Conquering the World One Caricature at a Time
Article Transcript
On December 18, 2010, the caricature world achieved a new milestone. Gary Javier, from San Juan, Puerto Rico, drew 635 caricatures over a continuous period of 48 hours, and was awarded a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for his efforts. And you think YOU have worked some long gigs! Read on to get the full story from Gary’s perspective.
When did you first become aware of the record for Longest Marathon Drawing Caricatures, and what made you decide to try for a new record?
This is the craziest thing I have ever done.
In a reunion of our association called
Asociación Caricaturistas de Puerto
Rico, we mentioned the possibility to
break some world records as a way to
promote caricature in Puerto Rico and,
at the same time, to accomplish some
big achievements in art that could bring
international attention to our small island.
Arturo Yépez, our former president in the
association, asked me if I could break the
record that a Cuban caricaturist called
Lloyy had accomplished in Spain. He had
drawn for 24 hours straight. I’m not used
to drawing continuously for many hours
or drawing people live because I draw for
publications. But not only did I say yes, I
also said that I would double the record by
drawing caricatures for 48 hours. I should
have consulted my wife first, but that is
another story.
What kind of support did you receive from your friends, peers, and family in setting a world record?
A lot. First of all I had the support of my
lovely wife, Jady, who fed me from her
hands because I couldn’t even drop
the pencil to pick up a sandwich; my
four children, especially my 17 year old
son Shaquille (who used his teenage
no-sleep party stamina to be with me at
night and also during the day). I had the
unconditional support of the members
of the organization over which I preside,
friends all over the island, Primera Hora
(the newspaper were I work), Plaza Las
Américas Mall and each person that went
there to be drawn by me, some of them
waiting for seven to eight hours in line. All
of these people deserve this achievement.
I will never forget their faces. I’m so grateful
for all those signs of support.
A person from Guinness World Records was there to personally witness this event. When were they notified? Before or during the marathon?
Her name is Morgan Wilber from the
Guinness office in New York. Primera
Hora made all the arrangements to
have the presence of an official from
Guinness to certify the world record. She
was there to witness personally the last
7 hours of the 48 hours that I promised
to be drawing continuously. The rest of
the time was documented in a log book,
taped with a video camera and each
caricature I drew was photographed.
All that footage is also delivered to the
Guinness World Records office.
So 635 caricatures drawn in 48 hours equals about 13 people an hour, or approximately 4½ minutes per face. Is this your normal speed when you draw at gigs and/or retail?
As I said before I don’t usually do this, only
occasionally. But when I do it, I have a
speed of around five minutes per face in
black & white on 11 x 14 inch paper. So the
speed was pretty close to what I’ve done
before. I sort of felt like I was on a neverending
gig.
While you were drawing at this event, there must have been times when you started to get tired and lose focus. What did you do to help yourself keep going and stay alert?
I have to admit that at one point I thought
they had moved the whole set up around,
that instead of facing east I was now facing
north. I got really confused. That’s when
I realized that lack of sleep really does
mess up your perception. I got really, really
tired, but I was thinking that the only way
to prove to the world that I could make it
was to keep on drawing. Hearing music,
sipping from an energy drink (not too much
so I wouldn’t have to use the bathroom
so often), listening to all the words of
encouragement and the good vibes from
the people and the presence of old friends.
It all really helped.
I understand that you only took 3 short breaks during the entire 48 hours. How did you reach a stopping point, and what did you do to relax during your breaks?
I could only accumulate fve minutes each
hour for rest. I took only three short breaks
of 5, 20 and 40 minutes. I finished my goal
with more than two hours of break time
saved up that I never used.
Describe the atmosphere during the last hour or two of the marathon. What kind of things were people saying and/or doing to cheer you on?
The people were singing and cheering
me on, so full of positive energy. I couldn’t
believe it. We Puertoricans are very expressive
and, even though they were always
showing me support, those last hours were
wild! I’ve never felt so much love from so
many people at the same time.
How does it feel to be part of history?
It feels awesome. To accomplish a goal that
you set for yourself is always great. My goal
on this journey was to bring international
attention to caricature and to Puerto Rico
and I did it. I think people that read this can
think that anybody can do a world record,
and they’re right, but to do it for something
that you really believe in and that in the
long run benefits a lot of people— it just
feels amazing.
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