Articles Written By: Ben

NES memories in this week’s Billy Badass!

Watch me play Don’t Starve in my new Let’s Play series NoRights Plays…!

Woke up this morning around 2:30. Got out of bed about 3 and in the studio maybe 4:30. Spent some time looking for a timer app to try the Pomodoro Technique and probably got a little too fussy with desired features. Wanted something I could assign tasks to, them around to order them, and view a time chart of the results. Realized I was overcomplicating a simple process and tried using one to time myself for a free draw period. It didn’t go off right so I just turned my music on and started inking pages. Inked page 18 and about half of 19 before I got tired. Took a nap, woken up when my mom came in and we went for dinner. Frank called and offered to maybe play some more Minecraft later.

I signed up for a webinar this evening so I think I’ll squeeze another nap in before that. I feel like I was on to something with a timer, I just need to pick a better one and try it in conjunction with a time tracker app. If I work in bursts and break things up I probably won’t get burnt out so bad.

Remember New Coke? Check out this week’s Billy Badass!

Watch me play Don’t Starve in my new Let’s Play series NoRights Plays…!

Finished the Halloween comic around 2 Friday morning. Slept, helped my dad check his trail cams again, napped a bit before Frank and I recorded some Minecraft footage. I’m going to try getting my sleep schedule lined up this weekend. I’d rather be up early and get stuff done than work late.

I’ve got a batch of penciled pages to start inking, though I think next time I start work I’ll doodle for awhile and warm up. There’s a lot of invention and discovery when you’re loosely building a drawing but I usually pencil fairly tightly for production purposes. I think it’s good when brainstorming ideas to experiment. It’s just hard to tell yourself to stop doing one or the other. Sometimes you have pages to finish inking but all you want to do is make something new. I’m going to try using doodle time as a break from inking and whatnot, we’ll see how it goes.

Remember New Coke? Check out this week’s Billy Badass!

Watch me play Don’t Starve in my new Let’s Play series NoRights Plays…!

Worked in the studio until about 3 this morning. Finished the inks and the known flat colors for the Halloween comic. Need to choose colors for the rest and add shading/lighting effects. Went for lunch with dad and meant to lay down for a nap. Ended up listening to the Dana Gould Hour instead. Currently eating a bowl of cereal and drinking a frappuccino before I settle in for more work. I should be good as long as I have the right playlists handy.

Remember New Coke? Check out this week’s Billy Badass!

Watch me play Don’t Starve in my new Let’s Play series NoRights Plays…!

Couldn’t fall asleep until about 2:30 this morning. Woke up about noon. My dad wanted to look into upgrading his cellphone. Then I went for dinner and groceries with mom. Decided if I can’t get up to work in the morning I’ll try working at night. Normally I avoid being a night owl to keep on a regular daylight schedule but my body doesn’t want me up in the morning for some reason. I figure a few nights in the studio might line me back up. Or at the very least I’ll get some work done.

Remember New Coke? Check out this week’s Billy Badass!

Watch me play Don’t Starve in my new Let’s Play series NoRights Plays…!

I’ve been dragging all day today. Slept through both my alarms this morning and decided to sleep in. Woke up exhausted around 11:30 and took some time getting a shower. I called my dad and told him to come check out my old cellphone and when he got here it just kept restarting. Then he just wanted to check Facebook and Craigslist.

I don’t remember overexerting myself yesterday and I got to bed at a reasonable time. The only thing I can think of is the change in weather as it’s turned grey and cold out. I’m not sure how to combat this other than going to bed even earlier and dosing up on caffeine in the morning. I try to avoid that since there’s the crash and withdrawals but I need to do something to bring my energy back up.

Remember New Coke? Check out this week’s Billy Badass!

Watch me play Don’t Starve in my new Let’s Play series NoRights Plays…!

This morning I roughed out a few ideas for a project I’ll be starting. Then I inked about half the Halloween page. I’m just going to focus on getting that one done since there’s lots of details and I’d rather get it out of the way to avoid bottleneck. Had lunch this afternoon with dad and this evening he wanted to check out my old cellphone to see if he was interested in it. It wouldn’t verify properly at his place so we’ll try later at mine.

I keep feeling like I’m only doing half the work I’m capable of in a day. I suspect it’s from working too long on the same project. Not exactly sure how to change things up and still get the main thing done. I’m going to try doing some more gestures/studies/drawings for fun since I got Mischief. Hopefully I can pick the Daily Doodle habit back up and record some WIP videos. Taking a break from drawing to do more drawing might not be the easiest thing but I’ll see what happens.

Remember the discovery of the RMS Titanic? Check out this week’s Billy Badass!

Watch me play Don’t Starve in my new Let’s Play series NoRights Plays…!

Woke up tired this morning. Thought I’d sleep in a bit to see if I could get over it. Went for dinner and some errands with mom in the afternoon. Got a wired Xbox 360 controller to see if it handled better on some games than my wireless PS3 controller. (If I’d done wireless I’d have needed a separate dongle.) So far the answer is no. The games that detected the old controller recognized the new one but having one for a 360 didn’t help with the games I had to use a key mapper for. My feelings about controller support are the same as porting to Mac – if players are doing it on their own developers have no excuse.

I got some frappuccino to wake up and was going to see what I could work on in the evening. I fiddled around with my green screen setup to try and improve the let’s play videos for a bit. The studio’s cramped and I need better lighting. Then Frank video called me because he wanted to try Minecraft on the server I set up. I thought he wanted to do that Saturday after the podcast but whatever. Spent a good deal of time just getting his account set up. I recorded it but my mic input was selected properly so we’ll need to play some more later. This is also why I’m writing this at 1 in the morning on Saturday.

So yeah, not the most productive day though I stayed busy. Tomorrow’s going to be busy, too, as I try to upgrade my phone and some other stuff before the podcast.

Remember the discovery of the RMS Titanic? Check out this week’s Billy Badass!

Watch me play Don’t Starve in my new Let’s Play series NoRights Plays…!

This morning I penciled two more pages so I should start inking those tomorrow. I took a nap and tried to start laying out an animation project I’m putting together. By then the decision making part of my brain was outta juice so maybe I should open with that in the morning. Treat it as a warm up exercise and get some ideas out before the precision of inking. Then my dad wanted to do some running around.

I’m still trying to make the second half of my day as productive as the first. Since I’m napping anyway I might as well treat it as a second day and freshen up in the shower. That does seem to wake me up in the morning. I’ll sort out the hours and routine after I figure out how to get that second wind.

Remember the discovery of the RMS Titanic? Check out this week’s Billy Badass!

Watch me play Don’t Starve in my new Let’s Play series NoRights Plays…!

I basically took today off. I slept in hoping my anxiety would clear up after some rest. After I showered and everything my dad wanted to grab lunch and run some errands. When I got home my mom wanted to go grocery shopping. When I don’t get up early to work in the studio my time has a habit of disappearing.

I think my anxiety came on from being tired. I might try mid-day naps or something since going to bed early tends to lead to waking up before my alarm. I’m usually in bed by 9 or 10 but I don’t know. When I started the meds I had to get used to not having the anxiety. Then yesterday when it came back I didn’t know how to handle it. It’s like when you get a headache or feel nauseous. Just waiting for this feeling to go away to allow clear thought. People try to reassure me or tell me to stop feeling that way but I can’t. I know rationally there’s nothing to get worked up over but that doesn’t help. So far the meds have leveled me out, more or less. I can talk about it and not feel terrified or embarrassed. I’m making progress.

Remember the discovery of the RMS Titanic? Check out this week’s Billy Badass!

Watch me play Don’t Starve in my new Let’s Play series NoRights Plays…!

I penciled two pages this morning. I was hoping to work on some more after lunch but while I was helping my dad with his trail cams my anxiety started to perk up. It was one of those, “Am I really feeling this or am I bringing it on by thinking about it?” I’m not sure what brought it on but I decided work can wait until tomorrow.

Work-wise I’m enjoying the art I’m making but feel I could be working harder. Being alone in the studio my attention starts to wander. I’ve used work playlists to keep focused in the past but I probably need to make some more. The ones I have now tend to feel monotonous after awhile.