24hr Comic etc.

Well, we have finally got to the end of our first 24hr Comic Etc. project. We obviously hope that this is only the beginning - we've certainly got a lot of plans. For the moment though we have been evaluating our progress so far and wanted to share our progress so far with all of you. It's a long read but we've broken it down into handy bite size chunks for your reading pleasure.

“It is an amazing experience, there is no better way to describe it than that. staying awake for twenty four hours is achievement enough, never mind the fact that you are working, creating, designing, writing, thumb-nailing, sketching, inking, lettering, colouring, other words ending in 'ing.

 Jake Rowlinson

Aims and Goals

24HR Comic Etc.'s main aim was to deliver the inspirational message that great things can be produced in twenty four hours.

We also wanted the project to be a fun and accessible way of sharing the creative process with a wide audience, encouraging interest in the arts and community story-telling in general.   

It was also important that all we involved a varied group creative practitioners who would be able to gain something valuable from taking part. These participants, working in different mediums and at different stages in their career, would then provide us with the projects main physical outcome: twenty four separate pieces of work inspired by Cornwall.

Six months on we are able, as organisers, to reflect back on all three events and decide whether we achieved those aims.

There can be know doubt that we demonstrated that great things are possible in  twenty fours.

The range and quality of the comics you can find on our website are proof of that. Everyone who participated in the project, including  volunteers and writers as well as the artists, approached the challenge with such energy, enthusiasm and talent that it would have been hard to fail that particular challenge. I think even the participants, those who had not taken part before, were surprised by what they achieved.

To see if we had the same success  with the rest of our goals we need to look at different areas of the project.

Audience Response




Although we imaged that most of audience would fit into the young adults age bracket (16-25) we also wanted to attract different ages, especially if they weren't comic fans or art aficionados. 

We chose out three venues because of the audiences they might attract. Wadebridge Town hall is a central location with a passing trade of, mostly, older members of the public. Eden Project received hundreds of visitors everyday and we hoped that we'd get a lot of families on the Saturday morning. The Liskerett Centre is home to an active creative community and we wanted to get as many of the groups that met there involved.

After all three events we'd had 157 people of all ages through the 24HR Comic door. This is a great number but less than we expected. It rained ridiculously heavily on our first day in Wadebridge our final hour the next morning  was by far out busiest with a fifth of out total audience visiting when the sun came out. 

Our first plans at Eden Project was for 24HR Comic Etc. to be part of one of their Arts Café event, which was sadly cancelled. Whilst we lost out of that audience we still had a staggering 105 people come and see us at The Hub, despite being open to the public for only nine hours – three of them after we'd finished!

Even though we got a lot of visitors at Eden Project we saw a great difference in the way they got involved with the project. There is definitely a difference between quantity and quality of audience engagement.

At Eden most visitors were content to have a quick look at what we were doing and children were mostly excited by the piles of felt tips and paper on our activity tables. A notable exception was one girl who was upset to arrive after we'd finished and started packing away. Marcel O'Leary stepped up to the table and drew her a personal comic, despite having been awake for more than twenty six hours by this point. 

At Wadebridge and The Liskerett Centre we found that less visitors was almost a blessing. The majority of people who came in spent a significant amount of time with us, talking to each of the artists and thoroughly reading all the comics produced so far. We were able to chat to them and found that they were genuinely interested and inspired. They had enjoyed themselves and were in admiration of what had been achieved. It was hard to be sure of this kind of response with the large numbers at Eden Project

Whilst the Eden Project had a lot of great events, and people go there expecting to be entertained, events like these are scarce in towns like Wadebridge and Liskeard. On both places one of the most common reactions was how great it was to have something like 24hr Comic Etc. happening there.

We are particularly proud of our website. In places like Cornwall it can be really difficult to travel to events, especially any that are over in twenty four hours. We wanted the live blogs to be a way for anyone who couldn't visit us to feel involved. They could read about what was going on, see what was being produced and offer support. 

Whilst we'd hoped that more people would have got involved in our 'Join In' campaign or left us comments we can appreciate that a blank text box can be intimidating. We were pleased that all our blogs got hundreds of hits during each event, and in the six months since each blog has received over a thousand visits globally according to Google Analytics. The number of hits is even more when counted by Posterous, which includes RSS feeds. 

Participants and Artists

One of the big surprises in this project was how important the experiences of those taking part became to success of the project. We always knew they would get something valuable from it but had focused a lot of out attention on the community and audience benefit, without realising that it was those who would be most affected by 24hr Comic Etc. that should have been getting the majority of our attention.

The artistic challenge rewards and enlightens most those who are eager to engage. You must bring something to it, either a willingness to learn, to not view non-completion as a failure, to stretch the creative muscles and test new waters. We had all range of artistic perspectives, from young “amateurs”, to lecturers, to practising artists.

The results of the events for each individual have been varied. Examples of the legacy and work can be found later in this report, but here are some comments from the participants themselves after the fact.

The 24 hour comic event was great fun. A great challenge. And a great learning experience. The act of compacting the entire design process, and producing such a lot of work in to just 24 hours really teaches you a lot about what works for you when when working. Having the added time pressure of finishing so much in a small amount of time really allows you to let go of any inhibitions and create something purer. It also gives you the chance to experiment, the fact that you have a short amount of time means you can't over think anything. If you have an idea, you go for it, and it usually works out.
Joe Lyward

24HR Comic Etc. was fantastic! It built my confidence, working amongst very talented and traditional illustrators. I discovered what I am capable of, working over a 24hour period. I proved my dedication and how my art is integral to how I function and process my ideas and frustrations.
Charlotte Williams

A positive experience, a liberation in terms of creativity from the regimentation of a tradition photo journalistic approach to photography, a great meeting of creative bodies, inspired, lateral thinking that was a joy to witness. I re-established an enjoyment of creative photography and the experience gave me the confidence in myself that I can produce work under a time restriction.

Jules Barford

You become much more aware of who you are creatively after doing the draw, and that then very quickly squeaks in your ear the next time you pick up a pencil, you'll see what you like and what you don't like and then you can make a point of bettering the downers and become more self-aware of your style as it develops. 
Jake Rowlinson

In the heat of an intense 24hr period of work your mind seems to go to some other place and only after you've come out of it can you really appreciate the small surprises you managed to implant at the time, subconsciously. Being a part of that event was something I'll always remember and gives me a thirst to do more things like that. It was a fun challenge and a nice way of bringing people with different creative approaches together.
Rebecca Nash

Both events I have taken part in where experiences I think about very positively and talk about often.  I think the event is an excellent challenge for creatives and I think the short narrative form generally produces work that the public is able to engage with.  I also felt very well looked after at each event.  Something which I think is important if you are trying to push the limits of your endurance.

Creatively I have mixed reflections on Eden.  I am not terribly happy with what I made.  But I am happy that I pushed myself to take a risk and attempt something more subtle and sincere than I had made previously. Creatively I found it very rewarding.  Any piece of work that you commit to helps to move your practice forward, helps you to define your questions and interests a little more, hones your skills and underlines your limitations.”
Richard Dinnis

Here follows a selection of anonymous quotes from the surveys the particapants filled out very soon after the events.




 There was a good community feeling. Everyone was dedicated to their project, yet still happy to look away and chat at any point. It was great that people from the town came in to talk to us and were interested. I was interested in what they thought, too.   

Working alongside the other artists was wonderful. I don’t think I’ve ever met as many lovely, incredibly talented people in such a short period of time as I did within the first ten minutes of arriving on Friday morning. Also, the unquestioning support of Tom when, at 2AM, I resorted to recording my Yamaha Portasound’s pre-programmed ‘auto-accompaniment’ tracks.  

The whole event was really positive. I really enjoyed the challenge of creating the work within the 24 hours, and it was also a real eye opener as to how much people can achieve within a short time, and the quality of the work not suffer, but gain qualities from not being over-thought.  It is great to have the public mixing through, especially when they are interested enough to ask questions on what the artists were doing. The hosts in Liskeard were great, and Tom, Phil and co were as entertaining as ever and the whole experience was very warming and positive.

The blogging and presence online seemed to work very well, although only got to see it after finishing.

I was impressed by the very substantial online presence given to this event and in particular the work carried out by artists.  The following week, when finding a dancer to collaborate with I mentioned 24 Hour Comic to her.  She got back to me the next day later: “I like your poems…”

I saw a lot of press in papers leading up to it, the website and the blog look and work great and everything was very efficient.

This was an intense and profound experience.

I was impressed that there was a steady stream of visitors during the daylight hours.  I really enjoyed their interest in what we were doing and this made the link to the location (Liskeard) suddenly come alive for me.

The process was more important than the final product, which I think everyone appreciated in their own way.

Everything was so well-organised and the location (Eden Project) so inspirational, that I felt good about it right from the beginning. I was impressed with how involved the other participants were also in their work, but also with the good humour of the organisers.

It gave me an insight into my practice that I haven’t seen before. How utterly schizophrenic it is and how at some stage I need to decide which way to jump.



I especially appreciate the chance to work alongside artists and people from other creative paths. Art is often separated from photography or illustration (for example) but in 24HR Comic Etc. an environment is created where we can all see process and outcomes of different ways of working. To identify similarities and differences in the act of creating gives opportunity for incorporating, changing or experimenting for future practices.

The event was an incredible extreme learning experience. A finished item HAD to be produced, no matter how I felt about it. This was a very gutsy and brave approach to working, which was something I will always reflect on now.

It sends a very encouraging message to artists, particularly those facing the double challenge of trying to get themselves established while living in such an isolated part of the country, to keep working hard because things do happen down here.”

It is just so exciting to see more projects like this happening in Cornwall.

The Eden project is an inspiring place to be.  It did very genuinely feel like a privilege to be able to make work there.

It would be very difficult to push yourself, particularly creatively which always involved a degree of vulnerability, without the feeling of being in a safe mental environment.  And it would be difficult to want to bother without the meaning generate by the organisers of the project.


Workshops and Learning




24HR Comic Etc. led six workshops during the course of the project, three with community groups at The Liskerett Centre and three in partnership with ProjectBase for school age Children in Newquay.

The focus of all the workshops was to use comics to teach the skill of visual communication and story-telling in a fun and inspiring way.  The workshops also allowed us to provide work and experience for some of our participants namely Charlotte Williams, Jack Teagle, Sam Bradbury and the FOTONOW team. This also meant that the workshop leaders could share their first hand experience of the 24HR comic experience with those taking part.

At The Liskerett Centre we provided workshops for a group of young mums, a group of teenage girls and the Artworks social group for adults with learning difficulties. All three of these were one off workshops that aimed to get the groups excited about creating and the project in general. 

The three workshops with ProjectBase however were intended to feed into longer term projects. On the first day of our Eden Project Event we were joined by 30 school Children from Trenance Learning Acadamy, Newquay Junior Acadamy, and Newquey Tretherris who were working together with ProjectBase to create a mobile app. about contemporary art in Cornwall. The workshop gave helped them construct short stories and experiment with panelling and character design, skills that will directly feed into their project.

We also ran two workshops in November 2011 with Shout About the Youth, a community action group and youth forum whose members all attend secondary school in Newquay. Over the two workshops we explored the power of images as a communication tool and helped them create a visual manifesto, or set of guidelines, for their organisation. Not only does the group now have new skills and confidence in their creative abilities but at the end of the two afternoons they were left with a physical document they can use to promote what they do. Because of these outcomes you could argue that, despite a delay in running them, they were our most successful workshops. It was interesting due to the application of the visual language on a wholly different subject; social responsibility and community issues, rather than the “fiction” that is commonly produced by the participants.

It was really great to see children being given a voice in Newquay, I know it can be a pretty isolating place and it can feel like very little is going on. It was really positive. The kids were great too, I don't believe how much they got through, right after school, voluntary. They had a lot of energy. And I really liked how you set it up for them, it was fun for them, but it had structure, and they got the job done.
Jack Teagle


Problems and Solutions



The lessons learned from the Falmouth 24HR Comic were valuable to form this advancement of the event. As always, however, there were problems. As a team, we adapted well to find solutions.

Our initial budget had to be altered due to one particular funding avenue coming up short. We applied through IdeasTap, an online creative community, for the remainder of the funding. You provide an online pitch and then a selection made by a panel. In this case, we perhaps overcommitted to this opportunity. Pitching online is very different from having interviews and the opportunity to properly explain yourself. Also, the range of applicants, after investigation, were from all mediums, for any project and without specific considerations (such as community, in the case of Feast).

The solution was to heavily network, finding the Cornwall Community Chest, ProjectBase and Barefoot Games, filling in the funding gap. This worked out, we feel, for the better. The connections were Cornish based, encouraging their own communities, involved more people and thus increased the value of the project hugely.

Another significant problem we encountered was the delay in the final workshops, pulling us way beyond our predicted time-line. The initial ProjectBase workshop was completed in February at the Eden event, however, due to their reorganisation, the workshops were delayed. This is something that neither us or they could have predicted, and the workshops organised at the next possible opportunity. We maintained constant communication with both funders and ProjectBase to keep the issue in mind and monitored.

The Eden Project, as a choice, was always going to be a more risky venture. The high-profile nature of the location meant high predicted audience figures, fantastic exposure, an unforgettable 24 hours in an attraction one can only usually see during the daylight, inspiration, fine support from an enthusiastic team and the space to really be creative. These aspects all turned out to be true, but we feel that the engagement of the challenge was lowest at Eden.

The venue, The Core, was very noisy during the opening hours, very busy, and filled with the usual exhibits. Despite a great looking layout and hanging solution, the art somehow got lost, which is no fault of Eden, but perhaps not the most appropriate. The participants enjoyed the freedom to explore the biomes at night, and many were inspired, while others found the atmosphere terribly trying.

Even with the help of Barefoot Games, we found ourselves stretched at the Eden event. The intention of utilising an established community in a high-profile Cornish location, to contrast the other two, came with both drawbacks and benefits. Participant at Eden, Richard Dinnis, provided his own unique insight into his feelings about working in that environment.

I found being at Eden at night was wonderful and interesting but ultimately difficult creatively.  While I am a big fan of the trees and admire the ambition of the place I find it’s heavy narrativization of nature difficult.... I don’t think it was accidental that I ended up writing about a clay pit effectively off site.  I would not have thought this before but I think a empty art centre, draughty village hall or abandoned crofter’s cottage in a storm more appropriate venues for this event.  I don’t mean to sound ungrateful by writing that.

Richard Dinnis

We originally intended to have a third member of our team, and in particular, help with marketing would have been a useful area to boost. In further events, already being planned, these lessons are being noted and kept in mind.

Legacy and Future of 24hr Comic Etc.

It was really important to us that the project would have a lasting effects after the events were finished. 

Most of these effects are somewhat intangible. We consider the experiences had by everyone involved, and how this will affect their approach to future work, one of the most important outcomes of the project.

We also sincerely hope that many of the young people who took part in our workshops also took something away that they can use in the future, beyond the Newquay school App project and Shout About the Youth forum we mentioned above.
Beyond this we have already seen some solid outcomes of 24HR Comic Etc. for some of the participants, for example:

Some of the comics have been self-published by their authors. Daneila Palimariu produced 24 Ideas for a Happy Couple and Jack Teagle has published both his 24HR Comics, The Jungle which he finished at Wadebridge and Dick Williams, which he completed during our first project The Falmouth 24HR Comic. Jack then went one step further and coloured The Jungle and gave it a different ending, for it's inclusion in McSweeney's 38. 

One of the poem's Felicity Notley wrote during the Liskerett Centre event, If I Do Not Write Again This Morning was published in the anthology 'Spirit of Cornwall' in September 2011.

Charlotte Williams still exhibits the drawing she produced and credits the position we gave her running the workshop to an offer to work with a similar group in pool. The workshop at Eden also gave Sam Bradbury his first taste of Workshop leading and he was invited back to work with on of the schools.



Marcel O'Leary credits the work he produced during 24HR Comic Etc. as an integral career boost: into the US comics industry,

The 24hr comic itself was a pretty strong influence in getting me work and attention in the US among professional illustrators, and in the next couple of weeks I'm going to be starting a surprisingly big comics project with a well known creator through Image Comics, one of the biggest US comics publishers. When I first met the creator I'll be working with, he was particularly impressed with my 24hr comic, and another well known comics writer who I was initially going to work with looked at my 24hr comic as an indicator to the reliability of my work to deadlines. It would've been worth doing anyway, but it's fair to say that was pretty pivotal in helping me get such a strong start in the comics industry.
Marcel O'Leary

As for the future it looks very likely that 24HR Comic Etc. will continue as a model. We are in deep discussion with Plymouth University’s Illustration department (aided by participant Tom Barwick) and it looks very likely that we will be hosting an even with them in the new year. 

One of plans for the project was to produce a model that could, in theory, be reproduced elsewhere, with or without our help. Some of our participants have expressed an interest in hosting their own, although we won't put pressure on them by naming names. Should these happen the plan would be for to have the same internet presence and link back to our main site so people could still enjoy them whether they are a public event or not.

We are also very keen to explore the possibility of publishing some of comics in an anthology, maybe by doing a Kickstarter style money drive. Any plans for this will have to wait until the new year but if there is enough interest we feel sure we can make it happen somehow!

The website, blogs and comics will, of course, stay online for the foreseeable future and we'll update them when we can and use them for any new 24HR Comic Events and we very much hope the artists will keep in touch with us so that we can share their news as well as ours.

See the full gallery on Posterous


-  Phil Rushworth and Thomas Sharpe, 2011

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Phil Rushworth - one of the 24hr Comic Etc. Organisers - is hosting an event in Liskeard on Friday. Electronic Village Galleries is a pilto project that let's local village and town halls show a range of international new media artwork. 

If you're in North Cornwall it will be well worth a visit as it's a great opportun it to see some exciting video and internet based artwork - as well as have a glass of wine and some nibbles. It's also the last of three events and is only on for one day so it will be your last chance to see! 

Friday 20th May @ 3.00pm-9.00pm (Food and wine from 7.00pm)

Come and enjoy the artwork, food, wine and conversation.  This is a FREE event and all are warmly welcome. 

For more information on the project or to discuss the artwork please visit evg.dematerial.org

Electronic Village Galleries Liskeard is part of a pilot project devised by Kate Southworth at University College Falmouth and which is supported by Arts Council England. Electronic Village Galleries aims to develop a distributed platform that supports artists to host new media art events in their local village or town hall, and which links together local art communities in Cornwall and the South West of England with network and new media art and its global communities. It’s an experiment, so please join in and help to shape it!

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As our Facebook and Twitter followers may already be aware we had to make a last minute change to the Liskeard line-up. Unfortuantely Kathryn Brian is unwell and unable to take part. The 24hr time period is physically challenging enough even for those of us in the best of health, so she made the right decision in sitting out. She hopes, however, to participate from home, as any one of you can!

Luckily we had a reserve participant waiting in the wings: 

'Suky Goodfellow grew up on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, where her favourite sport was blackberry picking. She graduated in 2010 from the University of St Andrews with a degree in English, but spent most of her final year painting ducks and other oddments for display in a coffee shop there. Her love of comics stems from a lifetime obsession with the Beano. She spends her time drawing, writing and inventing vegan cake recipes.'

Suky's inititial application impressed us because she really seemed to get the reasons for wanting to do a 24hr challenge. In the end we had to make some difficult decisions but we always kept Suky in mind as someone who would really benefit from taking part. Therefore, although we'll miss Kathryn, we're really happy that Suky is able to step in last minute and show us what we can do.

See you all tomorrow!

Phil

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We have had to make some changes to our event at Eden on the 4th of February due to (bad news first) the Arts Cafe being cancelled.

The good news is hat this isn't stopping us in our 24hr art marathon, but it does mean we've had to make some changes.

We will now be starting the 24hr challenge at noon on Friday the 4th and finishing at noon on Saturday the 5th.

This is because Eden Project is only open until 3pm on Friday. This way any weekday workers still have the opportunity to visit us on Saturday morning. We'll have plenty of finished work by then for you to peruse, and you can see the after effects of saying up all night which is always entertaining,

Eden Project is currently running a promotion where Cornish residents can get free entry for a year for only £5. You just have to bring ID and proof of address.

I hope we can see some of you there, but if you can't make it don't forget that we'll be posting everything up on another 24hr blogothon.

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In case you missed some, or all of it, you can catch up on everything that was posted on the Wadebridge blog during our first 24hr comic event here.

We'll very shortly be uploading proper scans or all the work produced very soon, so you can see the comics and non-comics in all their glory!

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Rosamund Derry will be joining us to man our 24hr blog at The Liskerett Community Centre in Liskeard on the 18th and 19th of February.

"When I was a little girl, I used to tell those grownups who asked me serious questions that I wanted to be a writer who lived in an old cottage by the sea, married to a prince. Now I’m just about a grownup (though there are days when I have my doubts about that) and, somewhat to my surprise, I’m yet to marry a prince. I’ve managed the other stuff though – living in a cottage that’s old enough to have lichen growing on the inside with an incomparable view of the sea. And I get to write for a living; everything from comprehensive financial guides to fan fiction and beyond. 

Maybe I don’t need the prince after all."

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Luke Richards will be joining us at The Eden Project on the 4th and 5th of February to write for our 24hr blog.

"I’m a freelance writer and consultant based in Falmouth.  After attaining a Masters degree in Professional Writing from UCF I worked across the public relations, search engine optimisation and web content writing teams at Guava digital marketing before setting up on my own in February 2010.  I currently have clients in Cornwall and London – and specialise in search, social networking and how digital technology is changing co-working and collaboration."

luke-richards.co.uk

You can find a full list of participants here.

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We are being joined at each of our events by a writer who will be updating our 24hr blogs, giving you their perception of the event, the work being produced and the town. The first writer to join us, at Wadebridge Town Hall on the 13th - 14th of January is Tim Warren.

You can find a full list of participants here.

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"I started art when I was ten years of age. Then when I was more older I was 13 when I began to get more in to it and started to paint on canves with acrylic paint and texture paste. Alot of my work is to do with my long journey liveing with epilepsy and going through bulling. I like painting landscapes and useing things that I see in my head.I have won a epilepsy photography competition and I desighed the star sculpture for daived Penhaligon back in 2005. I have also sold six paintings in the past."

 You can see the full list of participants here.   

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Temujin Doran is an illustrator and filmmaker based in London. He graduated from Falmouth College of Arts in 2008, and the years he spent by the sea were perhaps the best of his life. His drawing work is stylistically detailed, often displaying a penchant for historical subjects and nonsense. He also projects 35mm films in an old single screen cinema in Islington.

Temujin will be participating in 24hr Comic Etc. at The Liskerett Community Centre in Liskeard on February 18th - 19th

studiocanoe.com

You can see the full list of participants here.

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FOTONOW CIC is a photography collective working from Plymouth to develop innovative arts projects across the South West. The company works as a social enterprise to enhance photographic research, practice and educational opportunities.

Members of FOTONOW will be participating in 24hr Comic Etc. at The Liskerett Community Centre in Liskeard on February 18th - 19th

fotonow.org

You can see the full list of participants here.

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Kieran Haynes is a writer and songwriter, and 150% of too clever by half romantic indie-folksters The Black Maria Memorial Fund.

Born in 2122, Kieran's first notable act on planet Earth was to be mauled out of existence by a dangerous black hole, which, as its owner later admitted in court, should never have been allowed off its leash. The black hole was duly destroyed, and after a search that lasted eons, Kieran’s atoms were finally gathered back together and reassembled – with almost the original spacing – one triumphant Thursday afternoon, last February (2010).

Kieran now performs songs about the alphabet, octopuses and exceptionally garish wallpaper. He is still getting used to this millennium.

 thememorialfund.com

You can see the full list of participants here.

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"I'm 20 years old. I'm from Cornwall. I'm a 3rd year illustration student at the University of Plymouth. I really enjoy working with narrative, and drawing gentle and magical characters." 

 jdlyward.blogspot.com

You can see the full list of participants here.

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"I am a third year Illustration student who is currently studying at the University of Plymouth. I enjoy drawing comics and western themed stories. I can also cycle to the moon and back in under 24 hours."

Josh will be participating in 24hr Comic Etc. at The Liskerett Community Centre in Liskeard on February 18th - 19th

jacksonneal.blogspot.com

You can see the full list of participants here.

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A quick missive from myself, a few days in advance of the first of our three events.

I had never been to Wadebridge before Wednesday.  A charming place, and as we discovered from our meeting with local historian Peter Tuthill, one with the usual requisite obtuse anecdote, bizarre occurrence and noteworthy character hidden in its collective closet.  A few firsts, a couple of close seconds and a bridge built on wool.

One of the key developments for this year’s 24HR challenge is a more contextually cohesive body of work (hopefully).  The inspiration we provided to anchor the work in the 2009 challenge will be a feast of items rather than a singular character profile.  One could say we are loosening our grip on the creative reins and giving some credit back to the artists.  I never should’ve doubted them!  The work produced before was as varied as the individuals who wielded the pens.

Back to Wadebridge, however, where in the town hall we have leg-stretching space, enough floor to litter with frantically discarded ideas, and enough hot water to brew just about enough tea.  For us, the organisers, this will be an interesting exercise in considering how to create a buffet of ideas to reflect (perhaps not represent) a place.  Like roving a lens across the town, than summing it up for an encyclopaedia entry.  Peter Tuthill very correctly noted that local history is very much in front of our noses, from descriptive foundation stones to foot-fallen flagstones.  We hope to use a little of this wealth of history to inspire our eight artists.

In any case, we hope to see you there at the town hall on Thursday 13^th in Wadebridge.  Scroll about around here for information on the participants for all events.

Regards,

Thomas G.J. Sharpe

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"I am a writer and visual artist based in Cornwall.

Some recent undertakings have included:

Reading my work (fiction and poetry) at Port Eliot Literary Festival (July 2009, July 2010)

My poem His Life published in an anthology, Inspired Minds (July 2010)

Exhibition of paintings, etchings and film at Port Navas Village Hall (May 2010)

Screenings of my short film Eine Kleine Frau: Cornwall Film Festival (November 2009) and the International Film Festival of Fine Art, Szolnok, Hungary (September 2010)

Screenings of my short film White Cherry: Cornwall Film Festival (November 2007), Candid Arts Café, Islington (April 2008) and Acorn Arts Centre, Penzance (June 2008)"

Felicity will be participating in 24hr Comic Etc. at The Liskerett Community Centre in Liskeard on February 18th - 19th

You can see the full list of participants here.

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"I'm fascinated by language, derring-do, classical mythology, cats, and ghosts, and these tend to recur as themes in my graphic tales. I studied English and American Literature at the University of Warwick, then completed a Masters in Authorial Illustration at Falmouth College of Arts in 2008."

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Jake Rowlinson wants to draw cartoons and get paid for it. He goes by the alias of Saxon Jaxon when he has nothing better to do. He's apparently from York but is pretty sure he grew up in Staffordshire. He refers to himself in the third person when writing autobiographical intros.

Jake Rowlinson took part in The Falmouth 24hr Comic and The Poly in November 2009. Jake finished his comic, 'John Tall: the Life and Death of' at 5.45am in an incredible nineteen hours and twenty minutes.

Jake will be participating in 24hr Comic Etc. at The Liskerett Community Centre in Liskeard on February 18th - 19th

jake-rowlinson.blogspot.com

You can see the full list of participants here.

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Tom Barwick was born in 1969 Beverley, East Riding, Yorkshire.

"I have been a free-lance illustrator since 1995 working on editorial, fashion and music industry commissions for a long-list of clients, including Wallpaper* magazine, The Guardian, HSBC and Orange there are several examples of this work in the commission section of this site and it can also be tracked down in various anthologies that the work has been selected for over the years."

Anthologies featuring Tom's work include:

Into the Nature – Of creatures and Wilderness by R. Klanten,(GER) pub DGV - 2006

The Visual Dictionary of Illustration by Mark Wigan (UK) pub AVA – 2009

Basics Illustration: Global Contexts by Mark Wigan (UK) pub Ava - 2010

Retro Design (Ger) pub Hachta– by Sara Haussman- 2009

CD art/design (working title) (Spain) pub Monza 2011

Tom will be participating in 24hr Comic Etc. at the Eden Project on January 4th - 5th 

http://www.thomasbarwick.com/

You can see the full list of participants here.

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"My names Emma Carlisle, I'm 21 and currently in my 3rd year studying Illustration at the University of Plymouth. I really like knitting, vintage, baking, my cat and folk music. I like to work with narrative in my work and it’s usually quite personal to me, I like to use the past as an influence whether that’s memories or objects, but I have a funny side too and like to just doodle things that pop into my head, these usually turn out better than things I’ve been working on for a while."

Emma will be participation in 24hr Comic etc. at the Eden Project on February 4th - 5th.

http://emmacarlisle.blogspot.com/

You can see the full list of participants here.

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At long last we are able to present Charlotte Williams conceptual comic, completed on the 14th of January 2011 at 9.39am. That's 24 drawings in 23 hours and 9 minutes.

Throughout my 24 hours, I decided that I would use the ‘Challenge bridge’ as a starting point. I planned to explore the composition of this contemporary structure, which seemed a little surreal within its small town, Wadebridge setting. Using the inspiration of a flat pack construction guide that you would normally throw away.. I experimented with line, form, composition and a form of animation.

The integral focus to this series of images was the number ‘24’. I found this concept consuming and became more and more obsessive as the hours ticked by.

“The Suspended Deconstruction of ‘24’ “ celebrated the idea of joining two exterior/ natural spaces. The 1st drawing plotted 23 lines and the viewer as the 24th piece to the puzzle.. Gradually the construction developed through planes, diagrams and various familiar forms.. including a ladder and train track. I found once the bridge was complete there was potential to metamorphose the panels along the pathway and through the bridge, to a train track, into a steep stairwell and climbing towards a calm and open space.

Distances, numbers of dots, the size of paper used and lines composed all had a certain reference to ’24’. Even the distance between the drawings within the suspension installation, which progressively encompassed my workspace through the night, was 24 cm.

I also tried to play around with different sized and shaped pieces of paper.

For me, this experience was priceless. I found it indulgent to be able to spend 24 hours to explore and further my ideas as a Fine Artist. I felt a great sense of achievement!! My lesson is to stay open to new projects and events.. I am determined to start a series which continues on a daily basis.. I would have never tried a comic format before. It has definitely opened up new possibilities within my practice.

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

 Enjoy every minute of it!! And... start the challenge with an open mind and without any pre-conceived ideas about how you attempt to express your comic.

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Presenting Anna Spearman and Frances Williams' twenty four hour performance/ installation/ video, 'Dreaming of Anneka'. Produced on the 13th and 14th of January 2011.

Copyright Anna Spearman and Frances Williams

"We based our work on researches of curators of the suspension bridge at Wadebridge which had been built in the “Challenge Anneka” tv series in early 1980s.

Our concept was to make a sculptural/performative/durational installation based on the narrative of a little girl who desperately wanted to see the tv show but having misbehaved has been sent to her room on the night. Instead she builds her own bridge in her bedroom.

We brought with us materials and tools to use and we also visited all the charity shops as research and as a source of further materials. All of them were happy to loan us various items of objects and clothing.

We were provided with a great space of the stage in the town hall. We also filmed the event over (most) of the 24 hours with view of making a film from the footage)- speeded up version of event highlighting particular instances including the visit by Anneka Rice and her assistant dressed in pink."

"The idea of working within a time-frame and being on display over that period seemed daunting but also were both excited by the possibilities and the fact that it was an unknown. We had some faith in the process of working together and regularly reviewing what we had done and where we wanted to get to over the 24 hour period. A bit of sleep was necessary so that was factored in. The curators were marvellous and the blog was fantastic. We really enjoyed being part of that live event. We would have liked to leave what we had done for a day or so – so that public could see finished results." 

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For you entertainment, Benjamin Wright's completed 24hr Comic, 'Pigeon Loft'. Completed at 6.55am on the 14th of January 2011.

Copyright Benjamin Wright, 2011

"An alternative explanation to the Old Bridge’s history and it being ‘built on wool’. I tried to tie in a few other curious pieces of Wadebridge’s local history by including the old chapels, and the culverhay.

The giants, the magic dove, the massacre, the pie recipe and the events surrounding them were the only fictitious parts."

"I learnt loads, possibly more in one night than I have in recent years. For one, the inks, brushes, watercolours, laptop, scanner, papers and pens I brought were completely unnecessary as I just used the paper and pencils provided.

I was really unprepared to be working under pressure in this circumstance, especially when trying to avoid digital outcomes in such a small time window. After the first four hours bewilderment the final choice of media was more an act of panic than of logic. The choice to illustrate one image per page, and in such simple means was a time saving choice that seemed to work too well as I finished loads early, with naps. Perfect for the 14 hour comic perhaps."

Do you have any advice for future participants or anyone who would like to attempt a similar 24hr challenge?

"Overall the 24hour comic has revealed one important question. Are you comfortable with your way of working? I wasn’t, and am still not at the moment. I don’t draw enough comics, and need to commit to super tight deadlines more often. The people who seem to get the job done to jaw dropping standards practice religiously, and are masters of their own style. If I were to do this again, and I really really would love to, I would practice and almost train before the event to be able to produce the goods."

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The long awaited reformation of the battleship-grey, vertical railway-centric, triangular poem construct from Nick Jarvis.

This was a fantastic example of how to adapt, adopt and improve, with some stand-out lines, pseudo-pannelling, Hornby layout nod and hints of sadness, happiness, loneliness, compulsion, boredom and sea shells.

Do forgive my photoshoppin', and do download at full-size to get the full literary hit.

Regards,

Thomas G.J. Sharpe

Please download for full readability!

Copyright 2011 Nick Jarvis

"My work drew on what I took to be the two significant elements of a 24hr Comic – time and a comic style – to create a poem in which the narrative progressed not only as the number of words increased, but also as the poem developed spatially. I told the story in a non-linear fashion: working on a board that was just shy of 1.5m², I started with 3 characters at different edges and then worked inwards as the narrative progressed so that the conclusion of the poem would occur when the three routes met. This spatial progression also represented the physical movement of the characters and the paths they took on their respective journeys to the final meeting point. The back stories for the characters was filled in around these routes, occurring at intervals as thoughts and memories do when one is travelling on a train, waiting in a waiting room, or (with more intensity) wondering how life got so messed up.

The train theme was inspired by a photograph of the Molesworth Arms, which was a public house in Wadebridge where you could catch a bus to the train station"

"Working in a public domain without time to think or time to edit was quite challenging for me and began to have some emotional consequences at around 4am. Writing poetry, without a break, for 24hours is certainly not something that a doctor would advise you to do because once the sleep deprivation kicks in and the ideas start to dry up, there’s only one place you can go, and that’s deeper, deeper into the dusty corners of your attic brain to drag up the things you’d rather forget you’d hidden there.

This is, of course, precisely why taking part in something like the 24hr Comic Etc. is an invaluable experience. I found it humbling to reach such a breaking point in a room full of other people, heartening to know that there are people interested in the type of work that such a process would create, and very encouraging to find that I had some resources of style and technique to stop the whole thing from dissolving into a mess!"

Do you have any advice for future participants or anyone who would like to attempt a similar 24hr challenge?

"Don’t be afraid to push yourself, but when the going gets tough, go easy on yourself.

Also, try not to eat your way through the 24hours, it makes your stomach feel a bit weird the next day!"

For Thomas' full and unabridged "analysis" of this piece visit his blog here or flavors.me.

Nick Jarvis can be found online in this corner.

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Presenting, Jules Barford's 24hr comic, completed at 9.50am on the 14th of January 2011. 

Copyright Julian Barford 2011

"My concept as a documentary photographer was to capture something of the spirit of Wadebridge through a 24 image photographic essay. I Hoped to portray an independent Wadebridge, showing its uniqueness through reduced global homogenisation, so commonly found, I wanted to create an almost medieval narrative out of a set of images I had captured over the course of the day, speaking of detachment from mass manufactured materialism, in favour of the skilled hand crafts still being practiced in Wadebridge."

"I feel the event taught me a lot, through the necessity to complete the project in 24hours I was forced into areas of photography I would have ordinarily shied away from, For example I usually practice very people cantered photography, but as night drew to a close, and people were scarce I had to try more landscapes and contemplative imagery to illustrate the essence of the place. I also learnt how using images in a different way can illustrate the same essential point, but in a less literal and more fictitious narrative."

 Do you have any advice for future participants or anyone who would like to attempt a similar 24hr challenge?

"I would, say have a good night sleep the night before, because even though every intention was for me to get to bed early I didn’t manage to get a great deal of sleep. But generally just embrace it, get out of your comfort zone, try something different, it is a great" opportunity to do so.

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For you viewing pleasure; Mr Jack Teagle's 24hr Comic, finished at 9.35am on the 14th of January 2011.

Copyright Jack Teagle, 2011

We strongly suggest you read the comic before you read any further. Spoilers!

"The idea behind my work was reflecting part of my life in Cornwall. I was trying to deal with isolation in a funny way. Although it’s only mentioned once in the comic, Wadebridge seemed like a great setting for the comic, a sleepy small town with very little chance of adventure happening in it. The comic mixes the absurd fantasies of a lonely man with some very bleak moments that I think everyone goes through from time to time.

Keith, our hero, tries to escape from his crushingly dull life and lives in Trelawney garden centre after going mad from being laid off. He can’t come to terms with what happened and chooses to shut himself off in a child-like world, which punishes him as much as he enjoys it.

I love contrasting pulp style fantasy and science fiction themes with the mundane slog of everyday life. Both of these things mix with my personal interests and humour well."

"I learnt a lot more about pacing myself, initial planning and structure. The plot started to fall apart at the end, but I learnt to plan my story instead of diving straight into it.

I also learnt a lot about the balance of black and white on the page, how to keep flow and consistency, and how much text is appropriate for each panel and speech bubble. I would say I am still in the early stages of creating comics, and simply making them gets you used to he format. It looks easy when you read comics, but it does take many, many tries to get things right and the 24 hour comic has helped me to create another finished comic that has built up my skills.

I felt a lot of accomplishment after the event. It felt great to be part of something like this locally. Cornwall can make you feel isolated at times, especially since I work freelance from home, so it was great to see new and familiar faces, who are all creative and passionate about creating narratives. It was really exciting that so many people all got brought together to participate in something like this."

 Do you have any advice for future participants or anyone who would like to attempt a similar 24hr challenge?

"I would have to say planning a story or where you want it to go initially is very important; it helps to get the comic rolling and prevents hesitation.

A lot of people will be afraid of a big white piece of paper, and my advice is to just jump straight in, don’t over think things, don’t try to create an epic masterpiece, it’s fun and it’s a great exercise for ideas generation and drawing practice. Don’t take things so seriously and it should help you to loosen up.

Try not to worry too much about how badly you think the last page went. Just keep going. Time is precious. Try to flesh out your project first and then come back to things you weren’t so happy with when you think you have a little more time. Worrying will only make things worse, and halt you on your mission!"

jackteagle.co.uk

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That's it, we've done it. It's been gruelling, it's been emotional, it's been physically exhausting and creatively taxing. There were times where we stopped making sense and dissolved into fits of desperate hysterical laughter and there have been times were I've watched people stare apparently comotose into mid air as they try to turn the tired cogs of their brain. It's been a lot of fun and very rewarding. We've all learnt a lot about ourselves, each other and the history of Wadebridge. We've all achieved

I sincerely hope that you've had as much fun following our progress and significantly more sleep.

Me and Tom would really like to thank all the participants for their commitment an effort, they were champions every one and the work they've produced has been impressive, exciting, varied and interesting.

Phil Rushworth

Here's the final run down!

Ben Wright was the first to finish his comic 'Pigeon Loft' at

There was a time towards the start of the challenge when it looked like Ben was despairing slightly, but he really got into a groove and finished over two hours before anyone else.

That's 24 comic pages in 20 hours and 55 minutes

Sam Bradbury finished his final image of his comic 'The Situation... is Grave' at 9.30am.

You may remember that somewhere around the 12hr mark Sam contemplated starting his comic over after he realised he couldn't possibly finish 24 pages in in the remaining time. In the end he settled on telling his story in 12 images, and they're fantastic. 

The thing is that this challenge isn't about completing or competing against others it's about exploring your abilities and finding our what's possible. Sam's colleges are incredibly intricate, just the preparation of source material is a long process so we think that 12 images is still a massive achievement. The decision meant that we also get a beginning, an end and a conclusion. Hooray!

Sam produced 12 pages in 13 hours. 

Jack Teagle finished his comic 'The Jungle' at 9.35am

Jack had some practice from taking part in The Falmouth 24hr Comic, but he told us that he learnt more this time round which is good to hear. There were quite a few giggles emanating from people reading the hilarious twist in the final few pages this morning.

24 comic pages in 23 hours and 5 minutes. 

Charlotte Williams finished her series of images titled 'The Suspended Deconstruction of '24' at 9.39am

Charlotte was pretty consistent at churning out images, and it's unfortunate that we weren't able to capture the detail in them. Her suspension bridge inspired installation/ display technique was very impressive as well.

We're really looking forward to being able to properly explain Charlotte's narrative concept because it was really interesting. She's also kept track of the different ways she incorporated our favourite number, 24, in all the images.

Jules Barford printed his last photo in his untitled series at 9.50am.

You've seen little snippets of Jules' photos over the last day and night but you've yet to see them as a narrative, which gives them a whole new meaning. He was really inspired by all the independent crafts in the town and we weaved a tale of sorcery, mysticism and anti-mass consumerism around them.

24 photos in 23 hours and 20 minutes. 

Anna Spearman and Francis Williams finished their 24 hour installation/ performance, 'Dreaming of Anneka' at 10.20am

Their approach was very much to embrace the 24hr time period and make that part of their work. They filmed the whole twenty four hour period and we're really looking forward to seeing the final result, and sharing it with you.

24 hours of bridge inspired visual art! 

We appreciate that it's been difficult for you guys to actually read Nick's poem from the photo's, and to take it in with all the other photo's we've been bombarding you with but I promise we'll get some really nice quality scans so you can follow it. 

We hope at least you could appreciate the way it changed and mutated over time and the visual concept of the railways and the travel concept.

Goodbye!

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And that's a wrap!

Pens down. Cameras down. Scalpels sheathed. The 24Hr Comic Etc. is done.

And now: over to Phil and Tom...

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It's been a good twenty minutes until we rang the final bell to mark 24 hours. After an unsurprisingly unenergetic round of applause and a brief moment of giddyness we got back to the important task of documenting the final pieces of work. Everyone finished, which is brilliant, however some people had to finish outside of the original parameters. The important thing is that we have our first 7 completed bodies of exciting work, created in 24hrs. Only 17 to go!

Jack Teagle page 22, finished at 8.41am, page 23, finished at 9.15am, and page 24 and final page finished at 9.35.

That's 24 pages in just over 23 hours!

Sam Bradbury finished his 12th image and his comic at 9.30am on the dot. It's not the full 24 images but it is a completed story, and the intricacies of the images more than make up for the quantity. We haven't seen these in the correct order yet, so that's something to look forward to.

Charlotte Williams' final image and title page, completed 9.39am. That's another 24 images made in just over 13 hours.

Nick Jarvis stage 21, photographed at 9.25am through to stage 24, photographed immediately after the final timer bell went. That's one sprawling kinetic installation poem in 24 progressions and developments in 24 hours! 

If you're wandering what's going on, Tim wrote a much more comprehensive explanation of the concept last night than anything I could try this morning. Quite frankly I'm having trouble even spelling comprehensive!

Jules Barford also finished his photo narrative at ten to ten this morning with just 40 minutes to go. We'll be bringing his final images to you very shortly, but it will have to wait until we aren't using a dongle and can download bigger files.

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Artworks are being finished... artists photographed with their completed artworks... Tom's wandering about snapping people in poses they may regret...

It's all winding down now.

All the signs of a successful event...

And I can honestly say there isn't a piece I haven't become fascinated by over the last 24 hours - if there's anyone I haven't mentioned much, it's only because their work amply tells its own story.

Jules' photos, for instance, once we got to see them: instantly involving - they draw you in, make you imagine a story.

Jack's comic, I hardly wanted to ask him about, lest I spoil the surprise for myself of the next page.

Sam's meticulously layered, fantastically non-sequitur filled collages of joy-inducing fiery doom... Nick's ever-shifting, ever-mutating, criss-crossing, multiply-connecting tale of a man called Molesworth, trains, waiting, love and insistent reminiscence...

Ben's animal deaths and giants and pigeon recipes... The joyous and frequently distracting Challenge Anneka Bridge slowly taking shape on stage...

And Charlotte's precise, minimalist bridge refractions, hanging over the neighbouring table: an increasingly calm, clear haven to stare at whenever the mind needed ordering, straightening, refreshing - or in short, some satisfying elements other than words to try to coherently slot together.

Yes, amazingly, the sleep-deprivation was all worth it!

And with that, I shall sign off for today. Phil and Tom will upload for you all the rest of today's photographic goodness...

While I begin looking forward to the next two! (But, erm, I think I might pass on following them over the full, consecutive 24 hours...)

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Well, I hope you all had a good night sleep and feel well rested and refreshed enough to take in another barrage of update photos. Things are going well. We've got one finished story, and some others on the home run, we've all brushed our teeth and some of us have had a nap. Onwards!

Ben Wright pages 20 and 21. Which means that Ben is the first to finish at 7.25am. That's 24 pages in just under 21 hours. 

He's now having a well earned nap. 

Charlotte Williams page 22, finished at 6:16am and page 23, finished at 8.31 am. Only one to go!

Jack Teagle page 20, finished at 7.30am and page 21, finished at 8.10am. There's a twist in the tail!

Nick Jarvis stage 17-19 finished at 7.24am, 7.50am and 8.40am. You can really see the progression of the trains now.

This is how Anna and Frances' Challenge Anneka bridge extravaganza looked at 8.45am

And this was Jules, about an hour ago deciding on the final narrative og his photos.

We're only five minutes away from half nine, which means only one thing - one hour to go! 

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As my brain cautiously readjusts itself to the possibility of morning - even the outside chance of feeling awake - and before the 24Hr Comic Etc.'s very own manually updated, one-handed clock has "ticked" its last, perhaps now might be a good time to stop and consider why on earth anyone might do something like this: eschew sleep, and try to create, near-continuously, for 24 hours?

(I had planned to ask the artists that question, incidentally, but somehow now just doesn't seem like a good time... Too busy, or too asleep.)

So, here's Scott McCloud's initial reasoning: a dare to beat procrastination - ignore the usual artistic doubts, planning and perfectionism, and just do something! Something complete, in just 24 hours. Follow the creative process wherever it might lead. Surrender to surprise!

But this is The 24Hr Comic Etc., a variation on McCloud's original idea: not just in the "Etc.", but with the local history angle too. With our variation comes a further constraint - and the fun of pushing against it, subverting it, bending it, stretching it, rebelling, incorporating it, dragging the most out of it you possibly can!

Someone once described writing as "being alone with all that can happen": so too most (or even all) art, I'm guessing - the almost limitless freedom - and terror - of the blank page, the empty canvas, the freshly-formatted SD card, etc. The ever-present problem of where to start - and the constant low-level regret and anxiety over all the avenues you cut off as soon as you do. A constraint, therefore, right at the start, can open you up, free you up, break you out - give your inner-neurotic something harmless to fret over while you get on with creating.

And then: there's the fatigue... the lowering of creative inhibitions... the happy accidental connections of beleauguered, misfiring synapses... the fitting together of materials and ideas you'd never otherwise consider.

Or conversely, there's the sheer focus of continuity - of working on just one thing, until the idea's done, finished, exhausted...

To be sure, it's bleak at around 4am... And at 5am... And still at 6.

But then, sooner or later, you power through...

And that is where our artists are up to now. It's light now. And we can't wait to see - and show you - what they've done!

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After a thoughtful rest, Anna and Frances are preparing to finalise their performance installation, taking it through the rest of the 24hours. This is the situation on stage at 07:10. It feels like a playground crossed with a model of a complex chemical. A biochemistry lesson designed by the set dressers from Barbarella.

Ben Wright has shown the bloody cost of meddling with sacred birds and Cornish hill giants. Pages 22 and 23 make vicious and puse argument for peace. Completed at 07:05, Ben has one more pair left to do, joining the digestive rage of the giant with the eventual death of the sheep. One of the most brutal depictions of anything I've seen in crayon.

Charlotte Williams has brought us from a minimalistic binary, the final component of a oneness that becomes a method of movement and connection. She has depicted the construction of the Challenge Bridge through selective observation of specific parts. Now we have exited through a rail track to a stair way that has become an unfolding box that returns us to open space. This piece is complex and simple at the same time, and I hope I do it justice. Pages 20 and 21 completed in reverse at 06:29 and 07:04.

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Of course we won't.

I don't know why I posted that. Advice is scarce.

The artists are now down to their wits alone. Their poor tired wits... We can only wish them well, as they embark on the final step of their...

Oh yeah, that was why.  (Probably still not very helpful though.)

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This has all been very self-affirming: I'd never thought of insomnia as a life-skill before.

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Jack Teagle is supplying us with a round of semi-skimmed dialogue with further cryptic direction. It turns out the jungle may just be a garden centre. Justice feels like it is lurking. Hard reality justice. Pages 18 and 19 completed at 06:20 and 06:45 respectively.

Nick Jarvis has augmented section 15 of the piece. Three more pieces of panelled prose. With 8 more fragments, the story is intended to enter dénouement which will be reflected spatially. Addition 16, completed 06:45.

Sam Bradbury has created what he explains as an epilogue for his narrative. It is completed page 11, but we await to see what the effect of his eventual sequence will have on the terror he has created. Completed at 06:25.

I apologise for the lack of miscellany and atmos photography as, as could be expected, this period of the challenge is dominated and slowed by exhaustion. The next phase is an expected burst to close whatever narrative gaps are left, or finish the final few pieces.

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At this lunatic time of night? Or day? Or whatever?

Why?

Can people develop sympathy insomnia? Should people develop sympathy insomnia? (Because we mustn't forget the moral dimension...)

All is yawns...

The raging lethargy...

Writer's block... illustrator's block... collagist's block...

Thousand-yard stares...

The first energy drink has been consumed... soon, the taurine jitters...

Taurine is a major constituent of bile, and energy drinks, says Wikipedia. Also, I imagine the origin of the 'Bull' in Red Bull, because copywriters can be imaginative like that. Red merely the colour of your eyes the morning after...

(I am overusing the ellipsis. It seems the only honest conclusion to 6am thoughts... they trail off... break off... never get started at all...)

The energy drink hasn't worked; Tom is asleep. He probably wouldn't be if he knew the thing about bile.

Jack is going strong. So, too, Charlotte.

Nick seems less stuck now...

Sam, still cutting and gluing... steadily... 

Ben has been asleep for ages.

The rest have taken their tiredness elsewhere.

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Ben Wright has seemingly culminated in a scene reminiscent of Watership Down on his page 24, completed at 05:25.

Charlotte Williams has gotten down to smaller structures of the bridge with page 19, at 05:20.

Jack Teagle shows us an emotional chase the likes of which we haven't seen in his work, as usually by now something has been bludgeoned. Page 17 at 05:20.

And Sam Bradbury has unleashed a fleet of eyes upon Washington. At page 10, there is no sign of release, reprieve or relent for humankind. Completed at 05:20.

Thomas G.J. Sharpe

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Nick Jarvis adds some layering, suggesting both pannelling and engineering. Very conceptual for five am. Fragment 15 at 04:15.

Jack Teagle continues to tease us well into page 16 at 04:40.

Charlotte Williams with her 18th page and a new angle, at 04:48.

And finally, Ben Wright gets intestinal with pages 18 and 19 of "Pigeonloft", at 04:20.

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Welcome, to your new live-blogger: the ghost of what was once Tim's mind... I use the term "live"-blogger very loosely now, of course.

Also, I type badly, and writ worse...

Oh, let's be honest, there'll hardly be a difference. May as well just call myself Tim again and have done with it. And get on with the last of these questionnaire answers while I'm at it:

My neighbour is....

Well, as you'd expect: on the whole, it's either Sam, Ben, Nick, Jules, Jack, Franky & Anna, me or Charlotte. Obviously. So that's sorted then.

No?

Oh, fine...

Ben claims his neighbour is "Camera Guy" - but to be fair, Jules has spent most of the time wandering around Wadebridge.

Nick says his neighbour is "talking about starting again - which is ridiculous!" (Sam hasn't done though - and this was all about 6 hours ago now, remember?)

Sam is situated between "Nick and Charlotte. Both are doing really well."

Tim, now his own ghost-blogger, stated "My neighbour is under a bridge, but it's very nicely drawn" - and it is; Charlotte's minimalist exploding of the Challenge Bridge is seventeen sections in now, and everything's becoming wonderfully, calmingly, unclutteredly clear.

Do you also need to know that Jules is between Jack and Ben, or that Nick is by the stage and Franky and Anna? No? Oh well, you know now. So never mind.

Here's Anna, accepting her questionnaire:

With what looks almost like genuine interest... 

This blogpost was brought to you in association with: very dark chocolate, muscle ache and eyelid spasms. (Really, what was I thinking? I've been awake for 23 hours now! I'm 32, for God's sake!)

And now another rest, before I have to think up something else to write - without even the assistance of questionnaires... [shudders]...

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Linda’s vivid tale was another completion in the early hours of Saturday morning.  Reliant solely on her images carefully created with the striking and unique pen and quink aesthetic, these scans do better to show the vibrancy of this tri-colour medium and how it was a perfect match for the simplicity of the narrative.  There’s a great deal of innocence in Linda’s piece – and she draws out both the magic of Eden and how the place succeeds in charging the imagination for all.

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Here we have Marcel’s finished comic in all its fast action post-apocalyptic glory.  The untitled narrative works at maintaining a consistent level of intrigue, at the same time as working in some nice Eden-influenced themes throughout the piece.  Yet, perhaps its most pleasing attributes are the way it manages to take some seemingly typical comic-book ideas, then subverting and bending them into an environment which seems eerily like the one in which it was produced.

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"The part I got drawn: My idea was to explore Eden's relationship to the community as an educator in an imaginative way. We see a community with strange fungal growths emerging everywhere that they don’t understand. They take a sample to the Eden Project and they examine it, learn about it and explain it to the community.

Thanks Tom

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Here are Sally's thoughts:

"Using the Eden project to inspire characters, events and real places/spaces I re-interpreted the HG Wells short story “Mr Skelmersdale in Fairyland”. I am interested in the creation of personal utopias and shared heterotopias, and as soon as I knew the venue of the Eden Project my mind created a link between the venue and the story.

Eden is a small world in itself; once inside you are cut off from the everyday, outside world so time and space become altered and suspended. Eden becomes a complete world but one where you can see its physical boundaries and the “grey area” where the real meets the unreal. In fact what is real and unreal becomes debatable, and I wanted the work I produced to reflect this both in terms of the place (fairlyland/eden) and the characters (the real crow and the character crow). That the story is put into actual visual format enables the unreal to become the physical real, and take existence back in the space of the everyday.

I chose to approach the challenge as an entire process with less emphasis on a finished product. This way I learned a lot about my own practice as it stands but more importantly understanding how I devised new process and techniques of creating to push through the brain-mush barrier in the early hours of the morning.  At some hallucinatory hour I had to make a conscious decision of either aiming to finish the 24 pages or of aiming for quality – it became obvious that I wasn’t going to be doing both! So interesting to learn that I have a subconscious process that tells me when something is finished and that there is no compromising with this!

There was a point where I became quite annoyed with my own body which is a bit strange, I couldn’t forgive it for being tired and it became quite a dialogue with the tired part of my brain and the part that wanted to keep going (fortunately the awake one was more resilient!) Also a really strange thing about 4 o’clock where I could spend ten minutes looking for a paintbrush that was right in front of me... and that this happened for everything – each time I wanted to pick up a pencil, find a tube of paint... it was like really living one of those dreams where you try and run but the pavement traps your feet like treacle..."

- Use the brain-freeze, the mind-fog or the total breakdown of sense and thought pattern and don’t try to force your mind back into its normal way of working. If your mind is thinking in more abstract terms it’s far more exciting to explore your different mind set and allow the images to take on a surprising life of their own.

- Take lots of short but frequent breaks, stretch your legs and calm your mind after each page or set of images – it allows a short space for reflection and a chance to gather your thoughts again. Also a comfy chair and a blanket is a must - otherwise you end up cold with crampy legs, and you wont even realise until you get up to walk and are hunched over, limping and shivering.

- Enjoy the experience, it’s nice to have a finished product at the end but if you value the process you will learn a lot about how you work and what you regard as important in your creative practice. The challenge is not so much in the event, but as a challenge to yourself.

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Above is the completed short film from Rebecca Nash: The Dream Host.  Due to the nature of the medium it was difficult to really get an idea of what the completed piece would look like during the event, but the stills we saw did well to hint at the otherworldliness Rebecca had imbued into her film.  The final product retains this, and masterfully utilizes the unique structures and many sculptures at Eden to create a sinister environment which is part paradise and part nightmare.

Here are Rebecca's thoughts:

"My aim was to produce a moving comic (story) – not an easy feat I later discovered. Using video footage taken within the eden project I constructed a story about a psychotic alchemist who had turned the humans of planet earth into metal using satellite technology. He almost achieved his goal. However, one man, who only partly transformed into metal, had a dream within him, and he knew that if the dreams host was still alive and he could find her, she might be able to reverse the blood to metal process and save the planet. We travel with him (seeing through his fading human vision) as he searches the barren land for what he believes to be ‘the only hope’. I quickly realised it would be hard for me to have a main character unless it was a fellow participant and this is why I chose for us to see ‘through’ my character into the action of the story. As comics are something that continue to build on a story over time I chose not to conclude my comic, leaving the viewer with the suggestion that the host has been located and that the ‘metal’ can now administer the dream. We don’t know if he was successful.

Thanks Rebecca

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Let's hear what Emma herself had to say about the day:

"When I was in the biomes I saw a bike used to transport bananas to the roadside, I used this for the start of my story.  I didn't want to produce anything too serious and mindmapped Bananas before I started.  The ending was written at 3am.  I'm sure if I had written it at 3pm it wouldn't have turned out that way.

Thanks Emma

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The above was written by luke, I've relieved him of his duties whilst he helps carry heavy boxes. I can't believe it's already 2pm, it seems like only a few hours ago that the artists were anpacking their bags. 

It's a bit difficult for us to put into words how we feel about the event, we're very very hapoy with the outcomes and think it was a great success. The problem is that this event has been much more tiring because we started later, but also because the three of us, me Tom and Luke first arrived at Eden just over 29 hours ago in order to get ready for the event and start teaching kids about comics.

Luckily though Luke enjoyed bloggint the 24hr Comic excitement so much that he has agreed to post some more thoughts on the Eden event in the coming week or so. That way you'll get to hear more of his thoughts on the experience. You've also good quality scans of the comics and Rebecca's film to look forward to.

So goodbye, farewell, but you haven't heard the last of us.

Phil

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...also finished editing her video-piece just before midday.  We'll get it online in the coming weeks.  Well done Rebecca!

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The piece worked as both a fantastic exercise in terms of adapting to a new unique space, and a keen exploration of what can be represented by a mix of media in short time.  In addition, 24 Ideas... provided a continual surprise for her audience throughout the duration.

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A couple more sweet'uns from Tom Barwick.

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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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