|
.HRS.
-.24
MINUTES
- ANDREW FOSTER
- Download the Album
|
Tommorrow is the day! I am super
chuffed. Keep in mind that I have never, ever drawn more than a two
page comic IN MY LIFE. I am 99% sure I shall explode. Or cause Drew
to explode.
Drew arrived bearing a TWENTY-FOUR PACK of
Dr. Pepper. That means one soda every two hours! I dunno, can we make
it?
I should mention that we are moving out of
this apartment, so our living room is empty except for boxed crap.
We shoved all the boxes out of the dining area and set up base camp
there. In one corner is our BEAUTIFUL SHRINE:
Its construction allowed Drew to say "Put
the dinosaur on top of Jar-Jar," the utterance of which has aleardy
made this entire experience worthwhile. It is not a sentance you get
to hear enough.
We went to the grocery store to stock up, and
I decided we should get only round foods, so we got pizza and waffles.
And crackers, which I can gnaw round. Ditto Drew's chips.
We got this thing of waffles because it contained
24 WAFFLES!
And then we got 24 OUNCES OF SYRUP!
And then 24 PIG HEADS!
As Drew entered my apartment, he said, "This
is the second most ill-advised thing we've ever done."
"What was the first?" says I.
And he says, "I'll give you a hint: it
took a week and a half."
Stop being cryptic,
Drew.
At 10:00 tommorrow morning, the ridiculousness
begins! EXCITEMENT.
|
OGUE
Today is the eve of twenty-four hour comic book day, and I am chuffed,
if a little nervous. Tentatively it appears that Anne has agreed to
the idea I had going into the endeavor, that each page would have a
set length of time connected to it in regards to the eventual album,
and I feel that a minute of audio per page is an entirely reasonable
length of time. I can hammer out a minute of audio in well under ten
minutes if need be, but it frequently takes me many months to bring
a song to a satisfactory conclusion. Perhaps noodling for 24 minutes
straight will be a good out from having a definite ending, but if I
decide to have each one-minute track be an independent entity (which
is entirely likely) may God save us all. Our supply list currently consists
of:
Anne:
- 2 lap desks
- a collection of myriad drawing utensils
- a stack of Office Depot laser printer paper
Shrine of Shame/Wonder:
- 1 head of Jar Jar Binks soap dispenser
- 1 pirate figurine
- 1 Pope Innocent III action figure
- 1 Jesus candle
- 1 Virgin de Guadalupe candle
- 1 robot pig
- 7 thimbles
- 4 pewter figurines
- 2 ham-fisted Robin Hood figures
Foodlettes:
- 24 cans of Dr. Pepper
- 10 bottles of water
- 24 Eggo Buttermilk waffles
- 1 bag Zapps Original potato chips
- 3 Totinos cheese pizzas
- 1 carton Horizon 2% vitamin-D enriched organic milk
- 1 24 fl. oz. bottle of Log Cabin syrup
- 1 box of saltines, brand not remembered
Andrew:
- 1 set of S4 MidiLand speakers
- 1 M-Audio Ozone
- 1 HP-zt1000 laptop
- 1 flames suitcase from Archie McPhee
- various wires, cables
- 1 Rode NT1-A, sans proper cable
- 1 cheap Telex office mic, sans proper adapter
- 1 Microsoft Starck-designed optical mouse
- 1 General Electric SurgePro power strip
All I know is I am surrounded by foods that are connected only in their
being of the quantity 24 of whatever arbitrary unit the manufacturers
have provided and incredibly high concentration of fat, my mouse pad
is a suitcase with flames on, I'm tired, I need to pee a little, and
I am more than ready to make a mediocre album in a day. I'll see you
bastards in hell, you soul-sucking imps.
-Dr. Vato Magnifico III
|
HOUR.
Man, what an awful night! I hardly slept. Whenever
I know I am waking up for something exciting that I cannot miss and
no one else will wake me for if I muck up, I tend to wake up like
once every half hour all night long out of nervousness. Yeah, that
happened last night. LAME.
But now I have on my COMICKING PANTS, seen
to the right.
I have made an offering at the shrine of lip
balm, but kept the primo stuff for myself.
And I am going to play Psychonauts until it
is time to wake up Drew and begin!
|
.-1
|
HOUR.
All right! Drew is up and we made
WAFFLES. But turns out there is only one plate in the apartment, the
others having been packed. So we took eating shifts.
We've had our first problem of the day: Drew's
computer won't do his microphones, or something, so we can't do samples
of me doing BLIBBITY BLIBBITY BLOO. Maybe we can through my computer.
We'll see.
Okay, we start in twenny minutes! Time for
my second eating shift and then for COMICKING
I still have no idea what I'm gonna do. WHOO!
|
.-0.25
|
HOUR.
Is it cheating if my first three or four pages
are splash pages? The answer is NO, if you give yourself something you
hate to draw. Like trees.
MAN I AM SO TRANSPARENTLY BAD AT DRAWING.
Also, man, I hate that my sense of humor and
visual storytelling hinges on repetition, because that means drawing
the same things over again. I HATE CONSISTANCY AUGH.
|
.ONE
Well, the hour nears, and here we are, drawring and musicking away.
Things are moving apace, we are going approximately the same speed,
and things are looking a-ok. The songs are distinct but connected, the
art is looking wicked good, and I'm very happy. Both we and the comic
book are going at a leisurely pace, and I feel that improves our chances
at a satisfactory completion. This makes Andrew a happy hippo. I hope
you all are having as good a day as I am, especially those of you participating
in this curious practice. Sha-na-na, sha na-na-na na na. Everything
is a-ok. No murder has been made to happen yet, and this pleases me.
I would like to buy the world a Coke.
Love, luck, and lollipops,
-Monsieur Baggler
|
HOUR
Almost done with page 3! I hate
it a bunch, but page 2 keeps cracking me up when I look at it to check
for conistancy. SCRATCHY BLISS! I love that page even though his toes
are messed up and do not look properly curly. Whatever, I fail.
I have decided to do a Baxter story because
since he is a storyteller I can basically go where ever I want from
here. Man, it shall soon go somewhere else, or at least all tight
shots, because I HATE DRAWING TREES. I hope I have time to do spot
greys and fade out the backgrounds at the end, because I'm not futzing
with line weight or anything to give it any dimenionality. I HATE
LINE WEIGHT GRRR! Actually line weight is awesome, it is just an impossible
task for one such as me to accomplish.
I am ready to not be drawing this background
anymore. Oh well, just one more page of it...
We took a break for pizza, our SECOND ROUND
FOOD!
SHRINE UPDATE:
I have offered it a picture of my sister. In response, the Jesus candle
is burning less brightly. Oh no, Katy, you have ruined my standing
with Jesus! THANKS A LOT. The Virgen de Guadetc. is still burnin'
along happily. I wonder if they'll make it all the way through the
day. We may have to make a run on candles later, get ST. JUDAS TUDEO
or whatever this time.
I hope Jeff Rowland isn't dead yet.
|
.TWO
It's hour 2, ya mugs! We done been workin for sommat like 2 hours!
That's crazy talk! Anne just finished the third page, and needed a song
that fit a slightly gross-feeling, remorseful feeling. Much more difficult
than ambient and happy, but more rewarding. I chose to do it in 3:4,
so as to make it a little more awkward. I think it succeeded smashingly.
I've started a precedent of starting each song with resampled bits from
the previous song, and that has been helping the flow massively. Quite
satisfying, all in all. The cramped-ness of the workspace is getting
to me a little, and I've become resigned to the fact that I'm going
to be a hunchback after this, but this is still way better than camping.
At least there's AC. We ate a pizza, which was boss. I swear it was
more fresh than they are at Albertson's. Of course, we did spen $1.50+
on them, so they should taste like gold and rainbows for that. P.S.
I am poor. Well, we used the internet for the last time just now, and
it's good to know Jeff Rowland isn't dead yet. We won't know for sure
until the end of the day, but here we are. Fun all around. In the next
hour I will perform a ritual to summon a demon with the use of a moai
statue. Cheers!
-Dolemite
|
HOUR.
Just polished off page 4. Now
IT is my least fav-o-rit. Baxter's pose isn't dynamic enough. WHATEVER.
But now I am done drawing those trees and everything, WHOO! Unless I
do it again at the end, which I probably will because I like things
to be cyclical. Man, thanks, Anne, whatever.
Roomie just came and took away the internets
and cable TV, which is probably wise as I would go nuts knowing that
I probably had e-mail and LJ to check and I was physically able to
but just didn't. You know how it goes.
SHRINE UPDATE: The Jesus candle almost
went out! I poured out the excess wax into a Dr. Pepper can. He is
still pretty dim, though. The Virgen is still rockin' it. Time to
shape up, Jesus.
I should probably leave another offering. Uh.
I'll give them a paperclip.
My brain is sort of cramping, as is my hand.
And we're not even... very far through, I'm too distracted to think
of fractions. Whatever.
|
.THREE
What ho, hos! It's time for your HOUR 3 UPDATE! This hour was the assiest
hour of hours so far! There was a one in 3 chance of this hour being
the crappiest of the first three, and HERE IT IS! Anne isn't the happiest
with her drawing (though I quite like it). I've had to restart FL Studio
twice due to bum plugins. So be it, though. Still making entirely reasonable
headway, though. So far I like the distant, disconnected sound of page
4, it was just a bastard to get it where it is. So be it, though. I'm
going to stretch my legs and buy me a coupla do-nuts. Catch you action
cats on the flipside.
-Pope Innocent III
|
HOUR.
Oh man, I love this page. It cracks me up. ALSO
THANK YOU BAXTER FOR BEING THE ONLY CHARACTER OF MINE THAT I CAN HAVE
SING SEA SHANTIES AND HAVE IT BE IN-CHARACTER.
I suggested to Drew that his song for this one
be like when in a musical there is that build-up to the big song number,
only to have it come crashing to a halt, and he stepped up to the plate
admirably. Also the transition from the last song to this song is really
smooth, which is aces.
My folks just called to check in, because they
are awesome and sweet. I told them how happy I was right now, how it
wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, since I'm not letting
myself be too precious with my art or whatever...
"Well, enjoy the sunshine now," my
dad said. "It'll be dark in a few hours."
True, dad!
But this page feels vaguely Little
Dee-esque to me, which makes me happy in my heart of hearts.
|
.FOUR
Well, here we are. 1/6 of the way into this thing, and it's all OK.
We've survived well. The output is still not shite, though I'm certain
it's just a matter of time. The latest song I've done, for page 5, is
kinda weird and I think it might wind up being the least ambient of
the whole lot. I hope so, at least. But it's fun and it fits well. It's
a sorta semi-Disney musical intro leadup. I'm really liking the flow
of songs, too. Re-listening to the whole thing is an odd experience.
Most surprising is how un-forced it sounds. It does sound spontaneous,
though, which is OK by me. The do-nut shoppe was closed, which puts
a frown on Andrew's face. It almost put a wasp sting there, too. Apparently
wasps live in the bushes across the way. Huh. I greatly enjoy forcing
myself to output a constant amount of work, and I feel better for the
experience. It's a joy to actually do this. Except for the sore legs/feet/back/neck,
but so it is. Man, once again, these transitions are the nicest between-song
transitions I've ever done. Having a set order and a set source of ideas
sets boundaries and allows me to focus on just the sound. Uber-cool.
Well, I'm gonna stretch my legs right quick. I may or may not have poisoned
Anne's drink.
-Maybe a Bear
|
HOUR.
THIS PAGE (6) IS TAKING A LONG TIME. So much
for being ahead.
I call this my Jeepers
page. It's a very Jeeperian moment, I feel.
|
.FIVE
Just finished page 6. Sounds like some crazy huckster salesman theme.
Kinda love the hell out of it. One of the few styles I've never been
able to do in the past. Has some nice jazz drums at the end. No more
whole sentences. More caffeine. Chinese food? Delivery? Sometime. In
the meantime, nice drawings. Fun music. Not really tired, having a fun
time. Much the same as the hour before. Way different music, though.
Hard not writing in whole sentences. Sounds like spooky journal in horror
game. Will give in to vampires soon enough. Can't stop them. Succumbing
to lycanthropy. Full moon. All against me. Will try to venture forth
one more time.
Rest of journal blank.
-Charlie Brown
|
HOUR.
Finishing up page 6. So much for being ahead.
However, I love the Gummi Bear. I wish we had internet so I had a VISUALLY
ACCURATE Gummi Bear, but oh well, whachagonnado?
My hand is really starting to hurt, a lot, and
I keep thinking about my Grandma, who was this amazing artist and pianist,
but she arthritis got to the point that she just had to give it up.
While she was in, like, her 20s. I remember looking at her paintings
with such awe, and just feeling that burning sadness in the pit of my
stomach.
....this is not the sort of thing to give you
speed to carry on.
But anyway, I think I figured out what I am going
to do next, though I had to call Bill and ask him what a word was because
I could not for the life of me remember the word for "stranding
a dope on an island instead of killing them," i.e., "MAROONING."
THANKS, BILL.
SHRINE UPDATE: Jesus totally stopped burning
altogether, despite an emergency de-waxing. Whatever, dude. Mary keeps
on keepin' on.
|
.SIX
Hour 6 was fairly uneventful. I started on the song for page 7, which
I'm thinking should be mainly sound effects. Anne is finishing page
6, but she gave me plenty of information RE: the next page, so I feel
like I have a good starting point. Though it may be a little vague.
I also had me some waffles, and them was the stuff. I likes me some
waffles. So, for the most part, there's a lot to do. I think we can
still complete this thing, though. Seems reasonable enough.
-Hover Prince Mayhem Extreme
|
HOUR.
Only halfway through penciling page 7. Bla. So
much for my head start. I am so not even remotely gonna make it to 24
pages. Drew has already finished the song for this page. He's reading
comics over there while I catch up. I'll probably just finish inking
this malarky halfway through hour 8.
I was in a panic for a while there because I
had no idea what story Baxter was gonna tell, but then I decided to
pick on Howard Pyle. Because I love him. And have no idea about his
real life at all. BUT HE SURE DID WRITE THE DEFINATIVE ROBIN HOOD AND
A HELLA BOOK ON PIRATES, DIDN'T HE!
I just finished penciling a panel where he is
jumping through a flaming hoop. It makes me laugh UNCONTROLLABLY.
Have a sneaking suspicion this whole schlamiel
will only be funny to me.
Wish we had internet so I could look up how,
exactly, one spells "schlamiel."
Holy shit, we're only just barely a fourth of
the way through. I am 99% sure I am going to die. This is more drawing
than I've ever done in one day EVER. Keep in mind that I've never done
longer than a one page comic, EVER, unless you count my Niego one which
I guess was like one-and-a-half/two pages. Still, seven! In that regard,
I have WON the challenge. (Shut up, I have.)
SHRINE UPDATE: Still shrinin'! Mary's
burning on, representin' for lay-deez everywhere.
|
.SEVEN
Well, I didn't do a whole lot this hour. Anne was planning out her
strategy for the main story and pencilling stuff down while I read what
I haven't of Ex Machina. What I have to say to that is: WTF? So many
plotholes. Still a good read, though. Here I am now, though, none the
better for about an hour of non-musicking. I have a few more ideas,
though, and I think I shall make use of that now, even though we're
a bit behind. I don't think we're too bad off. Anne's giggling, so things
surely can't be too grim. This is heartening.
-Magnificent Pants the Clown
|
HOUR.
I HATES MY HAND. Took a break
to shake it out and soak it. It still feels hella broke, but I think
I can draw more now.
I finished page 7 and did most of the inking.
|
.EIGHT
It's break time! Anne was getting a sore hand, I was getting tired
of setting up residence on the floor, so we remedied our respective
problems with a hand-soaking, Psychonauts-playing
break that was greatly fulfilling. We are presently prepping a pizza,
I just made sure all my tracks flow smoothly, and things are looking
a little less difficult from here than they were from the position of
having done comic books for 7 straight hours. Much better. As much as
I like my new track, I think the transition between tracks 4 and 5 is
the best so far. Quite pleasing. I feel very sorry for Anne having to
put up with feeling punk, but so it goes. Onward and upward.
-The Right Honorable Judge Flava Flav
|
HOUR.
Finished inking page 7 at 7:00 on the nose. YEAH.
Much slower now that I gotta take hand breaks.
I suggested that Drew forge on without me. We
were continuing apace, but I fella hella behind between more complex
layouts and handery. I feel better knowing that he's not being held
back from reaching 24 minutes by my tendons being lame.
I keep forgetting how to draw Howard's face and
making him look like a chubbo. SORRY, HOWARD PYLE! I BET YOU WEREN'T
HARDLY A CHUBBO AT ALL.
|
.NINE
Well, it's been a slow hour. Anne's still inking page 7, and it looks
fab, but I've nothing else to do, so I'm making a one-minute interlude,
the comics equivalent of a Let's Go Out to the Movies. I
like it. Anne should be done soon, so maybe finishing this will give
her a chance to get a head start so as I'll have something to work with
in a bit. Man, her stuff is looking great though. Maybe this will be
enjoyable to people after all! That would be great. What this means
is that if you mail me saying that my soundtrack is, to quote Venetian
Snare, "a boiling pot of cranberries," I shall sock you in
the nose righteously. Cheers!
-Snot Rocket
|
HOUR.
Page 8 is all penciled. This one cracks me up
too. Man, I sure hope God has a sense of humor, or I'm in SO much trouble.
Also note HP's Tim-esque
chest hair.
I figured the Virgin candle rockin' on was a
sign, so here you go, Mary, here is your cameo! I really don't think
you're that snotty or anything, I actually am super fond of you. Please
don't cause trouble for me. Thank you.
My spirits are back up, AT THE COST OF MY IMMORTAL
SOUL.
Drew wanted a sample to muck with for this track,
so we pretended we were Howie and Handy speaking gibberish for a minute
straight. I don't think he used it, but it's still pretty indictative
of our mental state. It's "mneh.mp3" in the
album zip.
|
.TEN
Well, the interlude's done, as is my track for page 8. Anne pencilled
the 8th page just fine, and is now inking. Once again, looks great.
The Virgin Mary would be proud. I like my track, too. It's fairly straightforward
through most of it, but the fun bit was the bit at the end that makes
Howard Pyle sound like a moron. Not much else to say. Sore, a little
hungry, but once again chuffed. Cor blimey.
-Winston Churchill II Electric Boogaloo
|
HOUR.
Finished inking page 8! Why is this taking me
so long? Oh well. Spirits still high. Even though I'm not sure what
happens after page 9. BUT I ALSO WHIPPED OUT PAGE 9! Because it is a
cop-out speed-up page. But I think important, because it harkens to
my earlier timing. YES, THAT IS MY STORY, YOU JERKS.
Man, where is this going next? I've no clue.
Man.
I just yawned! OH NOES!
|
.ELEVEN
Working on a song for page 9. Anne and I both agreed that maybe a cop-out
isn't so bad a thing if it's used to good effect, so here we are. A
mainly empty page, a mainly empty track, and everyone's happy. I still
like the way it worked out, so I have no issues with what was done here.
Man, these journal entries are getting way too short. I wish I could
think of something interesting to say. Poor Anne certainly appears to
be getting tuckered. I shoved a DP in her direction, maybe that will
keep her going for a bit.
-Dance Dance Revolution
|
HOUR.
Page 10! TEN PAGES! HOW NUTS. FYI the hand's
name is ZELDA. More jokes that only I find hilarious.
Meanwhile, MY hand is sustaining entirely tolerable
hurty levels! I LOVE YOU, NON-ASPIRIN STORE-BRAND PILLS.
SHRINE UPDATE: Mary continues to be
AWESOME. I think she is pleased with my offering of a lightly soiled
napkin.
|
.TWELVE
|
Page 10 finished. TIME FOR NAPPING. Hopefully
the candle won't fall over and burn the house down. ...shit, now I'm
seriously worried. I'm putting it in a less flamible spot. (The wick's
too low to re-light it later.)
|
.THIRTEEN
|
HOUR.
Drew doesn't want to wake up to keep going. WHATEVER.
I think I'm just gonna finish my story and go
back to sleep, too. I'm just too lame to go much further alone. And,
as I said before? This is way more than I've ever done ever afore. So,
aces.
Still feel like a pussy. Only able to do HALF?
My body = way lame. Here are my plans for next 24 hour day:
- live webcamin'
- semi-public place
- less pussying out on my part
- replacing my hand with a robotic one
- falling to dark side of force
- falling into pit of lava
- etc.
Ha ha ha, I am alluding to Star Wars! HELLO I
AM KEVIN SMITH, (swears swears swears)!
|
.FIFTEEN
|
HOUR.
FInished page 11, penciling page 12. The pain
is in my arm now, around just below my elbow. How strange.
|
.SIXTEEN
"MY HAND HURTS, BLOO BLOO BLOO."
|
HOUR.
Roughly penciled the rest. I'll finish it tommorrow.
My hand is burning from fingernails to elbow, so that's a great sign
to QUIT IT.
15 pages! Not too shabby for a bonafide newb.
|
.SEVENTEEN
|
HOURS.
|
.TWELVE-TWENTY-TWO
Well, I did a song for page 10 that has a bunch of chatter and various
weird sound effects designed to sound like the good Mr. Pyle chatting
with his hand, but aside from that not much has happened. I woke up
here at a about 7:30 AM, as Anne seemed to want to get some sleep. I
decided to go to sleep as well, and now I have completed well under
half of my goal. So it goes. When Anne and I awoke an hour after going
to sleep she asked if I wanted to continue working or get some more
sleep. I figured she was hinting that it was too late and too distracting
for me to make a bunch of noise, plus I was wicked tired, so I decided
on more sleep. Nine hours of sleep later my soundtrack is none the better.
This does not change how happy I am with what's there, though. Maybe
with a little luck Anne has done a couple more pages. When she retreated
to her room I am unsure of what she decided to do herself, so we'll
see where we stand.
-A Bag of Groceries
|
HOUR.
|
.TWENTY-THREE
Yay! Anne is awake, full of waffles, and drawrin again! This is a positive
thing. She also has 15 pages, so I have 4 more minutes of audio to make
in the next hour. Hot dang! But I think that's doable. That will put
me past halfway, and that will make me a happy boy. Well, less talk
more musick! Peace out Napoleon!
-Freedom
|
HOUR.
Woke up at 8 and finished working. Finished my
pencils on the last few pages, and got some more inking done.
We just now officially hit 24 hours, and I have
16 pages pencilled and 12 inked. That is pretty excellent! I reiterate:
GO TEAM VENTURE.
|
.TWENTY-FOUR
Well, hour 24 is done, and all is punk. I have completed a net 15 tracks,
with two more to go. I'm going to finish the other two off just for
completeness sake, even though I know it's cheating a little. Nothing
I can do about that, though. I'm pretty happy with all that I've done,
and things are all a-ok. I really like the way the comic turned out,
and I hope the soundtrack is appropriate.
-Andrew Foster
|
What I Learned From.
by Anne Moloney, age 21 -...
1) Even the most awful comic probably
took a lot of time and effort to draw, and that should be respected.
Anyone who is committed to telling a story like that should be saluted
for their efforts, no matter how ill-advised or mediocre the finished
product is. ...unless it's Alternation, in which case you're allowed
to make fun of it, because SERIOUSLY.
2) This smudge of graphite on my palm
won't come off.
3) Mary outlasts Jesus. (She is still
going, EVEN NOW!)
4) Mary outlasts both of us, at
that. (3/4 of the candle left to burn.)
5) Drawing is hard on your hand, but erasing
is hard on your shoulder.
6)
Waffles are delicious.
7) Just because your arthritis never,
ever bothers you doesn't mean it WILL never, ever bother you.. MERRY
CHRISTMAS!
8) Making comics is for chumps.
|
.24 Hour Comic Day
...- by Andrew Foster, age 20
1) Dr. Pepper is the nectar of the gods
2) I am not that great a musician
3) Waffles are fuel for goodness
4) The Virgin Mary is stronger than Jesus
5) Concern for the well-being of your fellow comicker only annoys
them
6) Remember all cables, even those that are for borrowed hardware
7) Don't sleep. No matter how badly you want to.
8) If it sucks, just move on. Nothing can be done about it without
wasting time.
9) Bring a toothbrush
|
|
.HRS.
-.17
MINUTES
-
- drninja
- Download the Album
05
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