Just after 10 p.m. Saturday, Eric Taylor was penciling his tenth page, working his way through a Rockstar energy drink.
He sat at a table at the Sequential Artists Workshop in downtown Gainesville, scattered with ink pens, pencils, mechanical erasers, a Big Lou’s Pizza menu and pages of hand-drawn comics.
Taylor and 12 other artists were in their 12th hour of 24-Hour Comics Day, an international event which challenges artists to draw a 24-page comic in 24 hours.
A finished comic serves as a “cartoonist’s merit badge,” Taylor said, who brought along a bag full of 24-hour comics from his five previous participations.
Some of the finished comics from this year’s local participants will be displayed Friday at the Workshop during Art Walk Gainesville.
The event was started by cartoonist Scott McCloud in 1990 as part of a dare with a friend, according to the event’s website. There are seven participating locations in Florida this year and more individual participants.
Taylor’s comic, featuring Jon Arbuckle from “Garfield,” is about a serial killer. Arbuckle was still alive by page 10.
Across from Taylor, Adrian Pijoan, 23, was drawing the 16th page of a comic about a cat who, fueled by a sense of complacency on land, goes on a submarine adventure. He usually draws nonfiction comics but tried something new for his first 24-Hour Comic Day.
Pijoan and Taylor are students in Sequential Artists Workshop’s year-long comic-drawing class, which has seven students this year.
“It’s a really holistic learning environment that’s more focused on your growth as an artist than a traditional art school would be,” Pijoan said.
At a desk scattered with peanuts and protein bars, the youngest participant, 18-year-old Kyana Mitchell, worked on her comic about bored children who discover a mutated squid monster in their basement. The only time she’s finished a comic was at a 24-hour comic sleepover she had with her friends last year.
“The only time I can finish is on a deadline,” she said.
Upstairs, UF digital arts and sciences sophomore Taylor Gregory was packing up his drawing tools.
Gregory, 19, started the Sequential Artists club at UF and has taken a few SAW classes to maintain his love of comics outside of school.
“It’s something I want to do,” he said, “but it’s not my major.”
Four Cokes and 12 hours later, Gregory finished his comic when some participants were not halfway through their comics. His hand was cramping too much to continue, he said, an issue many other artists faced as well.
In fact, Pijoan keeps a yoga mat next to his drawing desk at home to combat back and wrist cramps.
“It seems silly, but it’s strenuous,” he said.
One of the teachers in the program and owner of the workshop, Tom Hart, popped in at about 11 p.m. He’s participated in 24-Hour Comics Days as a student and teacher.
“Forcing yourself to finish something in that amount of time forces you to make decisions about your priorities,” he said. “You can’t worry yourself into inaction. The challenge and supportive environment force you to do something.”
Kyana Mitchell, 18, works on her comic about children who discover a mutated squid monster in their basement. Mitchell participated in 24-Hour Comics Day Saturday and Sunday at the Sequential Artists Workshop downtown.
