So, I finally did it. I finally sat down and took the 24 Hour Comic Day Challenge and I finally feel like I succeeded!
The challenge was created years ago by comic artist
Scott McCloud and the idea is to write, draw, ink, and finish a complete 24 page comic book story in one 24 hour period.
I tried the challenge once a few years ago in my home with a bunch of friends. I think I got through five pages and four hours before everyone started giving up. It's always been something that bugged me, not actually getting my comic done for the challenge. So, this year, I tried it again.
I joined a bunch of local artists at my local comic book shop, T
ime Warp Comics, for their annual 24 Hour Comic Day Challenge. The owner of Time Warp, Wayne, is generous enough every year to turn his store over to a bunch of artists and keep the store open for 24 hours while everyone works on their stories. So, on Saturday morning, at 10am, I entered the store with my paper and supplies, found a seat next to my friend,
Liam, and got to work.
The good thing about attempting the challenge before is that it gave me some insight and ideas into how I would go about tackling it this time. This time I wanted to have a really good idea for the story already figured out and thumbnailed before starting. It might be against the rules to even think about your story before you start but I figure this whole thing is a personal quest and there aren't any cash prizes or gold medals on the line so who is anyone else to tell me how I should tackle the challenge? Plus, I really enjoy figuring a story out and I wanted to enjoy the process instead of freaking out and feeling pressured once I was on the clock.
I also decided to draw the pages smaller than I had the last time. The first time around I drew the pages the same size I draw pages professionally, about 150% larger. With speed being the key having less space to fill up really helped and I didn't have lay down nearly as much Sharpie marker to get the job done.
And, finally, I decided I would draw and ink the pages during the 24 hour period and leave the lettering until I could scan the pages into the computer and letter digitally. I'm a competent letterer, meaning you can read what I write, but I really don't enjoy it and I can do a lot better job on the computer.
With those guidelines in mind, I got to work.
I'd love to say it was easy for me, that I just breezed through it, but it was a real ordeal. I honestly don't know if I've ever actually stayed awake that many hours in a row much less spent the majority of those hours working. During the process time felt like it was flying by while, at the same time, it felt like the ordeal would never end. I remember at one point, in the wee hours of the morning, wondering what lesson I was learning by doing this process. At the time all I could think of was, "
I never ever ever want to do another comic book again EVER!"
Ha ha! Oh the things we think of when we are sleep deprived.
In the end, of the ten artists we started out with, only five stayed the entire time. Of the five of us, I think only three of us got even close to completing 24 pages. I am happy to say that I was one of the people who got all of his pages done the way he wanted to get them done.
I did it.
I scratched that itch. I no longer need to wonder if I can do it because I just did it. One of the things that kept me going when I wanted to quit is that I knew it was better to grind it out this time than to quit and still wonder if I could do it right the next time.
After some breakfast and a nice long nap I feel extremely proud of myself for what I accomplished. I did a decent job in the time I had and I am really proud of the results. In the middle of the challenge I thought that there is no way I am ever doing this again.
But, now, with a little rest, I know I will do it again. Except next time I might throttle back a bit and only do an eight page story and see how detailed I can get in a 24 hour period. Because, you know, I already proved to myself I could do the 24 page thing in the time I was given. And that feels great.
In the coming weeks I'll scan the pages in to the computer and clean them up. I'll letter them, get them set up, and submit them to the store's printed anthology book which should be released before Christmas. And I'll make sure to post the pages on the
OilCan Drive website. The story might not be as good or as well drawn as the regular pages I do but I think they definitely deserve to be seen. And the story does fit into and sheds light on a bit more of the OilCan Drive world.
For now, I am off to bed for real. It's been a VERY long weekend but I am glad I participated in the event and that I succeeded.
One more thing to cross off the list of "Things To Do!" Yeah me!
Hello all and happy holidays!
Today I begin sitting down to actually write out the script for the third OilCan Drive story. I've had ideas bouncing around in my head and they have finally started to gel so I think it's time I get something on paper and see how it all works out.
I got the inks done on the last few pieces, scanned them into the
computer, and I've been coloring a bit each night to get them all done.
Each of them will be used in the print edition of the second OilCan
Drive book and, with these last few pieces done, I am now one step
closer to putting this chapter to bed and sending it out to the printer.
Hello all! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend filled with friends, family, and plenty of shopping and savings on Black Friday.
So, even though it felt like a struggle to get it done, I am glad that I've finally broken the habit of not finishing a second issue of my story.
And, after I wrap up the majority of the art and layout for the second book, I'll start working on the third chapter in my little sci-fi rock and roll epic. I am hoping to have it all done and printed by the next Denver Comic Con in late May so keep your fingers crossed. I figure if I can finally finish a second book, doing the third should be a piece of cake.
This issue is out in stores now so hurry to your nearest magazine rack and pick a copy up!
But, finally, on Friday, I had a guy come by and take care of the problem. 
I was really happy with the way both the track piece and the hockey piece came out this month. One of the things that doing these Sports Illustrated pieces has let me do is really get comfortable drawing full figures interacting with each other. Usually, in both comics and advertising storyboards, it's almost too easy to always draw people in mid-shots from the waist up where you never have to worry what's going on below the belt.
So, hooray for feeling like I am getting better at this art thing. It's always a good feeling and doing art for the "What's The Call" article month in and month out has definitely made me a better artist.
Okay, back to it for me. I am planning out how to wrap up the last
few pages of the second issue of OilCan Drive this week. I've been away
from it for much too long and I think it's finally time I did something
about it.
Oops, September got so busy around here what with road trips, plane trips, trips to Maine, a failing computer, and getting ready for the 24 Hour Comic Day Challenge, that I totally forgot to show off the "What's The Call" illustrations for the September issue of Sports Illustrated Kids.
But, I am guessing, because they keep coming to me each month, that I am doing a pretty good job so far.
So, it's back to the drawing board for me to tackle the new Sports Illustrated pieces, script and letter my 24 Hour Comic Day story, ink the next page of OilCan Drive, and maybe start a new piece that I've been inspired to do just for the fun of it.
This coming weekend, October 4th and 5th, I'll be participating in my first official 24 Hour Comic Challenge. It's an annual event that has been going on for years and is the brain child of comic book great Scott McCloud. The idea is that you sit down for 24 hours and, in that time, you complete a fully finished 24 page comic book. I've tried it once by myself with disasterous results but I am hoping that first attempt will give me some insight on how to succeed this time around. I told a friend my ideas on how I was going to go about it this time and he commented, "it's great that you have it all planned out." My response was, "I always have a plan...whether it works or not remains to be seen."
I created the piece in the same way I plan on doing the 24 hour comic to test out the process. I sketched the whole piece out with a non-repo blue pencil and went right to ink using only Sharpie and Micron markers. It's pretty much the same way I do a lot of my advertising work that usually has super tight deadlines. From there I scanned the piece into the computer and added color and text.
So, I took my time and got the TK piece all colored up pretty and dropped it into the new blog header.
I did this piece with a strong image in my mind but no actual reference of her in front of me. I figured that way I was using her as inspiration and not simply copying a photo of her. I think I capture a bit more of her character and soul this way than simply copying the drawing from someone others' photo.
After all was said and done I went back and looked at a few old photos of Tonya and ran across these from when she was shooting a film called "Bold Native.". You can definitely see where the inspiration came from even if I didn't look at the photos while I was working.
I've sent all the process pieces and the finished piece to Tonya and she's posted them and written a great piece about me and the art on her own personal website. You can check it out HERE. I am a huge fan of hers so it's always a joy when we talk and share each others' artistic endeavors.
It was a quick sketch while I sat with friends waiting for my car to be done at the garage and I found some time on Saturday morning while warming up to get the inks done before I started the real work for the day. She is scanned and partially colored so I hope I can get her done before I head out of town as well. It's not enough to have client work to get done so I put a few personal jobs on my shoulder as well. Whee!
Another idea I have that I'd like to explore is the reason I am showing off these three pieces I did for an advertising agency a few months ago. The thing I love about doing art for ad agencies is that they usually need something produced very quickly. It's a normal thing for me to get a job on a late Monday afternoon where the finished pieces are needed the next morning at the start of the day. I've seen more than my fair share of old episodes of "I Love Lucy" and "The Golden Girls" as I pulled off all-nighters to get the work done.
These three pieces were assigned to me on a Sunday afternoon and I finished them sometime right after dinner that same night. And, for the short time they took to create, I really liked the way they came out. 
