,” he said.
The piece, called “Time,” is now on display at the Lakewood Cultural Center. Dollyhigh says he “hasn’t counted” how many smaller, individual drawings make up the entire piece, but estimated the number at more than a hundred. There are meaningful scenes, doodles, and things that he found funny as they popped into his head.
“I’m aiming for no filter, but I also have a mother that will always see my work,” he joked.
The artist recognized that the drawings are not perfect, but because it was a piece of “endurance art” he believes has never been done before, that part doesn’t matter as much. He also believes this could end up as a world record for longest consecutive drawing.
“When people say that you’re an idiot for doing something it means that you’re doing something different and something unique in some way, so I take it as a compliment,” he said.
For more information on how to see the piece, as part of Brady’s exhibit called “Death of Childhood,” head to www.Lakewood.org/CulturalCenter