24hr Comic etc.

Presenting Josh Neal's 24hr Comic, finished at 6.47am on the 19th of February 2011.

That's 24 completed pages in 20 hours and 17 minutes. 

My work was inspired by the light parade which happened in Liskeard last year. My story was about a light parade which was paraded by giants, who would accidently destroy towns throughout their journeys. The Towns people who lived in that land were fed up with the giants lack of respect and prayed for their Gods to do something about it. The Gods decided to send a bird messenger to send word out to people to gather strength and defeat the giants, however the bird decided to take a poo on top of a hunter. This did not end well for the bird or the hunter. The hunter shot the bird which stopped the bird sending a message out to the people. So the giants carried on causing havoc forever!! 

Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to attemp theirown 24hr Comic challenge?

Just spend half an hour or an hour planning your story, then just crack on! Don’t think too much about it or else you will never get the whole 24 pages done. Just enjoy it and go crazy with ideas, don’t hold anything back!!

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We are very happy to present Jake Rowlinson's completed 24hr Comic.

Jake finished his final page at 8.24am on the 19th of February. That's 24 A3 pages in just under 22 hours. 

I had no real idea of what I was going to undertake (as that would not be in keeping with the rules of the 24 Hour Comic), but I knew I’d like to do something based on the songs of Jethro Tull, and set it in some sort of enchanted glade. Other that that it all sort of morphed out of a general interest in folklore, domestic paganism and native folk traditions. The concept was to differentiate the very tense, broody tone of last years work, “The Death and Life of John Tall”, to better accommodate my sense of humour and my progressing artistic style. The Jethro Tull thing kind of wandered off after a while and it turned again into a Legend of Zelda-esque quest with witches swords, bosses, and lots of beheadings.  

As I was one of those lucky enough to take part two years running, the difference this year was remarkable. Inwardly, I realised after seeing last years effort just how stronger both my writing and my visual style is 12 months on, but also how I am letting my personality come through the work. That is something that without the 24 Hour draw I would not be as aware of. Secondly, it was great to see people from Liskeard really getting into the project, of us all, far more than the fine folk of Falmouth did last year. There was a great eclectic mix of media swishing around and a great camaraderie between all those that took part, organisers and artists alike. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and am very grateful for having the chance to take part, it is priceless as an exercise in self-editing, and self-belief.

Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to attempt their own 24hr Comic?

Don’t let the ‘no pre-planning’ thing worry you; it’s not as hard as it sounds. The really tough thing isn’t having things to draw, it’s editing your own style down to a foundation that you can produce evenly and periodically over a 24 hour period. Some find it easy and some find it hard, and that’s what things like this are great for, they take people out of their comfort zone and see where they go. Some of the best work was by people who did far less than 24 pages, it didn’t matter. If you have ever considered this challenge or one similar, just give it a go, you’ll surprise yourself whatever you end up producing. It really is a pleasure just to take part.

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At long last we can offor you Suky Goodfellows completed comic.

Suky finished her last page at four minutes past ten on the morning of the 19th of February 2011.

A mysterious narrator has fingers in a box that he claims are from the Archbishop of Canterbury. The next Archbishop of Canterbury is a clone of the last Archbishop of Canterbury and this has been so for many years, so most of the fingers have the same genetic code.

In order to explain why he has six fingers in a box, the narrator tells a folk tale set in Liskeard about the origin of Liskeard Rum. As a marketing scheme to encourage tourism around the country during the Olympics, every town must have its own beverage. A murder takes place and rum out is made out of the murderee’s bones. The Archbishop of Canterbury is a fan of the drink and bequeaths his bones (as do his genetically identical postdecessors) to be made into rum. The fingers in the box got left over.

Why the box has two fingers belonging to Archbishops prior to this period is never explained. The narrator is evidently unreliable.

I felt a bit panicked when I saw that people had produced several of their pictures already and I hadn’t even started drawing! However, that time I took to write the story first was useful in the long run. It meant I had less to think about later on, because I knew what was happening. It was all pretty straightforward from then on. Although what Tom pointed out at the time was true – picking the composition was vital. Good advice. It didn’t pay to try and sum up the whole paragraph in the picture, better just to illustrate the quirkiest element. I abandoned drawing with panels after the first one. One of my favourite pictures out of the ones I produced is number 21, because it’s pretty sparse. Just bones, a bloody equals, money. I felt that at this point I’d really got the hang of it. Over-complication is a nasty, nasty temptation. My first story draft was this complicated cyberpunk thing involving six different characters, lipstick manufacture, secret tunnels… ‘I think it’s too complicated,’ I said to Jake, who’d come along at the right time. ‘But…’ Then Jake told me the story of the guy who’d admitted his was too complicated half way into a 24 hour event and started all over again, half way through. I realised that there could be no ‘But…’ It was not a time to be drippy, but cut yer losses. This is as close as I get to being one of those ruthless businesspeople who eat prosciutto.

Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to attempt their own 24hr Comic challenge?

Take part with other people. It helped to have others in the same position for camaraderie, chat, keeping calm. Plus, it meant I couldn’t keep track of how many biscuits I had eaten. You will need to eat a lot of biscuits. Don’t worry about it. That’s life.

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Please enjoy the first 9 pages of Temujin Doran's as yet unfinished 24hr comic, produced on the 18th and 19th of February 2011. 

I was attempting to make a narrative based on a boat travelling through the arctic seas. It is kind of based quite loosely around the history of british mining endevours in the archepeligo of svalbard – where many miners and construction workers were sent from cornwall, and around England in the late 19^th century to be part of the British Polar Mining Operation. But also, it was an excuse to draw on my residency I did up there last November – from which I have not been able to make work from so far.

Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to try the 24hr Comic challenge?

Don’t think about the pages too preciously as I did, and you’ll fair much better in completing all 24 pages. Most importantly, see it as a chance to enjoy the process by which you make work – uninterrupted for a whole day!  

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For your entertainment, Joe Lywards splended comic, completed at 8.24am on the 19th of February 2011. Joe completed 24 pages in 21 hours and 54 minutes.

Well my the story I came up with was quite simple, The full moon cause zombies to come out of their graves and cause havoc in the town, they eventually kill most of the humans and chase the two surviving townsfolk into the church, they are just two young boys, and they ring the church bell to call for help, but it attracts the zombies. The story is left on a cliff-hanger but it didn’t look good! The idea came from the cemetery just down the road from the Liskerret centre and the full moon on the night of the event and if you look at the townscapes in the comic it is a stylised Liskeard with the cemetery, town and church up the hill.    

I thought it was really fun, and great for so many reasons; got to meet some incredibly talented people and see (and hear (Kieran!)) some very cool stuff! And I felt really glad to have finished my comic. Apparently it seemed like Josh, Jake and I were competing but really I think we all just really wanted to finish. To me, that was the challenge and whatever happened in the artwork due to that would have just been more organic and spontaneous. 

Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to try the 24hr Comic challenge?

I would say its important to plan the story early but not the drawings/pages. You need the narrative ready so you know what your doing, but I found designing and drawing each page as I went worked well and kept the ideas fresh in my head rather than drawing something I had already drawn hours ago. Another thing I think helped, and something I do anyway in my work is to work straight away in pen, cutting out the pencil stage doubles productivity, and the permanence of the pen forces you to either be more confident in your line, or learn to live with quirky mistakes and happy accidents. A few thumbnails to get page lay out and then dive straight in.

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For your listening pleasure: Kieran Haynes 24hr Album, now compile into one handy track for ease of use.

 Kieran finished at 9.30am, completing 18 tracks in just 23 hours. 

Inspired by the legendary healing properties of the nearby Well of Lyskiret, I wrote and recorded 18 songs telling a tale of love, curiosity and well, wells.

Working on such a tight timescale was a weird experience me. I rarely spend less than a week writing a single song, and it’ll often take me years to finally turn an idea or piece of music something I’m happy with.

Despite attempting to use the first couple of hours to devise a narrative for the full 24 songs, I found myself often actually only planning one or two songs ahead. Given this, I’m surprised at how well the resulting narrative hangs together. I’m sure I’d have created a more polished set of songs (with a stronger central concept) if I’d had more time, but I’m equally sure that the recordings I did make gained something – not least a nice sense of throwaway urgency – from the limits placed on their production.

As the memory of the numbed mumbling and sleepless strumming fades, it’s strange to discover just how much I actually managed to do. There are songs I’d completely forgotten about in the dash toward the next, and the next, and the finish line, and the whole collection feels a little as if it’s simply appeared in my life of it’s own accord. It’s a bit like waking up from a dream in which you’ve been working really hard, and then being slightly surprised to find that everything you’ve been working on is there, piled up beside your bed.

I’ve learnt that it can be interesting, and useful, to rein in my perfectionism – that there can be value in producing things quickly and haphazardly: sometimes a stack of hastily collected firewood is as welcome as an immaculately designed log cabin. 

Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to try the 24hr Comic challenge?

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Presenting Felicity Notley's epic multi-part poem and lino-cut extravaganza.

Felicity finished at one minute past ten am on the 19th of February 2011. That's twenty four pages in eleven hours and thirty one minutes. 

'I wrote 24 poems which were all linked to form a narrative. The narrative had a historical connection to Liskeard, as it was about the lives and love of Charles I and Henrietta Maria as well as the impact of the Civil War on Cornwall. The poems come at the subject matter from different angles and are meant to be read together to make a whole narrative.

I used lino cuts to make 24 prints to accompany the poems. I wanted the prints to be as abstract as possible – not illustrations – but in some cases I succumbed to the temptation to be more literal. I have no regrets about including the dinosaur, though.'

It was brilliant. I think the experience really challenges you as an artist, in a potentially negative sense because you don’t have time to polish what you do so you are laid bare and in a positive sense because you might achieve what you never knew you could. I had a mixture of these positives and negatives. It was a new experience to write a whole short book of poems and it makes me think that this is something I could do in the future – but with more time. Also I have never written using a historical source before and it makes me think this is something I’d like to do. I did find the relentlessness of it bled me dry in terms of inspiration, and the lack of time meant I could not be as skillful as I wanted in both the words and the images. However, even that may have pushed me to open up to new methods.

Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to try the 24hr Comic challenge?

I think it is worth bearing in mind that the tireder you are, the more slowly you are likely to work, so it’s good to get a lot of the pages under your belt before you reach half time. I was convinced I wouldn’t finish, until I realised I had completed 13 pages (more than half). That was a turning point and I suddenly realised I could. I finished with half an hour to spare.

I found earplugs quite good to go into my own little world.

Finally, look in the mirror before going home! (I saw my reflection when on the train home and was a little shocked.) 

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Please enjoy Simon Reid's as yet unfinished comic.

Simon completed his last page at 9.56am, 14 excellent pages in 11 hours and 26 minutes.

I was interested in Liskeard’s pipe-well. It’s fed by four springs, and its waters are rumoured to have miraculous healing powers, even favourable effects upon matrimony. I gathered from visitors whom I talked to during the day that the Well of Lyskiret had indeed never run dry. Thinking about this, I had the idea for a comic set in a future in which mankind is battling a terrible plague (hence the silly bio-hazard suits) and therefore must locate the legendary pipe-well, which is believed to be the last hope of a cure. Then it occurred to me that Cornwall could be a sort of ‘heart of darkness’ in the future, quite lawless and overrun with mutant wild boars, making this quest a bit trickier. From there I made it up as I went along, but all of these ideas made it into the story. I’d have liked to develop them more, but I was quite pleased that the work had a clear connection to the local area, whilst also being the kind of weird story I like to draw. 

Although I drew almost the whole time and didn’t fall asleep, I only achieved fourteen pages, which is due to me being stubborn about keeping the drawings fairly detailed and consistent across the piece. I know that not every last little tree I drew was essential to the storytelling, but I enjoy getting carried away with my line work. I did manage to bring the story to a conclusion, albeit a hurried one.

The comic is not my finest, but I didn’t expect that from the challenge – I just hoped it would shed some new light onto my process. By compressing that process so much, I gained a lot of useful insights that will affect how I approach making my comics in the future, so the challenge was totally worthwhile for this reason. Also I met a bunch of ace, friendly artists and saw them working at full pelt, which was fascinating. I enjoyed talking to the many visitors too. 

Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to try the 24hr Comic challenge?

You’re not meant to plan the content of your work beforehand, but you can put some thought into how you’ll adapt your usual technique to make it speedier, so that you’re not flustered and struggling to decide what pen to use when the clock starts ticking. I knew that I’d have only got about four pages done if I had scanned and digitally tweaked and coloured each page (as I would normally), so I didn’t bring my computer – but next time I would probably have practised how to strip my style back even further, so that the two-dozen decent pages would be a realistic goal.

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Thomas G.J. Sharpe here, signing off from the Liskerrett Centre.

Many congratulations and thanks to the efforts of our participants here in Liskeard. They've worked like troopers and marched to the very end. Over the next week we hope to have good quality scans ready for your enjoyment.

We'll leave you with a group photo.

Congratulations, and goodbye for now!

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The final, final moments. That’s all, folks

We have another completed comic! Congratulations to Felicity – 24 poems and 24 lino cuts to accompany them all finished and looking wonderful. Brilliant! As Felicity has just reminded Suky, this is an amazing achievement for everyone. We’re now into the last hour of the Liskeard 24 hour comic and it’s been a tremendous day. Beginning with blank walls and blank pages; ending with stories captured on paper, in colour, in monochrome. Loads of different media and styles. It’s been really cool keeping a record of the events, I’ve enjoyed that hugely. Suky is now almost finished, Simon, too. Kieran, I think, is concluding his work and FOTONOW should be back any moment. A few more people come to see us, would be great to see more before we finish.

And my wish has been granted. Returned from washing up with Phil and a little group of visitors. And we’re just about finished. Just the final group photo, for that before and after effect as well – before sleep deprivation, after a gruelling 24 hour session of drawing, painting, writing and creating. What day. I’d do it again any time J

The final page of Suky Goodfellow's 24 pager and acceptance photograph. Congratulations:

The final page of Felicity Notley's illustrated poetry and acceptance photograph. Also more congratulations:

The indomitable Simon Reid with his 14th page and acceptance photograph. More also even congratulations:

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Thomas G.J. Sharpe here.

I've been helping Kieran Haynes capture his attempts at under pressure songwriting. Here is a picture of him at the end of his ordeal...

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Just in time for the arrival of Mr Ray Roberts, photographer. John Lennon is round again, having a look at the work that we’ve produced overnight. I think he’s surprised to see us all looking so lively. Some of us especially as we’ve had no sleep in the last 26 hours. But I reckon we’ve passed the point of tiredness now and are sort of in a state of dazed confusedness. Apparently the mobile cinema is in town, if any of us have the energy to view a movie.

Ooh, lovely. Sunlight streaming in through the windows. So nice. Looks great illuminating the artwork. Illuminating the rather weary faces all around the room. Tem’s decided he’s finishing at 9 pictures. There’s an incredible amount of detail in each picture, really, amazingly intricate. Simon is working on his 14^th which may be the conclusion of his comic. Again, huge amounts of detail which has taken so much time.

Tom’s shifting a few tables about here, displaying the work to its best advantage and leaving enough room for visitors. Loads more photos coming up and the end is in sight now. Actually, it’s going to be sad to finish and leave it all. It’s been brilliant.

Here are the penultimate moments of Suky and Felicity's work:

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Jake Rowlinson's last three pages! Finished at 7.30am and 8.24am. 

Jake produced his comic 'Song's from the Wood' -  24 pages in just under 22 hours!

completed comics, too! Phil is checking on Kieran, FOTONOW are looking studious, having recently returned from the streets of Liskeard once again. It’s dried up outside so it’s to be hoped they didn’t get too wet out there. Little bit chilly still in the hall. We’re all quite optimistic though, looking forward to the last couple of hours and the end results of everyone else. To recap: we have Josh and Joe finished, with most others close to completion.

Another page from Suky and Josh is working on pages 23 and 24 in tandem. Kieran is now wearing a wooden owl on a metal frame round his neck.

Kind of a bit of lethargy, maybe, could be just me though, is amongst people. Though I’m getting some energy back looking at Jake’s story. Work now going up on display which is making the hall really colourful and vivid. Looks good; 

very good.

Breakfast supplies now in but we seem to have a few internet problems.

Suky Goodfellow pages 20, 21, 22, finished at 7.33am, 8.06am and 9.30am

Simon Reid page 13, finished at 8.51am

Temujin Doran has decided that his story is as complete as it will ever be today. His work is extremely detailed, and like Tom Barwick and Sam, Bradbury at the other events it's not hard to see that producing 24 pages of that stanadard would be impossible in 24 hours.

Here's his final shot

Some snapshots of out nighttime activity:

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Josh Neal's final page, completed at 6.47am

Past 7am now, wonder if we can expect an influx of visitors soon. It’s a Saturday, weekend, greatness. Another poem to print for Felicity now. Jake on his 22^nd page, Suky on her 20^th.Another completion from Tem, he’s doing good.

Our entertainment continues and we’re rapt, listening. I’ve sat for a good ten minutes now, just listening. But he’s suggesting next some singing, which I’m not sure I’m up for. It’s getting hard enough to form coherent sentences, let along sing. Daylight’s flooding in now, kind of a shivery feeling though in the air. The chill of a morning, I guess. It’s been both a long and a short night, somehow. 3 more hours to go.

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That's right folks, Josh completed 24 pages in 19 hours and 17 minutes!

In vaguely related news our camera battery has run low so we're on a brief picture hiatus while it gets some well earned rest. 

Photos to follow!

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Two more pages from Felicity and a whole host of gifs up now on the blog of all of us! Kudos to Josh from FOTONOW for them.

Kieran is back in the room, looking solemn, but we’re hoping he’s recorded a few more. Joe’s looking relaxed, and maybe just a little bit smug after finishing about an hour ago. Looks like he’s reading some of the other comics.

And Kieran has rung the bell! Well done, Kieran! Well done, Suky, too. Another page and another step along the way of the story of the bone Rum of Liskeard.

And another page! Maybe Phil and I have been discussing sleep, or lack of, and coffee for longer than we realised. Both of us plan on drinking a strong cup of tea or coffee before we head back home. Something to eat also. That, we think, will be very beneficial. I’m having to think really carefully about what I type here and my touch typing, 95 words per minute skills, are rapidly declining. Relying on Word’s auto correct more than I would like. No matter. It’s in a good cause.

Another coffee, another cookie. It’s heading towards 7am. Caffeine calls.

Felicity Notley pages 18 and 19, finished at quarter past six

Josh Neal page 23, finished at five past six (we've missed a josh on somewhere. Things get a little confusing around this time!

Jake Rowlinson page 20, finished sometime at 5.47am

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Roz and Phil

Tem

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So who’s it going to be to finish next? Close tie between Jake and Josh, methinks. Or possibly Felicity will leap ahead. Kieran is ready to record some more songs so Mr T Sharpe will be through to assist him with that very shortly. Tiny bit more light in the sky. We’re wondering when the first visitors will come through today. Obviously when we open the gates will help...

Felicity Notley pages 14, 15 and 16, finished at 4.15am and page 17, finished at 5.38am

The first sounds of birdsong! Lovely sound J I haven’t pulled an all-nighter since about 3 years ago, almost 3 years ago anyhow. We’re lulling again and I’m sure I’m not the only one starting to long for my bed. Actually, a hot bath when I get back I think. Maybe some food, too.

Josh Neal page 21, finished at 5.26am. Only three more pages to go!

Another page from Simon, who’s wondering about where to finish his story – bring to an early climax or continue and see what happens? There’s a lot of detail in his pictures, very painstaking work. Same with Tem’s. Well, I guess everyone has a level of detail, some are more labour intensive than others, I think is the way to put it.

Jake Rowlinson page 19, finished at 4.31am. Four more to draw!

Felicity is rolling away on another lino print and has printed off another poem. Now another page completed! We’re pretty sure it’s going to be either Suky or Jake finishing another page next. Maybe even Simon.

Suky Goodfellow pages 15 and 16, finished at 4.52am and 5.27am

We have another page form Suky! Another from Jake and more work from FOTONOW!

I’ve just glanced at myself in the mirror and actually, considering the length of time I’ve been awake, I don’t look too bad. Modest, much?

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Suky has now reached page 15 and Joe is but one page away from completion. Exciting times! I’m looking at the FOTONOW 3D pictures up on the blog, so cool! They’ve come out amazingly!

Seems like the sleep deprivation is getting to some of us – Tom’s discussing beheading characters with Jake. Not quite sure if anyone is going to survive in his story. Same worry goes for Joe’s tale of zombies. It’s not looking good for the plucky band of humans. And the characters in Suky’s story certainly aren’t a hopeful lot. Making rum out of bones? It sure ain’t gonna end nicely. Must be something about producing these comics, the grotesque, gothic and visceral all leap out from the pages.

But dawn approaches, I can feel it in the chill in the air and the lightening of the sky from dark black to a sort of murky navy. Very subtle, but something’s happening.

Not sure who’s going to be next to ting the bell. Could be Joe, could be Josh, could even be Jake. I’m hoping I get the chance to hit it with the flat of my palm at least once during the session. I’ve always had a yen to do that and have never been able to pluck up courage to do so...

Oh wow, we have a finish!!! Congratulations to Joe!! The first of our artists to finish today! 24 completed pages in less than 24 hours. Quite the achievement :D Tom’s about to take photos and we’ll put them up below.

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The final three pages of Joe's sparse zombie nightmare.

Congratulations to Joe who is the first to finish at this event. We look forward to being able to show you hi-resolution scans of the work as it has more complexity and detail than we can show here.

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