Comic Book in a Day
A full day comic drawing challenge.
When I retired I think I imagined I would be spending my days drawing, and traveling. Reading comics, petting cats and building LEGO sets would take some of that time also. Reality has stepped in and changes to that plan have occurred. One thing is I haven’t devoted as much time to drawing as I would like. Saturday gave me an opportunity to focus on drawing with Noblesville Creates- Comic Book in a Day. An idea that started with a group of artists just getting together and jam
You’ve already had an opportunity to read a bit about my pre thoughts as I approached the event. I started things out enjoying a wonderful evening VIP event the evening before. A fun night of drinking and drawing, along with a nice opportunity to support Noblesville Creates programming.
As always, I arrived early and parked in the wrong lot. So I sat in my car wondering where everyone was. 🙄 I was given the choice of a “loud” room or a “quiet” room. I decided to go to the “loud” room, because… why not. Let’s just say when you put a bunch of artists in a room “loud” is not a word I’d use to describe it. Everyone was focused with the understanding that we had limited time. People walked around and commented (positively) on what they saw, but loud it was not.
How the Day Went
8:30- check-in & claim a table
9:00- announcements introductions
9:30- start work - scripting/thumbnails
10:30- layout pages start rough penciling
12:00- working lunch -three pages penciled
1:00- start inking
3:39- “finished” take pages to be scanned
4:00- gather to show stories (2 to 3 sentence pitch) Adult group presentations can be seen here, I’m around the 4 minute mark. Kid group presentations can be seen here
Somewhere in there was a 15 minute break where I walked around looking at other people’s progress and chatting with some of the judges.
The Medium is the Message
While I was given 11x17 Bristol and a nice bag of supplies I used what I had brought.
Strathmore 200 series 11x17 Smooth Bristol lined for pages - basically made for sequential art.
Staedtler non-photo blue pencil
Pentel TRJ50-AO Tradio pen - used for the inking on the first page
Pigma Micron 08 - used for the majority of inking
Pigma Micron 03 - used for speech bubbles
While snacks and water or soft drinks were provided I brought seem snacks and they are still in my bag.
Done is Better Than Perfect
When doing these kinds of challenges one thing I have to keep in mind is not that clock is your mortal enemy (although it is), it’s more that you need to stop sweating the details and just work on getting things done “well enough.” The first page I put everything into it trying to make it as perfect as possible. Then I realized that if I took the same amount of time on every page I would finish around midnight. Doing something at home without a deadline makes that possible, in a challenge situation… not so much. I started by changing how I did the lettering. Then moved to using different pens. I switched to my tried and true Micron 08 that I use for my strips. I stopped putting a slightly thicker line around characters. I simplified the main character, especially his hair. Note to self: this is why Cecil has goggles-it avoids needing to draw hair. Yes, I had about 20 minutes left when I finished, but I decided midway through that if I wanted this to be a “publishable work” that meets my standards I needed to look upon this iteration as just that- an iteration.
Closing Thoughts
Everyone did well (I’m not just saying that) many just worked in pencil so they didn’t have to deal with inking. Others drew large and while turning in six pages of amazing art, each page was a splash page. Color was optional and many did add color. During the presentations you could see a variety of styles and a few people upset over not having time to finish. Only a handful worked digitally which was surprising knowing how many folks in other groups are exclusively digital.
Did I cheat by taking a poem and adapting it? Maybe, others looked for inspiration from myths, came up with original stories, and some just drew for the joy of drawing. I decided to just take the poem from memory (so spelling might be off) instead of pulling it up on my phone or getting a copy of Through the Looking Glass from the library collection.
Wednesday is the awards ceremony so I’ll find out how I did. I’m happy to get this project started and may continue to work on it to create a second iteration. I may just put it away for a while. Then again, I may just challenge myself to take a page from this project and really take time on it to see how long it takes to produce a full page exactly how I would want it to be- including color.
My happy thought was the way I adapted John Tenniel’s Jabberwock design into my style. When that clicked it was a great feeling. As for the other designs I recall thinking beforehand to just draw- not worry about it and see what comes out of my hand. Easier said than done. You fall back on tried and true character design when the clock is ticking. I also noticed that my characters changed size sometimes the main character is a kid, sometimes he’s an adolescent… Something I need to work on.
I’m not happy that I decided to remove the first and last stanzas from the establishing shot. I just wasn’t sure how I wanted to include it and how I would letter it. I think it was the right choice at the time, but I don’t have to like it. I’ve got some ideas on how to best integrate it for the next iteration. I also think just using “Twas Brillig” as the title might be good.
Of course the big question is will I do this again? I think any chance to challenge yourself and make yourself draw in this busy world is worth it. I’ve learned a few things and think next year I might be better prepared for the challenge.