... I suck.

[layla]

So, today is 24 Hour Comics Day. I've been talking to friends in town about doing it this year (they're getting together at noon today to begin), but now that it's come down to it, I think I'm backing out. I feel guilty about it, but I also feel like (for lack of a better word) peer pressure was my main motivator -- I've done this before, don't really want to do it again, and the only reason why it was compelling this year was because I knew some other people who were going to give it a try.

But we've had our first big snowfall of the year, and the roads are going to suck. This is the first time in 3 weeks that I haven't had to work on the weekend. I could spend the entire day (and night) drawing a 24-hour comic that I don't even want to work on, either at home or with a group of people ... OR I could play with the dogs in the snow, make myself a cup of tea and work on some of the projects that I've been putting off over the last few very busy weeks.

... I'm leaning towards the latter option, really.

I still feel like I'm letting people down by not doing it, but I also know that I wasn't doing it for myself, I was doing it because other people wanted to -- and, honestly? If I'm gonna do something that's as much of a pain in the butt as drawing comics nonstop for 24 hours, I want to get more out of it than just a screwed-up sleep schedule. If I'm going to hang out with my artist friends, which I don't do nearly as often as I should, I'd rather do something fun and playful ... not hang out in a room together doing our own thing and getting increasingly snappy and sleep-deprived.

I'm starting to agree with Pam about the 24-hour comics. They sounded great to me when I was younger, but now that I'm a little bit older, it just seems like a pointless thing to expend all that creative energy on, for no more benefit than you get back. If I'm going to invest that much energy and creativity in something, I want it to be something good, not something slapdash that was created in the throes of sleep deprivation.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome that other people are doing it. The one year I did it, it was fun and energizing and difficult and exhausting and a really fantastic thing to have done. Like running a marathon (only with much less training involved!) it's something I'm glad I did, but not something I want to do again.

Comments

[jeepersjournal.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with you- I've done one, it was fun [and a great learning exercise], but if I'm gonna do it again, it won't be on a random date, and just when I feel up to it. Instead, I'm just gonna relax today, watch DVD's, read and mabye do 2 or 3 pages of comics for a submission I'm working on or some Convention artwork [aka better spent creative time].

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

"better spent creative time" -- yeah, exactly. I don't begrudge others doing it, and as you said, it is a great learning experience. But it's not something I have any desire at all to do again. If I'm going to put that much effort into a project, I have lots of existing projects needing my attention!

[allanh.livejournal.com]

You've done the 24-hour thing ... why not start (and try) an 8-hour Comics Day? See how much you can produce in 8 hours of drawing. Then it becomes less of an endurance test and more of a creativity exercise.

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

Honestly, that's quite a good idea. Pam Bliss conceived what she calls the "sane person" variant, where you draw a 24-page comic in three consecutive 8-hour days -- still 24 hours, just with time to sleep and eat and relax a little bit in between.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Or ... do a three person variant. Artist #1 draws the first 8 hours, and hands over a copy of the last page to Artist #2, who does the next 8 hours, etc. :)

[acoustic-rob.livejournal.com]

Well, I rather enjoyed that 24-hour comic you wrote, but like everybody else says: if it becomes a test that needs to be endured instead of a creativity challenge (which I believe was McCloud's original idea anyway) then you're better off not doing it and doing something that you're going to value at the end of the exercise. And given that it's your first weekend off this month AND that you have nice snow outside AND that you have outstanding projects that you'd rather be working on...well, it seems pretty obvious, doesn't it?

So no, you don't suck. Not about this, anyway. ;-)