Tracy-Williams.net

For almost half a year, I was good at keeping an exercise regimen. I have suffered from back/knee and hand joint pain time to time, and I wanted to reduce this. Already last year, I completely cut out caffeine and began to eat healthier too. I was feeling great, but I wasn’t finishing work as fast as I wanted.
When I HAD to get the donation comic done by the new year, I put everything on hold to finish. I didn’t exercise, because I hardly slept and needed whatever little energy to focus on work. I stupidly did this a couple of weeks longer for Goodbye Chains. And I was pretty happy, having finished pages in a day.

The pain at my left hip/butt was a familiar annoying feeling I sometimes had before. Shifting and light stretches would normally smooth it out, but this time it wouldn’t go away and by the early afternoon it was becoming unbearable. I complained to Ms. Hunt, and after talking back and forth, we concluded my hip/thigh area nerve was agitated. The symptoms are exactly like Sciatica. (I haven’t seen the doctor yet, and if it becomes worse I plan to see one this week) I can say I’ve been sitting on my butt for 10+ years and never experienced anything like this before. On the first day of experiencing this, the pain was so severe I was sweating, could barely focus, and even thought I was going to black out at one point. I didn’t have any proper medication or heat pad, and sleeping like that over night and waking up was a nightmare. My toes were tingly, it took awhile to walk pain-free, and going up the stairs was a nightmare.

I really regret not working out for the last three weeks. I wonder if it wouldn’t have happened if I did. Stuff like this can take weeks to heal. But thankfully, only just a few days later, I think I’ve been managing it well enough. Working out again, (but being careful) taking walking/stretching breaks instead of internet breaks between pomodoros, even changed the way I slept (On my back and camping on the floor for the time being, I think this has helped the most). The bed will be replaced shortly after tax returns, for sure.

It probably sounds way over the top to do all of that, but this is some serious pain, even worse that it interferes with comicking. I’m up for anything and am very happy that it’s working. As of today, I can sit in the chair for about an hour before it starts feeling terrible. I’m hoping I’ll continue to improve like this the more I keep up this new regimen.

GC updates might be wonky like it used to be for a short while. :(

Tre :: Jan.17.2010 :: overreacting :: 4 Comments »

I constantly struggle with time management and focus. I’ve been gradually improving, but it’s at a snail’s crawl then I want! Ms. Hunt introduced me to the pomodoro technique, and with more research, I found the homepage and other apps and websites to help with staying on task.

http://www.pomodorotechnique.com

The concept is simple: Work in 25 minute chunks (a pomodoro), with 5 minute breaks in between. After 4 pomodoros, take a longer 15~30 minute break.

Now, you can just try this, or get more into it like I have. Keep track of how many pomodoros it takes to complete a single task. Also keep track of how many self-imposed distractions (for example: check twitter). Make a note of them. Can it wait until after this pomodoro? Often times after that chunk of work, it doesn’t really become that big of a deal to do after all.

Keep these records, and after a month or so, see what your average is to complete a single task. Now challenge yourself to finish it in less pomodoros. Find shortcuts, or just try to do it faster.

I’m sure there will be a list of things you wanted to do during your task. You make this into inventory list! And when you finish your first tasks, you can assign these afterwards or for another day. I have a loooong list of small things and major projects. I’ll finish them someday!

A nice pomodoro app is Focus Booster. You can also use their website if you don’t want to install it or don’t have a Mac. Another one I’m testing this week is simply the Pomodoro, that hangs out in the task bar. Pomodoro has a lot more options, but Focus Booster is much more visible.

Now I do have my Mega-list but it’s a train wreck. From several comic/art podcasts I learned about the app called Things: a time and project manager. I was kinda meh at first: it’s $50! But after my 15 day trial, I really wanted to keep using it. I find it incredibly useful to keep track of my little projects and tasks, and helps curb that time anxiety. It has an “inbox” for any little thing. I usually put reminders in there. You can schedule tasks, for something in the future or if it’s a daily/weekly thing. I love the “Someday” box, that’s where I put projects that I will get to eventually, but no time for yet. The “Projects” section is where you can group small tasks for one big project. Very helpful!

Of course, in the end, it’s up to myself to put the time in. The technique and apps are great assistants, but they can’t force me to sit down and work. But I’ll keep improving!

Tre :: Jan.11.2010 :: Nerd :: No Comments »

And we’ve spent half of 2009 making a thank you gift comic to kick it off! A huge “thank you” to everyone who’ve already donated, it’s honestly moving. I was very nervous of what to expect, there’s a whole lot of firsts for us with this. So, yes, thank you guys very much!

If you’re interested we have all the information on how to donate here.

What a way to start the year! Finished that project, learned to enjoy coloring while doing it, (I think that’s more color art I did in 5 years not counting pchats) and I’ll be publishing the FKMT anthology later this month/February. (I really should make updated banners for that now that I think of it) For the rest of the year I can catch up redrawing the first Act/Japanese version, the con book and goods for later this year, and of course GC itself. I shouldn’t have excuses to be late now. (Eep.)

I’m feeling so upbeat and optimistic going into 2010. While I always try to better myself throughout the year, the beginning still feels like a fresh start. I hope everyone will have a great year!

Tre :: Jan.02.2010 :: Goodbye Chains, books 同人誌, overreacting :: No Comments »

I’m going into the new year with a lot more optimism than I did for this one, I’m excited to see what 2010 will bring.

-To be more self-disciplined.-
I surprised myself how many pages I’ve done this year compared to the year before. About 150 pages compared to 2008’s 80-ish! I still think I can do more. I want to keep pushing myself.

For the longest time, way before GC and when I first began drawing it, I would think: “I’ll draw when I want to” “I have to be in the mood” “After I do this” “After I beat this game” etc.

To be professional, I can’t let these thoughts stop myself. I genuinely believe (and obviously haven’t practiced in full yet) that deadlines need to be met no matter what. Sure, things outside my control can happen to make me miss them, but if I were goofing off and making excuses then that’s just my fault.

2009, I really clamped down on this, but I still struggle with these thoughts. Later in the year I began to broadcast at livestream.com while working and that helped tremendously! I used to finish a page and just feel done for the day, but when you finish a page early and there’s still folks wanting to watch, it helped me get over that “dun’wanna” feeling and move on to the next.

I’m in the process of switching to my new iMac. I’m still working on my ancient and dying PC, but uninstalled all the now-useless software which means no broadcasting. I was whining about time as usual to Ms. Hunt, and she suggested to try the Pomodoro technique. I read the e-book at the homepage. It makes a lot of sense to me, and in practice, works wonders! I will gush about it in a later post for sure.

Which leads to what this resolution is about! Self-discipline to stick with the pomodoro method! It’s all too easy to not start the timer to work, and I want to work, darnit.

…Also to practice to work steadily even with less sleep. Seems like all pro artists can do this whether they like to or not.

-Stop being an internet wallflower!-
I know I haven’t been blogging as much as I used to. I was devastated for most of the year because of the deaths of both of my harddrives (10 years of my life) at the end of 2008 and not being able to publish the FKMT anthology. I’ve finally gotten over that, but lately it’s the feeling of “no time.” But, this relates to being more self-disciplined. I want to post on my blog at least once a week. I would like to remake my website as part of this. I want a professional-looking clean slate to start the New Year. For offline–I want to attend cons and sell new books, meet readers, and talk with comickers face-to-face.

-Study Japanese again.-
I failed this 2009 resolution, but strangely, my listening comprehension improved. I also want to work on my speaking. I still have 0 skill in that.

Have another PASSION!-
With many thanks to Ms. Hunt, my new hobby is cooking. For all these years, I lived off of boxed or jarred food. It’s fast and I never really cared. During this time, the only thing I ever made from complete scratch was cookies. It’s only been 2 months and I’ve been experimenting with recipes; making my own things like pasta sauce and mac and cheese. Like comicking, cooking will take years to improve and just like comicking–I want to know everything NOW. (lol) I’m keeping a private cooking diary and looking forward to comparing my results by next year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Tre :: Dec.28.2009 :: Nerd, comics, overreacting :: No Comments »

Template found here: http://audreydutroux.deviantart.com/art/MEME-2009-Summary-blank-147170285

2009 was the year I became obsessed with added more spot black and trying to improve my environments.

Jan – I like the overlapping of black and white, but I wish I made the grass more black.

Feb – Indoors were still drawn at night like it’s powered by office lights.

Mar – Really started adding on the black spots here, and tried to make the background look more natural with more black and white overlapping with tone.

Apr – Happy for the most part, but I wish it had more realistic lighting.

May – One of the least out of proportion environments, not enough black still…

June – Crosshatching the bar was fun, it used two different kinds. It was after this page I tried to avoid using the white outline around characters when in backgrounds. I think it can be used nicely when to make them pop, but it’s not necessary all the time. Nowadays I’ve been doing background details first, then inking and details characters over them to be more mindful where the black and white contrast.

July – I tried to make the saloon fancy but simple to draw. That place changed almost every panel. orz

Aug – It was fun working in that forced perspective!

Sept – Not really an environment, but I obsessively tried to get that panel’s mood/crosshatch as right as I could.

Oct – Trying to figure how to do reflections, keeping the water black.

Nov – Another visit to the cabin! Tried to make the lighting at night more natural.

Dec – nature is still my bane, but trying to remember the black and white overlap.

I’ve been doing 5 minute sketches of natural environments via photos from Flickr, I’ve been learning a lot, but a lot of my problem is the design of the places. Not enough nature-props to help with perspective. In the coming pages, the recent area might warp into a slightly different looking area…?

Tre :: Dec.21.2009 :: Goodbye Chains, Nerd :: 1 Comment »

So serious I’m gonna practice drawing with markers!

Tre :: Dec.02.2009 :: Goodbye Chains, Nerd :: No Comments »