Thread "Why is your workplace what it is?" in forum "Comic Talk and General Discussion *"

Posted at 10:12AM, Dec. 4, 2016

Pit-Face suggested to me that I make a newspost about how some people need a rooted, specific place to work when creating their comics (otherwise they simply can't) while others can take their work with them and create just as easily anywhere.

I haven't really ever given the subject much thought, when clearly there is! For example, she mentioned how she sort of needs a specific workplace for one element of her creative process in making a page, and can just work anywhere during a different phase of it.

So what are your needs regarding a workplace for creating comics?

I for one don't mind where I work, so long as I can have access to my tools (i.e. GIMP and a tablet/stylus). However since both of those are connected/in my desktop, I can only really make my comics at my office space. Back in the day when I could see well enough to pencil sketch, I could take my work with me.

Posted at 12:12PM, Dec. 4, 2016

My life is so variable and unstable, I adapt. I take my portable lap desk with me to work from an available chair or bench. When I'm in my camper, I like to work in bed or from my sofa. At my parents' house, I find a seat in their living room. Sometimes, I work in a waiting room or at the laundromat. If I'm on a pencil and paper step, I need good lighting, so I work near a window on a sunny day. Sometimes even outside. If I'm on a digital step, dimmer light is better, but I'm more flexible. I have a pen-abled laptop, so I can work anywhere. I don't own a desk aside from my lap desk(s).

For brainstorming and scripting, usually the ideas come on vacations or hikes or middle of the night, so I keep pen and small notebooks handy. I sometimes script during breaks at work if something came to me during my day. I'm walking more now, so the brainstorming is much easier. I'm trying to make a habit of free-writing upon returning from my daily walks now.

Posted at 6:12AM, Dec. 5, 2016

Like you Tantz I'm somewhat tied to my desk because that's where my comp is and the Cintiq is too very and big to take anywhere :(

I do all my sketching ad drawing on my Samsung Note tablet though, that's so much more free. I do that anywhere… but I can't really do that in the office because fluorescent lighting completely drains my creativity. I prefer to do it on the couch in front of the TV, at a cafe, on the train, somewhere like that where I have a bit of shadow for the screen so the battery doesn't go down too fast. I also like to be slumped when I draw Sitting up too straight is NOT conducive to creation for me!

Fluorescent lighting is the worst!

Posted at 8:12AM, Dec. 5, 2016

As long as I have a computing device, Wacom tablet, and Photoshop, I am good to go. I don't much notice the environment around me. Most of the time, I work at the same work-desk at home where I do my commercial work. My computer and two monitors are big and cumbersome, so they never move.

If I am on a business trip, I will take my laptop and tablet with me.

I also like to draw and paint from the live model in a figure drawing studio, or while on hikes in the wilderness. For these excursions, I have a very compact kit of papers and watercolors that I can easily put in my backpack.

Posted at 9:12AM, Dec. 5, 2016

ozoneocean wrote:
Fluorescent lighting is the worst!

x_x Agreed. Too many bad associations for starters

I actually need to work in different places or I start getting a little cabin feverish =( Fortunately this city has no shortage of nice libraries and coffee shops to work in, and a couple times during the summer when it was really hot I'd drive up into the mountains and park up in the tundra and work. (That can be a little too distracting, though) I went a while with only a desktop but I bought a laptop because I found I really missed being able to take my work with me. Now that I have two comics updating weekly + animation work in between it's become a necessity, or else I'd be holed up in my apartment for way longer than I'd like =(

Posted at 7:12PM, Dec. 5, 2016

Awesome backdrop WW!

I'm thinking of buying a newer version of the Note Tablet than the one I have. That will still be 2 years old, but mine needs an upgrade.
I trust that way more than tablets with special adapted styluses… The Note has proven Wacom tech.
Plus, due to its age it's way cheaper than it's worth ^_^

I can grudgingly colour while sitting at my desk using my cintiq, but I HATE drawing on that thing. I hate creative drawing at an easel style setup anyway.
I mean, drawing from life is ok doing it that way, but creative work needs more physical freedom.

Posted at 12:12AM, Dec. 6, 2016

I'm tied to my pc, but I also have to feel relaxed in an environment to create there.

Posted at 10:12AM, Dec. 7, 2016

I recently re-built my work desk to be 42 inches (107cm) high, so I can alternate between standing and sitting when I work. My seat is a drafting stool with a foot rest, which is roughly as high as a bar stool. When my feet get sore I sit, and when my butt gets sore, I stand.

Posted at 6:12AM, Dec. 8, 2016

I'm still heavily traditional (only use my PC for scanning, some shadowing and touch-up, and adding the dialogue). I have one spot I use now for most of my work: a big-ol' recliner!! :D But I have a couple small tables (lunch tray tables with the scissor-collapsible legs) within arm's reach where I can place the materials I'm using at the time (three stages: penciling, inking, then adding watercolor on top of it all, so tables only hold the stuff needed for that stage), and a clipboard that can hold the panel I'm currently working with (I cut my pages apart and only work on one page section at a time). I have a large plastic paint palette that I use to rest my hand on so I don't accidentally touch the paper. It works pretty well… maybe too well… I've yet to feel the pressure enough to make the jump to learn full digital!

I do have a rather large bag I can put most of my supplies in and go somewhere else and work pretty much the same, but I don't do that very much these days…

Posted at 1:12PM, Dec. 13, 2016

I work in a hot, dirty, greasy garage shop on a desktop because I like being close to the printing press. I can't sit still for very long at a single stretch. My attention span just won't handle it, so my daily work life is bouncing from working on an illustration, to knocking out designs for t-shirts in illustrator, the a couple hours printing on the press, followed by going back to the illustration, etc. For me, my ideal workplace has everything I could possibly want to play with in one big workshop.

I also really like that I can open the bay door during the warmer months, which keeps me on track because I know people can see me goofing off if I start to, and being close to the outdoors is what keeps me happy and productive. If I don't see a LOT of sunlight in my day, I end up in a funk and just sit on my ass, drinking beer and playing video games. It's also where I get most of my ideas, by looking at the world outside and just spending some time somewhere quiet to think, so I'm prone to spending a lot of time just out in the woods, hiking, hunting, fishing, etc. just to give myself time away from modern society to think and come up with my ideas.

Posted at 2:12PM, Dec. 14, 2016

I'm still rooted to an old PC and workstation. I don't like it but for some reason the newer machine, which moves around a lot has issues with my Wacom. I
think I'd work a lot more freely with some updated technology.

Posted at 6:12AM, Dec. 21, 2016

I can work at any time and anywhere. I once grabbed some copy paper and a pencil did some roughs, then an hour later inked it with a sharpie marker, photographed it with my husband phone, downloaded the image to my laptop and digitally colored it.

Just to see if it would work. It ended up being my page for one of the comic jams. I do most of my photo editing on my laptop because my PC has Windows 10 and nothing works right. Back before I had a wireless mouse I often cradled my laptop on my lap almost anywhere from work to a garage waiting for my car to be serviced. I'm too flexible for my own good. I too often expect others to be as flexible as I am which I forget is nigh impossible.

Posted at 5:12AM, Dec. 24, 2016

My work area has evolved over the years. Comic masking was much easier in college. I was in a dorm, my bedroom at my parents house, or a small apartment where we wedged my desk into the breakfast nook just off the living room. This worked out great for me in all cases because I had a TV nearby at all times for white noise.

Now that I'm married and in a house, it is a a bit harder for me to work. The office with my desk in it is clear on the other side of the house. Though we are planning of installing a TV in there in the future, there isn't one now and it is too quiet in there. Also we don't have real blinds installed yet. We have hand-me-downs from my mom that don't open unless you manually flip each one. Also, as nauseating as it might sound,I don't like being in a separate room from my husband when we are both awake. All and all I really haven't been able to return to my ideal workspace from when I drew Mystery Bread and The Drunk Duck Mafia.

I'm making do with using a sketch book on the couch. I go to the office only to scan pages. I keep my laptop and bamboo tablet stored under the couch for when I'm ready for digital. I just try to get as comfy as I can. But I feel my setup isn't conducive to working consistently. This probably explains why I no longer have regularly updating comics.

Posted at 1:01PM, Jan. 6, 2017

It might be somewhat strange but I do everything traditional and I still kinda need to be at my desk. Well I do my best work at my desk. Everywhere else I just sort of sketch ideas and do thumbnails. If I am going to sit down and do finished work it is always at my desk.

Posted at 9:01PM, Jan. 15, 2017

Usually I thought I worked best at home by the computer, however i've been trying to tear myself away from the desk and do more traditional drawings in ink etc. I was 'rooted' at home….
Now I go to a library once a week and draw with a bunch of other comic-drawing guys, and it totally works!
In a way its easier to concentrate, maybe because EVERYONE is doing comics. While as drawing in the same room as non-comic artists makes you feel bashful or stressed out.
But doing comics without any digital influence is close to impossible, about 70% of the time i switch Painttool sai/photoshop and clip art studio with my cintiq. Investing in a Cintiq was the best decision ever made!
For ideas I …Work at the transit on my way to school…..On my phone, or more like i do notes on my phone. There was a article up here at Duck once about weird notes you left yourself on the phone, that's basically how it works.