Storyboard artist and prop designer Robin Richesson talks about drawing on a deadline and stressing out over one second of screen-time. To see some of Robin Richesson's work, click here.

Q: How often do you storyboard for episodes?

A: We don't storyboard every episode, mostly the ones where there is some kind of stunt or special effects issue to make sure they're planning their shots the way they need to. I storyboarded the scenes in Season 2 with the horses -- wherever there are animals involved, you usually board just so the trainer has some idea of what the animals are expected to do. And I did the car crash when Don has two or three drinks and gets in a little rural crash. That one had a lot of action, which was kind of exciting.

Q: How much context do you have when you storyboard a scene?

A: I never really know exactly what is going on. Usually they just give me the pages that pertain to me and I get a quick run-through. Then the director tells me exactly what they want to board and why. This season they've given me a little a desk to work at, and I draw the boards up the same day and hand them in before I go. Television shows have a very short production schedule, so things turn around really fast. By the time they get a script, they are shooting the following week, so you have to get the boards done. Sometimes [producer] Scott [Hornbacher] will come by and say, "You are doing too good of a job, aren't you," meaning they want me to draw faster so I can get to the next board.

Q: You also do prop work for the show. What sorts of things do you design?

A: A lot of the stuff I do is set dressing, where it's in the background and the camera is never really on it -- but just in case anybody should actually be near it, it looks right. In the first season, for example, I did a lot of the drawings that are hanging around Midge's apartment. Prop work is pretty challenging: It always has to be done fairly quickly, it has to look like something that is not necessarily your own style, and everybody kind of stresses over it to make sure it's right... all this for something that people are going to see for one second.

Q: Did you have to adapt your style to the show's aesthetic?

A: Actually, in terms of period I think that my own drawing style is a little more of that era. I have a sketchy style that isn't overly photographic and I think that relates more to how people were drawing at the time. They weren't trying to emulate photos. There is something about that period and that era that I love and it probably has influenced the way I draw.

Q: Have you noticed any visual changes between the first and second seasons?

A: Not so far, but if they continue to need stuff from me there probably will be. In Season 1, even though the year is 1960, there is a lot that still looks like the '50s -- I assume that's one of the reasons they chose this point in time. It's a turning point in culture and everything is going to start to shift. The things people are wearing, the cars they are driving, the world will all start get a lot more streamlined and cleaner. I think as the series goes on, it will start looking more and more like the '60s.

To see Robin Richesson's drawing for Season 2, Episode 5, click here.
To see Robin Richesson's drawing for Season 1, Episode 2, click here.
To see Robin Richesson's drawing for Season 1, Episode 8, click here.