Remain indoors: Hourly Comic Day 2021

My diary comic for Hourly Comic Day 2021 covers lockdown life…

Well this year’s not going to be very exciting… apologies in advance.

The Coronavirus pandemic kicked off in the UK mid-March 2020. I’ve been working from home since then. We’re currently in our third nationwide lockdown. At least a vaccine’s being rolled out, although it’s currently at the 60-70 year olds and working down the demographics.

February 1st was also a Monday. All this means no gallivanting off to nearby towns or nights out on the tiles in this year’s diary comic.

Without further buildup, click the picture or link below to read this year’s comic!

Carl’s Mitchell’s Hourly Comic Day 2021

Despite all this, I still sought to try something new: I drew 2021’s Hourly Comic Day entirely using my graphic monitor. No pens, pencils or scanners this year!

FUN FACT: I’m a sinister left-hander.

I picked up a second-hand Parblo Coast10 graphics tablet a couple of years ago. It takes some getting used to, but not as much as a traditional graphics tablet (which does not have a built-in screen, leaving you drawing “blind”). There’s also a lack of hotkeys, but I can just stab keys on the keyboard using the pen (a bit like dabbing a paintbrush).

It went well! There could have been more variance in the thickness of strokes (I must delve into the settings again), but the directness is refreshing, and most panels came out at a good scale!

Comic footnotes

  • My home working advice? Get dressed – it puts you in a better mindset than staying in pyjamas.
  • Sir Captain Tom Moore died the next day, aged 100.
  • What’s the Archgriffin singing to Geralt’s corpse? The amazing “You Are Dead” from Total Distortion.
  • Nerdy YouTube channels that that have kept me company: WhatCulture Gaming, Outside Xbox/Xtra, Fact Fiend, Triple Jump, Ashens, Caravan of Garbage, The Critical Drinker, Filmento.
  • This year’s ending card is a reference to Bernie Sanders napping at the US inauguration.

My other diary comics