Half way through in Rovaniemi

Soon it is 4 a.m. in Rovaniemi, half way mark is approaching. About 30 participants are still awake and they keep on drawing. Tough and hard-working youngsters :)

Sweden is ON!

Yet another fantasticular video blog from the comic school in Sweden. For you guys. All in english :D

Britney Victorious!!

Dear Bloggosphere:

I'd like to introduce you to the mastermind behind this year's 24-Hour Comics Day event on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, and a brand-spanking new 24-Comic Artist:

Congratulations: Britney Winn

YOU MADE IT!!! And you made it look easy!

A few words from Miss Britney: 

This is “an indescribable sense of accomplishment.”

[She turns to me and asks if she has to use her right hand for anything--apparently it's thoroughly knackered. I tell her no. Ice that baby and put it to bed for a few days!]

When I ask her what victory feels like, she smiles sweetly and replies: “I BEAT NEIL GAIMAN!!!!”

Also, CONGRATS!! to all the 24-Hour Comic Artists worldwide (especially you, Stefan *wink!*), and a big THANK YOU to the UWM Library, Collector’s Edge, my English 236: Intro. to the Graphic Novel class (especially you, Britney!), and  everyone at ComicsPRO and 24-Hour Comics Day!!!

Rovaniemi is still going strong!

Here we are still awake and new stories and comics are coming out.
Atmosphere is nice and some of us are singing! Outside is dark but not so cold, there are
+6 degrees. This is quite good in Lapland in October...

2 Hours Left of 2011 24-Hour Comics Day

Howdy from the UWM Library on a perfect autumn afternoon (I can say that now, right? Wasn't the equinox this week??). 

We've got just three short hours left of this year's 24-Hour Comics Day. Just 2 hours left to claim this is my first 24-Hour Comics Rodeo. 2 hours of penciling and inking left for Britney Winn, my superstar student who is getting a boatload of extra credit for pioneering this event on the UWM campus. Here's the score at the 22 hour mark. 

True Confessions: I'm black-dogging it. I've listened to Dead Man's Bones a gazillion times. I've probably misspelled more words than I can currently count because basic math has left the building. I know this because filling in the blank on "ONLY ____ HOURS LEFT!" just now left me stumped. 

True Confessions: people only want information when I want to nap. I haven't eaten a proper meal since the PB&J that almost killed me about 7 PM last night. Britney's taken two breaks in 21 hours: one to have a lie down and the other to go to class. CLASS! Can you believe it? To take a test. On the Japanese language. And she's just as happy now as she was yesterday, sketching away, with 3 pages left to go before she's finished her 24-page comic. 

True Confessions: when I heard about 24-Hour Comics Day, I was all "it's no NaNoWriMo!"

True Confessions: 24-Hour Comics Day makes NaNoWriMo look like a hot rock massage. 24HCD is difficult, y'all. Artists can spend a week on one page. ONE page. This event means you bust it for 24 hours and walk  stagger away with at least 24-pages. Plus cover art. Plus finished, edited lettering. To say this is extreme is to put it mildly. 

True Confessions: I get it now. This is so much bigger than I could have anticipated a week ago, or 22 hours ago. I set this up so Britney could have a quiet semi-public place in which to challenge herself. I set this up so comic artists and enthusiasts in Milwaukee would know that there's a NaNoWriMo for them, and that it's kind of a bigger deal. But when I set this up, I had no idea just how much I would learn from one of my students. 

Final True Confessions: when I was trying to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up, I came up with this wild fictitious scenario to help me decide. I asked myself: what's the one thing that you could do happily for the rest of eternity, even if you were stuck in Hell and demons were flogging you while you worked? What's the one thing that could turn demon whips into tickles? I know, I know. You're probably thinking it has something to do with BDSM. But that's not what I'm getting at. 

When I asked myself this question, the only answer that fit was writing. Through writing, I could be so transported as to be on another planet, even while enduring the most horrific torture imaginable. Writing is my Sucker Punch dance. Somewhere in grad school, pressured to publish and give public readings, I lost the pleasure I once associated with writing. I lost writing as a coping and survival skill. It became a chore. 

In the span of 22 hours, hanging out with a young artist a hardly know, and watching her work, I've been reminded of my one thing. Seeing her transported as she works, beyond the need for food, for sleep, for diversion or change of scenery--I remember. Writing is alchemy. Like Grant Morrison said, writing is magick. 

Maybe it's the 22 hours sleeplessness talking, but damn it feels good to be a wizard. 

Go Sweden! Serios makes comics day and night!

One of Sweden's three comic schools joins in for the international 24 Hour Comics Day! We are making videos every hour from 5 pm, september 30th to 5 pm, october 1st. Every fifth video or so will be english friendly, for you guys to enjoy :)

kindly Stefan (head teacher :D)

Intensive drawing at Rovaniemi City Library, Finland

People seem to be very concentrated on drawing. They get strength from chocolate, coffee and energy drinks. We have a head of us still a long night. Hopefully many will survive those hard hours without sleep and get their comic ready before time is up!