24 Hour Comic Challenge

This weekend I participated in a 24 Hour Comic Challenge ( website! )! AND I DID IT. Basically, you have 24 hours to do a 24 page comic, planned, sketched, inked, and written. I did it, with 4 hours to spare, and learned actually quite a bit about myself. Oh... and I was sick for it...

I wrote a comic about my life. It takes place from High School to last week, which is a small part of my life, but so many personal things have happened that it was kind of easy to think of events that happened. That's it right there, "I'm Still Not Done Yet: A Visual Journey Through My Life So Far"... It was a great reflection for me... I definitely thought it out prior, which is a little non-kosher, but whatever.

Matt at Free Lunch Studios also finished, and we actually finished within a half hour of each other, with about 4 hours to spare. He told me that that was some of the best artwork he's ever seen me do and that it was really good. I'm really proud of myself. I was really nervous about finishing it, and about how it would look. (I am a bit of a perfectionist). But I finished, and I'm really happy with the way it turned out (especially since I had a cold during it!).

How was staying up for 24 hours, you ask? I look back at it now... and it actually didn't get bad until 6 or 7 in the morning. I was on a mission during this. I needed to get my art done. Having that time frame looming over me was the greatest motivation. On top of the motivation to tell my story that is. It was fun joking around with the guys (yes I was the only girl there!), watching their progress, and it was hard when people started leaving. There wasn't many of us... but it was hard. But the hardness was also a motivation. I didn't really get that hungry either... I mean... it wasn't that much of a physical workout... it was more mental. My thumb was red and swollen when I was done. That pain started around 2am... the middle finger pain started earlier. But I pushed through. It was my first time blue line sketching first... which was an interesting experience... I definitely was missing those jelly pencil grips from way back when the whole time. The eyes were alright until 7 in the morning... around 5 I got a crick in my neck... but I pushed through. The hardest pages were my last 3... (I did things out of order so they weren't 21-24... they were like 17, 20, and 22 or something)... they weren't planned out as well... but they came out beautifully. I was definitely exhausted and irritable the next day. I took a nap from like 1 to 4... then stayed up until 10 so I wouldn't mess up my sleep schedule that much. The sickness was tough too... sneezing a lot... too many tissues were used... but I'm feeling better. Still exhausted today. But happy.

I don't know how, but I somehow let go of the idea of it being perfect when I was drawing it. I think that really helped me actually do it. I'm still so amazed with myself. Which leads me to some lessons.

1) Don't doubt yourself. You're allowed to feel that doubt, but just acknowledge it, don't let it overcome you. Just say "You know, doubt, I see you, I feel you, but I'm not going to let you get in my way.". I can't believe I doubted myself for this. I did, but when I walked in there, with the other artists chilling, laughing, and having fun, I knew that it was going to be fine. There was no pressure to be perfect. They weren't going to judge me.

2) You can do anything you put your mind to. I started with an idea, then made it a plan, and then got it done. I didn't worry about timing each page. I didn't worry about timing out my pee breaks or my food breaks. I just sat down and did it. Why? Because I wanted to. Because I knew I could. I even knew, at 3 AM, I could run around like a crazy 13 year old boy (I'm a 23 year old female... thank you), and be a nut even though I was tired. We ran around like crazy people again at like 7, because we could. I thought I would be too tired, but I said to myself "I'm going to do it." And you know what, I did.

3) Stop worrying about perfection. It's ok to let go of perfection. You are your biggest critic. Just relax and get it done. It's going to be amazing anyway. There's no reason to worry about others judging you. You made it, so you're the only one that can say if it's good or bad.

4) I am so capable of putting out an amazing piece of work in a short amount of time. I am. This 24 hour challenge showed me that. I can write, I can sketch, I can ink. It will be beautiful. It will be heartfelt. It will be mine. That now applies to everything. If you're in your job, and you have a project that needs to be done in a short amount of time, read those things I wrote above... you can do it. You just have to do it.

5) Planning is everything. The planning phase is key. But definitely map out your planning phase. Haha. But seriously, planning makes everything easier. Especially projects. Map it out, make it brief, but informative.

Enough of that. A personal thing I learned... I finally have a personal group of friends here in my hometown. (Not that my select few that I hang out with still don't count) But a new group of friends, who are amazing. They are supportive, funny, productive, welcoming and amazing. I'm so happy I found them. Of course, Oregon pops into my mind... and I get a little teary eyed. It seems like life works in these funny ways. I could look at it as "I just met this great group of people and have more friends but now I'm leaving"... but honestly... that's not the way I see it... I'm always going to have these people as my friends. Life has blessed me with a support group that loves and cares for me here at home. They've honestly made my worries about leaving lessen. I'm sad I'm leaving them, but I know when I come back they'll still be there. I'll always be able to talk to them. I'll always have these great memories.

So I guess, in all, it's all about perspective. Both in art, and in life. :)