Your Hourly Comic Day Prep Guide!
Hourly Comic Day is February 1st, and I wanna read yours!
In about two weeks, my favorite ~ art challenge ~ of the year takes place. I love that it only lasts one day, that you get to see everyone sharing their “hourlies” in real time, and that I always end up surprising myself with one of my drawings, usually later in the day after I’ve warmed up and before I am exhausted.
Conceived in 2006 by Simon Veil in a now-defunct Livejournal, the challenge is simple: Draw a comic for every hour that you are awake throughout the day, and share it online.
The nature of the challenge sets the precedent that the artwork won’t be super polished - hastily drawn sketches and stick figures are perfectly acceptable. The challenge is not to draw beautiful pictures, but rather to:
be present and mindful throughout your day, observing and noticing what would be interesting or funny or whatever to document in your comics;
be prolific! make a lot of loose, imperfect drawings, reject perfectionism!
commit to drawing throughout the day, pushing through the discomfort as fatigue sets in.
Anyone can do these things, even if you’ve never drawn a comic in your life.
These illustrated “day the in the life” images are such an interesting way to see the world through someone else’s eyes. The different styles and approaches to comics is so cool. And I’m always personally thrilled to see drawings made by people who don’t draw often.
So it’s my dream to see everybody participate! I’ve written a few tips for preparing yourself, with someone who has never drawn a comic in mind. I hope that this inspires you to be a part of the movement!
Reduce decision fatigue
Drawing is a series of making decisions. Decision fatigue is a real thing. One of the best ways to prepare to have a fun and successful hourly comic day is to make as many decisions as you can in advance.
What does “comic” mean to you? What do your comics look like?
Would feel most fun to create and share? Is it a single panel for each hour? Are there panels at all? Will you keep it loose, drawing however many panels you think the hour needs? Will you start with multiple panels when you’re fresh in the morning, then devolve into desperate scribbles as the hours pass?
What is your canvas? What will you draw on, and how will you share it?
Will you be drawing in Procreate or another digital tool? Decide your canvas ratio now. Square, portrait? Will you draw in a sketchbook? On letter-sized printer paper? Post-its?
Once you’ve created the comics, how will you share the work? Will you post each hour as a separate grid post on Instagram, or only post them in stories? Will you make a Tiktok image carousel? How many places will you share them?
I definitely recommend posting throughout the day if you can, rather than posting each comic together at the end. I also recommend sticking to one context for your hourly posts, and if you want to share them together somewhere else, wait until you’re finished drawing. In the past, I tried posting each hourly comic to Instagram and Twitter, and that was too much for me.
What is your medium?
Pencil, pen? Ink? Paint? Color or no color. Which color? Many artists use one color as a “shading” or accent in their drawings. You have two weeks to experiment. I think words count here too. Most comics have words, but maybe yours doesn’t.
How will you represent yourself?
Maybe your comic will be drawn entirely in first person view, so you don’t have to think about this one. I feel like I have to put all these disclaimers because ThErE aRe No RuLeS!! But traditionally, auto-bio comics are written in first person, and drawn in a mix of third and first person.
Make a little character head sheet for yourself, and maybe even other people or pets who may appear in your comic. This will be a helpful reference for you as you’re creating. Throughout my years of creating auto-bio comics, I still don’t really feel like I’ve landed on a “consistent style” of drawing myself. So I’ll be making a character reference sheet for this year. Or maybe I won’t. But I do think that would be a cool and helpful thing.
Practice creating and drawing from your own reference images
Personally, I draw from reference images often. Especially when it comes to bodies. Sometimes I’m forced to track down the images I need online, but my preferred method is to prop up my phone and take a “selfie video”. I use selfie mode so I can see what I’m doing, and video gives me enough time to get it right. Once you’ve recorded your video of yourself in the pose that you need to reference, pause the video, scrub through to the image you want, and take a screenshot. You’ll have to edit the photo to flip it horizontally, because selfies are usually saved mirrored from how you see them as you’re recording.
Practice this method of posing and drawing from your own reference photos so it feels easy on February 1st.
Read some comics! Get inspired!
Memoir, auto-biographical, slice of life — whatever you call them, comics are an amazing medium for this type of storytelling. There is a wealth of inspiration out there. Of course, there’s the #hourlycomicday hashtag, but if you have time, why not head to the library or bookstore and dig into something with more substance!
One of my favorite illustrators, Carson Ellis, shared her hourlies and a few (extremely relatable) thoughts about the process on Substack last year:
I don’t want to get into the rabbit hole of book recommendations (maybe that’s a different post?) but there is one that immediately comes to mind: You, A Bike, And A Road by Eleanor Davis.
Plan your February 1st
You’ve decided how you’re going to draw, now take some time to think about what you’re going to draw. Consider small details like wearing a favorite outfit, eating something aesthetic, and grander things like will you go somewhere? (LOL, yes, leaving the house qualifies as a grand thing for me.) Whether your schedule is already set for you or you have the privilege of choosing what to do with your time, go into the day with a plan!
Are you going to participate in Hourly Comic Day this year? Did I convince you!? If you’ve done it before, how many years? Do you have any tips to share?
I love this guide! After reading it, it inspired me to actually do the hourly comic day (even if I drew them all in a batch the evening of!).
Cool! Cool! Cool! Proud Auntie