
This Artist Has Been Adding A Character A Day To One Drawing And It's Incredible
By Aimee LutkinOct. 3 2018, Updated 10:20 p.m. ET
Tom Gran is an artist and animator, who works as part of a team called the Spinkick Bros. Their work often seems to include detailed images of wild characters, set in complicated scenes. You can get a sense of what some of the finished products looks like on their Tumblr page.
Like this:
Or this:
They've even done some animation for Disney:
But that's not enough! Gran decided to also set himself a creative challenge for 2018. The challenge was to draw a new character every day as part of a giant fight scene. Why? Just to keep the juice flowing. You only live one 2018, make it count for something.
Hey so through 2018 I'm gonna do a drawing challenge where every day I add another character to a giant fight scene until it gets so giant I probably won't even be able to upload it to Twitter anymore. Here goes: pic.twitter.com/hSd8kyOii0
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 1, 2018
Gran has been uploading his drawing to Twitter for his users to enjoy every day, and halfway through March, it's already become an enormous, detailed, funny and intriguing universe. A universe where everyone is fighting all the time. Scrolling through the drawing's progression is hypnotizing; it's almost like you're seeing these characters come to life.
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 1, 2018
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 2, 2018
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 3, 2018
4. don't worry I'm sure they can reattach all those limbs with science pic.twitter.com/gQq87FtZeA
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 4, 2018
It's not clear how much, if any planning goes into the characters. It seems like they all naturally interconnect with one another, but that could be Gran's skill at developing his ideas on the fly:
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 5, 2018
6. delicious 🍽️ pic.twitter.com/xU4sE7dpez
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 6, 2018
7. uh-oh pic.twitter.com/vRl1iZtSRA
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 7, 2018
8. 🏏 pic.twitter.com/X4Vb78k8Jk
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 8, 2018
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 9, 2018
10. 🤙🤙🤙 pic.twitter.com/FsujXOW73H
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 10, 2018
He does seem to erase occasionally, like with this woman leaping over the pipe in Day 10:
11. pic.twitter.com/PAgcXMJyK1
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 11, 2018
12. it's one of those pipes. y'know. pic.twitter.com/XeLytPYtGx
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 12, 2018
13. pic.twitter.com/z9eGlsrEEE
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 13, 2018
14. these people are just fighting in mid-air don't worry about it pic.twitter.com/7VFxbEa6By
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 14, 2018
15. pic.twitter.com/DpfHrxTjT7
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 15, 2018
But the picture keeps growing wider and taller, as Gran throws in more details. It's like a Where's Waldo, but Waldo hasn't show up yet.
Can you spot the hat?
16. + free bonus update: I gave that one guy a hat pic.twitter.com/CFrp1pw5Af
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 16, 2018
17. pic.twitter.com/X81ZxI24Xr
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 17, 2018
18. most violent injury/death so far goes to this guy pic.twitter.com/AFJTlhPjZS
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 18, 2018
19. pic.twitter.com/Ck0EDZ6QME
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 19, 2018
20. pic.twitter.com/L3R8AxZvuc
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 20, 2018
21. 💀 pic.twitter.com/j0GTr4suRO
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 21, 2018
22. pic.twitter.com/qo5NPu7v8w
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 22, 2018
He has changed the rules of the challenge a little bit, but only so he can add even more characters, which is insane:
23. In case anyone's wondering why I'm adding more than one character a day right now: ghosts don't count because they're dead and not real people. Also they're no-good and don't deserve their own day. Sorry ghost fans. pic.twitter.com/xtmLJItksw
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 23, 2018
24. GUYS I told you ghosts were no good! pic.twitter.com/dBU2aZXVU4
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 24, 2018
25. pic.twitter.com/KhnX8A0DQQ
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 25, 2018
But I guess it explains how people are flying?
26. pic.twitter.com/vX0NeOlHuI
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 26, 2018
27. pic.twitter.com/8Rvc8ISfNe
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 27, 2018
28. pic.twitter.com/o0E0BmNgyl
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 28, 2018
29. pic.twitter.com/5XNi4lvB3q
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 29, 2018
30. pic.twitter.com/avdz1Olrpw
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 30, 2018
31. Oh lord January is only just over and I already feel like I've been doing this for six years. Thanks for all the support everybody. Stay tuned to watch me go totally insane. pic.twitter.com/9LDHNrl536
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) January 31, 2018
Wow, me too! And there are so many more. Here's where Gran's drawing is right now:
73. 🌟 pic.twitter.com/xQaeWugw7y
— Tom Gran (@tommgran) March 14, 2018
Wow, who knew, they're on some sort of vehicle! You can follow Gran's project on Twitter until his drawing is too big to be contained, and see where else this epic fight will go. By the end of the year, it might take over his entire house.