My tablet pen died right before a big client review

I was in my home studio in Austin, putting the final touches on a character design for a video game pitch. The review call was set for 2 PM, and at 1:15, my pen just stopped working. No pressure, no lines, nothing. I panicked, thinking I'd have to show up with half-finished work. I remembered I had an old, basic stylus in a drawer from my first tablet. It felt awful, like drawing with a stick, and I had to redo the last 20 minutes of shading with my trackpad, which was a nightmare. I barely got it done in time, and my hand was cramping. I ended up telling the client about the tech issue at the start of the call, and they were cool about it, but it was so stressful. What's your backup plan when your main drawing tool fails at the worst time?

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3 Comments

daniel_rivera6mo ago

My buddy keeps a cheap backup pen in his bag after his died mid-project.

1

ray_foster676mo ago

Honestly that's smart but I'd go further. I keep two cheap pens in my bag, not just one. Because what if the backup runs out too? It's happened to me before.

5

patricia_morgan325mo ago

Backups for your backups is just how we live now.

3