I give 24-Hour Comic Day 2022 a try
Oct. 1, 2022
Can I make a 24-page comic in 24 hours? Maybe. I learned to sketch in seven-minute bursts between the stops of the Q Train, but I can also spend an hour with a microscope, erasing the tiniest of smudges.
What is 24-HOUR-COMIC Day?
24-Hour Comics Day is an annual international celebration of comics creation. On this day, creative folks take on the challenge to create a 24 page comic book story, normally months worth of work, in 24 straight hours.
— from the 24 Hour Comics Day website
Quick work and slow work
Interestingly, the last two years have been about pacing for me, as far as comics go. Technically, I sped up by about 500% by finally buying an iPad Pro with Procreate. I was a sketchbook monster, like I said, but for my longer comics, I followed a really arduous digital process.
I’d draw fast with a marker on Bristol paper, not pencilling first (I wanted “Zen immediacy”), and then took a photo of it with my phone. Then, I traced the lines in the photo in Illustrator. After that, I cut and moved tons of sections of lines that came out “too Zen.” Then, I added color. If you didn’t get all that, you probably at least noticed there’s like 25 steps.
With the tablet, I use a “marker,” and I can “erase” as I go. It enables my bad behavior of not pencilling first, but I love, love it.
So, the technical aspects of my art sped up. The composition part slowed down.
I want to create stuff that’s more layered, moving and funny. So, I’m actually writing scripts, squirreling them away for a few months, and revisiting them for edits. And repeating. I’m working harder and being patient, and to revisit stuff with fresh eyes. I think the quality of my work has improved.
So, it’s weird that I ended up, for 24-Hour Comic Day, drawing a short story that I’ve been mulling over for two years. I only took a few hours, though, to think through how to adapt it as a comic …
Oct. 9, 2022
I opted to draw a creepy short story I wrote a few years ago, but had not drawn, and finished 12 pages in 24 hours—over a week. That’s very good for me, but next year, I’ll nail that 24-hour challenge.