Thanks for the shout-out, Matt! I should credit Leela Corman for the origins of the prompt. She used a 6-random images prompt in a class of hers I took several years ago online through Sequential Artists Workshop. I mashed it up with some Lynda Barry writing prompts and put some of my own spin on it. I still use it in a Comics Poetry class I teach.
It’s reassuring to hear that you also have molasses-speed periods in creation. Are you doing the hourly comics thing on Sunday? I’m in a workshop that day but was thinking of trying it for the first time.
I think it’s a pretty inevitable stage of most creative work. I’m glad if it’s helpful for another artist to share about this kind of struggle—it can be truly discouraging but in my experience you eventually find a good work rhythm again.
You know, I’ve done several 24 hour comics but I’ve never done the hourly comic. Maybe one of these years…
Fantastic execution! The constraint of pairing preexisting panels with freewrite text actuallyseems more generative than starting blank. I've experienc ed something similar when deadlines force me to work with whatever's in front of me instead of waiting for perfect conditions, the friction between unrelated elements can create unexpected coherence.
I do know that stuck feeling! Just drawing spontaneously without censoring myself helps, but for months I’ve been searching for a project like “Atomic Bug Is Missing” that I could use to bring a lot of crazy drawings together. I had all sorts of ideas that didn’t work. It’s painful! Finally something clicked and I think it will work. I think sometimes you just have to be persistent!
Thanks Matt, for a small peek into your work & process; very glad you have supportive colleagues & my best wishes! Developing creativity in current times feels overwhelming; I feel lucky to live in a HOME with some structure to my day!!
May we all live through this & hopefully, thrive again soon!!
BTW my 90th is coming up & we’ll be partying on 6/6/26 in the park in Palmyra!! Would love to have you there too!!👍❤️
This reminds me a little of a parallel tracks comic assignment from SAW. You mash up one story with a sequence of images that appear unrelated. I made one with Tintin and Walter Benjamin's eessay, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." I did another with Kafka aphorisms and Krazy Kat. I'm always inspired by Masterpiece Comics by Sikoryak. Do I get stuck? Definitely. But changing it up between art forms (music, drawing, film) can help get one unstuck sometimes.
Yes, I think you did some stuff along those lines in some of my workshops, too. As it happens I have another post coming up that's also about word/image disjunction. I think it's a fascinating aspect of how comics work.
Thanks for the shout-out, Matt! I should credit Leela Corman for the origins of the prompt. She used a 6-random images prompt in a class of hers I took several years ago online through Sequential Artists Workshop. I mashed it up with some Lynda Barry writing prompts and put some of my own spin on it. I still use it in a Comics Poetry class I teach.
Thanks for the context, Susanne!
Regardless, I love the pen and ink, and the use of darks and lights.
Curse you and bless you, Eric Carmen!
LOL, sorry to any Gen Xers I infect with this middle-of-the-road earworm for the rest of the day.
It’s reassuring to hear that you also have molasses-speed periods in creation. Are you doing the hourly comics thing on Sunday? I’m in a workshop that day but was thinking of trying it for the first time.
I think it’s a pretty inevitable stage of most creative work. I’m glad if it’s helpful for another artist to share about this kind of struggle—it can be truly discouraging but in my experience you eventually find a good work rhythm again.
You know, I’ve done several 24 hour comics but I’ve never done the hourly comic. Maybe one of these years…
This is a brilliant way to jumpstart yourself when you’re in a creative slump! Great post, Matt!
Fantastic execution! The constraint of pairing preexisting panels with freewrite text actuallyseems more generative than starting blank. I've experienc ed something similar when deadlines force me to work with whatever's in front of me instead of waiting for perfect conditions, the friction between unrelated elements can create unexpected coherence.
Love this prompt, and comic! And totally get you re: wave of lethargy. Maybe something non-fictional is calling you!
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing Matt. You are super inspiring.
I do know that stuck feeling! Just drawing spontaneously without censoring myself helps, but for months I’ve been searching for a project like “Atomic Bug Is Missing” that I could use to bring a lot of crazy drawings together. I had all sorts of ideas that didn’t work. It’s painful! Finally something clicked and I think it will work. I think sometimes you just have to be persistent!
Thanks Matt, for a small peek into your work & process; very glad you have supportive colleagues & my best wishes! Developing creativity in current times feels overwhelming; I feel lucky to live in a HOME with some structure to my day!!
May we all live through this & hopefully, thrive again soon!!
BTW my 90th is coming up & we’ll be partying on 6/6/26 in the park in Palmyra!! Would love to have you there too!!👍❤️
That's so awesome, Caroyln. I hope we get to see you this summer!
This reminds me a little of a parallel tracks comic assignment from SAW. You mash up one story with a sequence of images that appear unrelated. I made one with Tintin and Walter Benjamin's eessay, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." I did another with Kafka aphorisms and Krazy Kat. I'm always inspired by Masterpiece Comics by Sikoryak. Do I get stuck? Definitely. But changing it up between art forms (music, drawing, film) can help get one unstuck sometimes.
Yes, I think you did some stuff along those lines in some of my workshops, too. As it happens I have another post coming up that's also about word/image disjunction. I think it's a fascinating aspect of how comics work.
That would be a treat!!!👍❤️