• Graphic designer Charlie Layton started sketching for his own amusement
• Realised his fridge door was the same material as a dry-erase board
• Drawings have gone viral and his website crashed from the extra traffic

By Steve Robson

PUBLISHED: 12:03 EST, 15 January 2013 | UPDATED: 12:04 EST, 15 January 2013

It started out as a way for freelance designer Charlie Layton to entertain himself over his morning coffee.

The Philadelphia-based artist realised his fridge freezer door was made out of the same material as a dry-erase board and was perfect for him to practice doodling.

Now every Friday he spends 25 minutes trying to come up with something clever and then posts his efforts online.

Charlie improvises with the freezer door to create this clever image which gives the impression of an x-ray

Stop thief! A pair of racoons appear to be raiding Charlie's fridge in another Friday post

Ice work: Each drawing takes Charlie around 25 minutes to come up with and he posts a new one on his blog every Friday

Screen wipe: The weekly hobby began when Charlie realised the surface of his fridge freezer was the same as a dry-erase board

But his artwork quickly went viral after his friend posted a link his 'Freezer Friday' blog on Reddit where it was briefly the most-read story.

The publicity drove so much traffic to Charlie's website that at one point it crashed.

'It's pretty crazy. It's hard to grasp that thousands of people have seen something so quickly,' he said of his new-found fame.

Some popular characters occasionally pop up in his sketches including Darth Vader and the Abominable Snowman.

Fish fingers: The artwork went viral after Charlie's friend posted on Reddit to the point that his website crashed due to the extra traffic

Freeze framed: The fridge drawings have proved so popular Charlie is now printing some of them on tee-shirts

Some of the artwork includes well-known characters such as Bob Ross, Darth Vader and Bumble the Abominable Snowman

Some of the light-hearted drawings feature comical scenarios such as this polar bear watching his coffee float away on an iceberg

Mirror image: Could this be a self-portrait?

The beast within: The fridge lamp casts an ominous light over this drawing of a gremlin and a mouse

Each drawing takes 25-30 minutes for him to produce, and Charlie says he tries to come up with something clever in each one.

One sketch uses the freezer door to give the impression of an x-ray while racoons appear to be raiding the fridge in another.

Some of the drawings have proved so popular that they are now being printed on t-shirts.

March of the Penguins: Charlie's creations are a side project from his day job as a freelance graphic designer

The Empire Strikes Back: Darth Vader and Yoda enjoy a game of Jenga in another comical cartoon

Some of the drawings are incredibly detailed despite the fact they were sketched in just 25 minutes