JB, what's the most # of pages you ever produced in a day with full pencils?

How many could you produce today if you had to?

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It's not really all that amazing, I promise you! Sure, I am FAST. That has a lot to do with how I accidentally trained myself to draw, as a kid, when I didn't know about drawing in pencil first, so did all my drawings straight with a pen. That meant every line had to be the right one, of the drawing had to be started over. Since I learned how to pencil, that training has carried over. Most of the time, the first line is still the one I want.

But more than that, it's all about proper allocation of time. Start at the same time every day. Finish at the same time every day. Avoid distractions. Or, if you can't, try to contain those distractions. Like I do with the internet. You can usually do a pretty good approximation of my day by looking at when I post here. You can spot the "gaps" between the pages.

A lot depends on being realistic, of course. Some artists fall into the trap of doing an exceptional number of pages on one day (I did six, pencils and inks, once) and plotting their production schedule based on that day. Of course, they fail, and become discourage.

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Mind you, it was a lesson learned the hard way! When I first got into comics, I looked upon it as the ultimate hobby-with-money. But it only took a couple of 3am-to-hit-a-deadline shifts to teach me to treat it like a JOB.

JB wrote: I had to impress on people that the fact that there was no door did not mean a literal "open door" policy, and that when I was sitting gazing off into space, or staring out the window, that was NOT a good time to ask me to mow the lawn or take out the garbage. I was still WORKING.

Love this statement.  It's not just me.  ;-)

3am-to-hit-a-deadline

When I was in Illustration and Design school, I trained myself to have my assignments completed within the hours of a working 'day'; in other words, I was never a fan of slacking off during class hours and staying up all night to finish stuff. The students who did, however, proudly boasted about pulling all-nighters, and even implied that the work was somehow better. Often, they'd hand in assignments late, claiming that the end result justified the amount of hours spent.

I have tremendous respect for your work ethic and discipline, it's inspiring!