Little note: This post was originally drafted in summor of 2018!

I had just graduated from university and was camping at my parents home for the time.  I really need to do 2026 version of this for you. It is just as messy.
Given that this was in my drafts for that long, you can tell starting a side blog has been a very long idea for me… 

 

Workstation

where the magic happens

 

The current setup

I move around a lot, so my workstation changes often. Currently I’m very happy with it, at least when the daylight is good, since right now I’m pretty much depended upon it.

Biggest issue for me in doing comics was always the working position. I used to sit way too long hours in a row while doing pages, which ended often in neck and back pain. First step to the right direction was the adjustable tablet, which is titled high enough to make drawing nicer experience for my neck, but also low enough to not disturb the watercolors. The size of the tablet is a little bigger than your regular A2 paper, so working on two pages at the same time has never been easier. However so far I haven’t gotten used to the tablet with regular drawing, and I use it only when I’m ready to color the pages. It’s probably just a lack of practice, but when I’m doing the pencils for Numb pages, I like to keep the paper near and sit somewhere comfortable.

I have now so much space to use, and even a sink right next to me. Such a ideal scenario for watercolor art! I’m a bad case of spread around -type of person, and these images aren’t any kind of “let’s frame a really messy looking artist workstation”. I just am this much of a mess who uses most of her working time to look for that one specific color she lost somewhere under the pile of junk. So even thought I’m quite happy with my working space right now… I could always use more.

 

 

The ideal height

You can also see the lack of chair in the picture. That’s because I don’t use one. This summer I started to work while standing, to make it healthier for my body. I have a bad habit of bending in the most horrible sitting positions while doing anything art related. Cutting down that time has been more than good. I can say that I haven’t had headaches or neck pain from comic making for a while now.

What made it possible was high enough table and couple boxes on top of that. It’s not the most eye pleasing sight, but does the job better than well!

So if you have a change to build yourself a workstation that requires standing, I highly recommend it. It can sound like a drag, but honestly I hardly even notice it now. And even if working while standing makes you a bit more restless, that can also be a good thing, since it encourages you to remember to take those breaks you’d usually forget about.

That being said, I still do all the drawing while sitting. Standing while doing watercolors is easy, but when it’s about drawing details, I would just be bending over all the time to get as close as possible. Kinda defeats the whole point of having a good posture. But doing at least one part of the artwork while standing is a good change of phase, so do consider trying it our as well.

 

                                              Next time: Tools