Hourly Comics

 Hourly Comic day takes place on the 1st February each year. The goal is simple; to create a comic each hour of the day that you are awake. This is an example of "practice in attention" as it forces you to observe your life/environment in a way that you perhaps wouldn't usually. 

They are an opportunity to view your day through a different lens and filter through the information / narrative you want to present. 

Due to the nature of the challenge, it requires you to work fairly quickly and if you can't do that, then taking notes each hour is a good substitute.

To help me get inspired and begin planning how I might approach the challenge, I had a look at some previous entries from other illustrators on Instagram.

I liked how Audrey Nalley used colour in their work. The blue tones really reminded me of awful office lighting, which may have been intentional. They used a simple layout and seemingly drew straight into their sketchbook. 

 

The expression in this first panel drew me into the comic. I liked this quick/scrappy way of drawing. However, the rest of the comic didn't feel very engaging as it didn't seem to express the thoughts of the main character very much.

 

I really liked the characterisation of the cat in this comic - it felt close to my own experience with pets.

I made a note of this comic because I really liked that they didn't use boxes in their layouts. The textures/values were well balanced too. I tend to forget that it is acceptable to work outside of a grid layout.

I thought the layout of this one was interesting. It looks a bit more like a mind map. I don't think it's particularly easy to read as a comic, but it's an interesting way of documenting each hour. 

This one uses an animal character as the focus on the narrative. I've noticed that a few creators use this approach - perhaps because they don't want to draw themself? It might be easier to add a layer of distance in the narrative for some creators. 

I really love these two panels. The comic as a whole doesn't tell you much about what they actually did during their day, but focuses on these smaller moments and their thoughts. I think this is a good way to make your work unique rather than describe a daily routine that many people may share.