I drove with my family to Spokane, Washington on Friday October 19th after getting out of work a little early and spent the night there with my in-laws. The next morning I got an idea for the comic and headed over to Merlyn’s comic and game store at about 11:20am. I started promptly at 12:00pm (the official starting time for the Merlyn’s group) and worked straight through until 4:00pm when I took a half hour break. By that time I had seventeen and a half pages finished so I was making good time. I came back and worked for another half an hour before my father-in-law and kids showed up when I took another half hour break to chat and look at the store with them and get some lunch. I completed all twenty-four pages of the comic at two minutes before seven o’clock. That’s fifteen minutes a page which is what I had planned for. I thought that I would run over, but I didn’t! This gave me an additional two hours to go back over my work and make adjustments and touch-ups here and there. The most significant thing I did in this “extra” two hours was to add dark black lines for panel borders.
So yes, I did it! I was the first one finished and I did all twenty-four pages in a Working Day–not spending more than eight hours actually drawing it! An entire comic from concept to completion!
I did a practice run the night before of three pages in an hour. I used a two pass method of penciling and then inking and was barely able to complete it. This is what prompted my use of going straight with pen and allowed me to finish all the pages with time to spare.
I’m very happy with how the comic turned out! I feel there is a lot of energy and expression that I was trying to capture. The pages and panels flowed from my hand almost immediately after the thoughts entered my mind. It lacks the stiffness of some of my other more well planned work. There is of course a significant lack of polish in the work. Honestly it mostly looks like quick thumbnails and chicken scratch… very sketchy. Since I was using straight pen, I had no chance to erase which increased my drawing speed, but made it hard to fix mistakes.
Next year, my focus will be on putting a little more quality into the work.
So there you go.
There is no need to burn yourself out for twenty-four hours when you can get great work done in a working day so long as you stay focused. I think about all the time some people waste when they know they have twenty-four hours to complete the project. Many probably only end up spending eight good hours on it anyway! I had a great night’s sleep and was fresh for Sunday morning the next day. No coffee, no energy drinks, no falling asleep at the table. Just a good solid day’s work. Honestly, outside of my hand cramping up a bit due to lack of practice, it was pretty easy going.
So next year, my challenge to you is to complete your 24 Hour Comic as a Working Day Comic.
