A Thousand Years Strong

Here's Master Yoda, listening to his heartbeat and meditating on how wonderful his life is. I love how it turned out.

There is a long, and very crazy story behind this pic.

I've been itching to draw a picture with a stethoscope since... I don't know how long, since I lived in California... but I wanted a peaceful one, not a sexy one. Every time I tried to draw it I messed up horribly. I even tried to draw a unicorn with a stethoscope, but Mom looked over my sholder and said "What's wrong with that horses ears?" I got mad and tore it up. I just couldn't get it right no matter what. Then, Yoda came along...

Well, it wasn't exactly Yoda... The inspiration finally came when I was engaging in one of my favorite past times, getting lost on YouTube. I found something that hit me with an unexpected belt of nostalgia, weirdness, and curiosity. It was a clip from Sesame Street.

I used to watch Sesame Street up until I was six years old. I thought I'd take a look (twenty years later), just for the heck of it. Laugh at how stupid it was, and wonder how I could have possibly enjoyed that goofy show... But it wasn't like that at all, it was like a wreck on the highway. I didn't want to look anymore, but I couldn't help it. I watched a few more clips thinking to myself "Aw, cute! I remember that song." and "Gee, Big Bird is dumber than I remember." and "How could Elmo possibly get so popular?"

Then I clicked this one... 

For those of you too lazy or afraid to click that link I'll spoil it for you. Grover is telling the viewers that everyone has a heart and all our hearts beat. He even listens to his own heart with a stethoscope. As I'm watching this I'm thinking "There's something weird about Grover's voice. I swear I heard it recently." then half way through the clip my brain makes the connection "Oh yeah! Frank Oz was the voice of Grover AND Yoda."

Hearing Yoda's voice (sort of) talk about how calm and relaxed his heart sounded brought this image to my mind. 

The most amazing thing about it is that I drew it freehand! No tracing, no modals, no references! I just did it. "There is no try." Yoda would be proud.