The chair felt like it was burning and my right arm drifted between pain and numbness. My eyes felt dry but vision clear. I turned my head to look at the time tracker behind me. It read "12 hours". It had been 12 hours since the drawing marathon began at 7pm the night before. With every drawing, the imagery of a family in Indonesia having a shelter grew starker in my mind. This was a reminder of my mission which helped to keep me focused.
The next child stepped up with a wide smile and took her seat. As I returned her smile, like clockwork my right arm began moving to and fro on the piece of paper. Each time I drew, a sense of satisfaction rushed up within me. This feeling kept coming. Time passes quickly when you are enjoying yourself and this feeling of satisfaction which was to me beyond words made it all worthwhile. It dissipated my exhaustion and encouraged me to go on.
As my pencil made the finishing touch, the next child promptly followed up. Seeing the young children reminded me of myself. As a child, I could barely hold a pencil properly but it did not stop me from drawing. I just wanted to draw. Thoughts of my childhood days when I was struggling to draw ran through my mind while my arm and hand moved non-stop. One after another, I drew. One after another, they donated. Before I knew it, the stack of paper on the table had run out. I opened another pack and just kept drawing.
The orange tint on my paper grew darker as the sky darkened but the orange light above me gave me warmth and more energy to go on. As I got more and more exhausted, I tried not looking at the time tracker behind me, pacifying myself that this had to be the final stretch in the 24-hour drawing challenge. Suddenly, the crowd grew loud and I could hear their excitement. "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!..." the crowd had begun to count down. I timed my final stroke to finish my 952nd drawing at the last second.
As the cheers broke out, my first instinct was to find out how much we had we had collected. I had never doubted that I would hit the target of $7000 with this attempt. I believed in myself and the purpose of my art. I believed in the people who came to support the cause. The result was announced – eight thousand and five hundred dollars. Yeah, I did it !!!
I believe strongly that with an earnest heart and undogged hard work, one day people will see how my art has made a difference in the lives of many – hopefully many, many positive changes will come about. This is the belief that keeps me drawing. Someday, I will tell my grandchildren the story of how a young artist dared to dream and in the process changed the world.
This story is in the making. I will complete it. Never Say Die!
About Peter Draw
Peter Draw is a young Singaporean artist and founder of Happy Drawing™.
Peter started drawing at the age of 3, and began drawing professionally when he was 16 years old. He discovered that his drawings made other people happy too, and he has been drawing happiness for himself and others since.
Born Peter Zhuo Ying Wei, Peter adopted the name 'Draw' as a gift from the many children he met over the years who pronounced his surname this way.
In 2006, while volunteering at the Spastic Children's Association, Peter met Daniel, a teenage boy with cerebral palsy. Despite Daniel's limitations in the movement of his arms and legs, stroke by stroke, he pushed himself to complete his drawings patiently. Daniel's love for drawing touched Peter and inspired him to do more with his drawing, with a bigger passion for art and a greater purpose to help children.
He earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records for drawing the world's largest caricature which he dedicated to children as a gift of inspiration. While the previous world record was 180sqm done in 3 days, Peter's caricature was two times larger at 360sqm, completed in just 3 hours. He took up a 24-Hour Challenge to draw caricatures non-stop in support of Habitat for Humanity. With no food or breaks, Peter drew close to 1,000 caricatures over the 24 hours. He raised more than enough funds, and led a team of young people to help build a home for a family in Indonesia.
Peter has been featured as an "Everyday Hero" by Reader's Digest Asia in 2008 for his work for children through his art. Peter received the Outstanding Young Person of Singapore Award 2008 in recognition of his contribution to children and world peace from Junior Chamber International.
Peter believes that our children are the future. If we want to change the world, we must start with children. Through his art, he hopes to make a positive difference to the world. Peter loves chocolate ice cream.
Peter Draw is a young Singaporean artist and founder of Happy Drawing™.