Let me start this post off by saying: “I didn’t make it”. Not only did I not make it, but I only got two pages done which you can see below. Do I consider the 24 hours of little sleep and hyper-brain-activity a failure? No. Let me explain why.
My Quick History With 24 Hour Comic Day
When I learned of 24 Hour Comic Day it was maybe 2005–I can’t remember exactly but it’s not important for the point of this post to make sense. I was following tons of webcomic podcasts at the time because I got it in my head to start one “just because” and I wanted to know what was going on concerning the topic on the web. I learned of the epically talented and superbly efficient creating-machine-of-a-man, Ryan Estrada–his 24 hour comic and then later his “Ryan Estrada Day” where he’d do guest webcomics for dozens of web-series and they’d all get released online on the same day: Brilliant. The guy was fascinating to me! He became an instant legend because the concept of an immensely active creator like this inspires me to this day.
I missed 24 Hour Comic Day that year. I dreamed of it the next year but just couldn’t do it. Then the original hosts of the world-wide midnight oil extravaganza stopped organizing the event (sorry, but I forget the actual details of who they were, I just remember the note on their site the one year I wanted to know more about when it started). I got a couple of the 24 Hour Comic Day collection books from the library and devoured them. They energized me. The chosen comics ranged in skill levels but each carried with them the notion that someone out there gave it their all, for one day–and through self-motivation and determination–got what they set out to do done! Inspiring, right?
Starting the 24 Hour Comic Day Challenge
When I found out this past August that 24 Hour Comic Day was back on the map, I immediately added October 3rd to my Google Calendar so that I’d be prepared to commit to the challenge!
Then I kinda forgot. To be fair, I incorrectly assumed it was going to happen 2 weeks later. This was at Friday 11:30pm.
At 12:30am I said, “Screw it! No excuses! Not again!”
I made a batch of strong coffee and I set to work on the brainstorming, the plot breakdown, the per-page breakdown, then gathering studies for the subject matter. When all that was done it was 7am.
It had been nine years since I did art with any committed intent–sure, a concept study here, a rough spot art piece there, a random scribbling–but draw… technically… and sequentially… not since I was 14-years-old and never from technical training since taking Fine Arts nine years ago.
That’s something I mildly regret about past choices. I took Fine Arts in university, not Illustration in college. What I had in skill was self-learned through just doing it; analysing my favorite artists, reading books about anatomy and technique. Not all was lost though. What I learned from university was building concepts, executing on a strategy, thinking in modularized steps, being efficient and problem solving. When I went to college after university for web development, I zipped through the courses at rapid speed with a near 100% in my whole term.
Committing to an idea became easy to me–over-committing also became one of my greatest flaws. Everything becomes a challenge that needs to be confronted, so, getting back to the lesson learned, I took the challenge!–
–And I hit a wall. One that scared the hell out of me to climb over. I had to draw what I built up in a beautiful pitch-style master document. More coffee poured in a mug, and I began.
Confronting Fears and Learning About the Self
What I learned is that if I applied myself, pulled to the forefront memories of how I learned to draw in the past, then reapplied those memories: I could do it! I was even overtly impressed by the result; but the first page took me three hours to produce. I say “overtly” because, already to me, that first page was way more than I believed I could personally do–not because I thought it was amazing work on an industry standard. That’s not for me to decide. Nor was it something I cared about. I wasn’t an industry artist. I wasn’t trying to be an industry artist. All I was trying to do was defeat the fear in me; the one that repeated “You can’t do it!”
Truth was though, things were not looking good for 24 Hour Comic Day. I started the second page and then finished that one in 2 hours. My brain did the math and I accepted that the challenge had defeated me. No matter how much I wanted it, I realized that I misjudged my efficiency with the art stage and getting through the remaining 24 hours was still going to result in either an unfinished comic, or one that was less than acceptable to my now-determined mind. I wanted this idea done as a professional 24-page comic!
Finding Success in Failure
How do I consider 24 Hour Comic Day a success then? Because it taught me something about myself. I’ve become a better and more efficient concept-maker and idea-producer than a sequential artist, or illustrator for that matter. This is what I got out of the choice to go to university, and it became very apparent that October 3rd 2009, during 24 Hour Comic Day.
I was disappointed at first, but then realized: That’s ok. Every failure re-visited in a positive light can be turned into a lesson for success. That’s my maudo and I try to live it. What I got at the end of the whole process was another well-built comic book concept. One that I will pursue one day with a more efficient and proficient artist. Something that I’ll be proud about and say: “24 Hour Comic Day made this book possible!”
In Conclusion
Finally, what else came out of 24 Hour Comic Day? You’re looking at it. This website: Mr. Brain Jar. A place for me to write about my experiences concerning challenges, brainstorming techniques, rut-breakers, idea provokers, anything that I think can help other creators JUST DO IT!
Too many creators are affraid of failing. It’s a creators worst enemy. I know because I’ve been there countless times in the last 15 years, and some of them had large amounts of money attached to them. I’d go into debt–then I’d get back out of it and make enough profit and savings to go through the journey again. That is what I’ve chosen for my life because I’ve taught myself to not be afraid of failing. There’s always an answer and part of finding those answers start with learning what you’re capabile of, and what you’re willing to do to transform your life, so that you learn from the past instead of getting caught up in it.
This first post, one week after 24 Hour Comic Day, starts another challenge. One I think will help people–and that’s already success enough for me.
