The Importance of taking breaks

This past week I worked a ton. I put in at least two, but possibly three 30 hour days. Honestly I lost track of the days and had to ask my wife what day it was Friday morning even though I have a calendar over my laptop. The life of a freelancer can get fairly complex and congested if you let it. But this past week was a combination of work that just had to get done and a massive creative spurt mixed with the realization that I had previously bitten off more than I could chew and needed to buckle down in order to make a decent dent in all this work. That would be a great problem to have if even half of what I were doing was paid freelance work, but as it happens I have been fairly ambitious this past year and this is the fallout of me trying to launch a few personal projects. The good news is that they are all gaining traction so far, so hopefully the hard work will pay off. In the meantime, even a creative person can't work non-stop all the time. Sleep is essential to a sharp mind. And a sharp, attentive mind is key to making wise decisions as you work. You can't realistically expect yourself to be able to constantly consider light, value, tone, composition, contrast, narrative, anatomy issues, brush, pen, or pencil strokes, line weight, color selection, and anything else I may have missed when you've been up for 24-30 hours straight and worked most of that save a sandwich and bathroom breaks. So what do you do when you're under the gun and time is of the essence? Most artists and illustrators will tell you it starts way before that moment, but if you are there, then the only thing you can do is rush to the finish line and hit your deadline. But as I can tell you, you end up like the drunk who wakes up on the bathroom floor with a splitting headache and you swear you will never do it again...until you do. So the solution is simple. Get a schedule and keep it. I know, I know, it's like a budget. It looks good on paper, but how's it play in practice? Well, obviously (see above), not so well for some of us. Still, on my road to correcting this issue, I have learned at least one thing. I need to take regular breaks, and here's why. 1. I don't eat right if I don't schedule it in. You don't want to eat at your desk. If you do, you never get a mental or emotional break from your work space, and then you grow to resent going there at all after time. Taking a break, leaving your work space for a while, and getting some nourishment is a good thing all around. 2. I don't sleep right either. Yeah, schedules are hard to keep as a creative type. I typically only sleep when I'm exhausted. This is a social issue and really cramps my wife's style, but it is also a health issue. People who sleep at the same time of day for solid periods of time (usually between six and eight hours) are typically more balanced all around. Proper sleep equals more energy and a clearer mind. 3. Your work needs to breath. Well, not exactly, but it's true that you need to step away from your work to get a better, all-inclusive view of it. Why do many traditional painters step back several feet to view their work regularly as they paint? Because you need to keep the overall composition and balance of the work in mind. Yes, you can zoom out, but your body (lower portions especially) will also thank you for the brief bit of exercise and returned blood flow. 4. This point could be placed with #2, but it's more than just an as you sleep type thing. Often times our subconscious mind is problem solving as we 'switch off' the conscious portion of our brain in regard to a certain task. I often refer to this as putting something on the back burner. Your brain will continue to work out the issue and often times if you sleep on it, go play a video game, watch a show or film, or go for a refreshing walk, when you return to your work it will flow much smoother than before hand. I'm sure there are more, but those are four big ones for now! Now I'll show some of the work I wrapped up last week. These are pieces I did for Misfit Studios up-coming Misfit Pathfinder project. You can see more at https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Art-of-Harsh/107530249314935?ref=hl