MOBILE, Alabama -- Patrick Giles is a huge fan of TBS’ late night talk show host Conan O’Brien.

So when Giles heard that TBS was doing a special art exhibit for O’Brien’s fans, Giles started drawing.

Fans were asked to submit artwork focusing on “The Flaming C,” O’Brien’s superhero alter ego.

The entries were put on display at a San Diego art gallery to coincide with Comic Con, a comic book and popular arts convention that draws fans from around the world.

The exhibit featured more than 60 selected pieces of artwork created by O’Brien fans.

In June, Giles received an e-mail notifying him that TBS wanted to use his drawing, not only for the art exhibit, but to put on O’Brien’s TV show and print on T-shirts.

“I didn’t expect them to make my piece of art so huge,” the 31-year-old Giles said from his home in Montgomery.

Giles said he couldn’t afford to travel to San Diego to see his art, so he had to rely on friends to e-mail him photos on Facebook.

He was “shocked” to see how large they made his artwork and to see people wearing his comic character on T-shirts.

He was especially excited when he started getting e-mail photos of Conan standing next to his artwork.

“My head kind of got big when that happened,” said Giles, who earned a bachelor of art degree from Auburn University and attended Mobile Christian School.

Giles started drawing when he was 5.

“My sister bought me these cards and I stated copying those,” recalled Giles.

He made his Conan piece mimic a comic book cover.

A comic book fan, Giles said he used to draw the Garfield character a lot and other cartoon characters until he started making up his own characters.

“I was trying to get in the comic book art field,” but that hasn’t happened yet, said Giles, who lives in Montgomery and works as a graphic designer for a desktop publisher in Atlanta.