Go Big or Go...Small?
- The Archivist
- Aug 7
- 8 min read
So, I'm in the middle of writing this particular post, and I look over to see Mura climb into the litter box to pee for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes. I decide to check on him while he's doing his business only to discover that he wasn't actually peeing. Finding that odd, I watched him for a while longer, following him to other boxes throughout the house all to the same end. Afraid that he might have a blockage, kidney stones, or UTI, I take precautionary measures and get him in to see a vet. Short answer is his bladder and urinary tract seem to be okay, but he's on an antibiotic just in case.
Since I've postponed the blog to today, I'm going to keep it as concise as possible, even though I've accomplished quite a bit this past week.
Anyone who knows me will nod when I say I struggle with small projects. If I'm told to write a 4-line, 5-stanza poem in iambic pentameter with an ABAC rhyme scheme, I run with it and instead make it 20 stanzas. Back when I regularly drew digitally, I would create massive canvases, and when I was sketching traditionally on printer paper, I would occasionally have to tape multiple sheaves together because I was drawing larger than anticipated. I like to go big because it allows me to add more detail.
As a result, however, I occasionally bite off more than I can initially chew, which leads me to procrastinating on the very projects I want to start.
Take Fear No More, for example. I want to design the entire website myself but haven't any experience with web design, icon/logo design, favicon design, and I have very little HTML & markdown experience. Let's not get into CSS+ or JavaScript or any of those more complex languages. I need more lessons in drawing/art because I'm self-taught. I wasn't even aware of how intricate font design can get. The list of skills goes on and on, and even though this is a site dedicated precisely to the development and growth of those skills, to try and tackle them all at once is...overwhelming. So, even simple tasks such as writing the "About Me" section get put off, because it's just going to change anyway, right? and I'd rather direct my focus to the project I care most about currently, which is our Skies Over Aefala campaign, specifically Teyr'loch Delter Pach.
Then, I run into the issue where the projects of my current focus take more time than anticipated, but if I try to split my attention between too many large-scaled objectives, I crash and burn; meanwhile, I continue to come up with ideas for yet other projects I want to complete down the line. So, how do we tackle this problem?
Well, Teyr'loch Delter Pach actually provided an answer, at least for this particular case.
I want to compose music for specific parts of the campaign, beats that will be coming up sooner rather than later once we begin playing again. I've stalled on doing so because I "lack motivation," which is just an excuse to really say, "I don't know how to get what's in my head down on paper, and every time I try, I get too frustrated and give up the attempt."
Cue Cael's performance for their father, which is probably one of their most important character beats, important enough to where I put my foot down and said, "Once I've written this performance, I'm going to finally compose the harmonies for the lullaby," the melody of which I've written, sung, and memorized since near the start of the story. I knew what instrument I wanted to use as a substitute for a music box, since I don't have a VST (Virtual Studio Technology) for one. I've just always struggled with accompanying harmony that doesn't get in the way of the melody.
Well, now that I've finished the full draft of the performance, which I'm now in the process of editing, I've arrived at my next objective and self-made promise. "Simplify," I told myself. "You're creating a sketch, much like you would if you were drawing." So, I started a sketch with just basic chords beneath the melody.
It was a good starting point, but something wasn't right.
While I was contemplating this alongside my website design dilemma and listening to music in search of pieces to use/replace others for the performance while I was on one of my walks--my mind is a very busy place--I again told myself, "Keep it simple. Start small, then go big as you get more comfortable using your tools."
Okay, start small.
One of the reasons I was procrastinating on site design was because I needed to learn how to use my tablet and Clip Studio Paint. I've owned both for a while now, but I haven't touched them because I still prefer the tactile feeling of paper and pencil. I needed an assignment to work on, not a full-blown project, and it needed to be an assignment I would enjoy.
Start small.
Before fully designing the homepage, I could design preview icons for my blog posts, since I'm limited by the size of the preview image. Except I don't want to think about the site just yet. I want to practice with other interests first. I have been wanting to draw my own emoji using Skies Over Aefala characters. That sounds like fun, and it tackles multiple issues at once: small workspace, getting a feel for new tools, and meaning through simplicity.
My first attempt was not so great.
It's...fine. I probably spent more time on it than I should have, but for getting the hang of using Clip Studio Paint (CSP) and my tablet, it was perfect. I used just a basic raster layer, which meant that if I did any resizing, it was going to become more and more pixelated. I needed to figure out how to draw, ink, and color using vectors. So, later in the evening that same day, I opened up a new file and began again.
I started with a bigger canvas with the intent to shrink it once I was done, but I gave up on that once I realized that you're not supposed to actually color like normal for vector layers in CSP because of the way they're laid out. Let's just say it was a mess, and I didn't want to spend the extra time fixing my mistakes. I was fine with abandoning this potential emoji anyway, because it was starting to look a little too much like the Game Grumps icons, and I couldn't unsee it.
Still, I ended the art session with greater understanding of how to use CSP and more comfortable with my tablet.
Most of the time, I don't work while my partner is off unless he's planning for the campaign or playing a solo board game. The evenings from Saturday through Monday, however, I spent some more time with my tablet and CSP while watching him play Octopath Traveler II. When it comes to art and drawing, my most productive time has always been in the evenings, so it was nice to flex that creative muscle during its peak time. As a result, I finished 2 more icons:
I am much, much happier with how these turned out, and the one of Kosris went even faster than Cael's because I already had a decent grasp of the tools I was using. What's even better? I started with a 128x128 pixel canvas for both. Me, the "I'm going to draw on a canvas that's 3,000x3,000 pixels," type.
Wins all around, bay-bee~
Following the same logical progression for composing as I had with learning vectors in CSP, I did some research on music boxes and realized that they're not unlike a 128x128 canvas. With some exceptions, the range of most music boxes is limited to about an 8ve*, and the notes are mostly diatonic, meaning they are found naturally within the key without marking a raising or lowering of the pitch.
I could use that to my advantage, even if I didn't strictly adhere to all of the limitations like keeping to the key of C Major.
So, I listened to music box melodies designed for actual physical music boxes, and I even looked at a digital music box ribbon just for the sake of visualizing my conundrum through a different lens. Then, I re-copied the melody, and instead of thinking in specific chords or harmonies, I began experimenting with interesting voice leading and movement in juxtaposition to the melody.
*Of course, as I went to collect the above music box link just now, I realized that I'm limited to two 8ves, not just one, so I do have a little more wiggle room than I initially thought while sketching the above.
By forcing this limitation upon myself, I'm able to play more with what sounds good versus unwanted dissonance. Choice paralysis isn't an issue because I'm limited to one instrument instead of a symphony or even a string quartet. It becomes more of a puzzle of, "How do I make this interesting with such little range and basic harmonic progression? Oh, bar 8 sounds too final; I'll need to mess with that," etc, etc...
Once I compose enough to fit the scene for which I'm writing it, I can think about expanding it out to other instruments to fill the rest of the section's duration.
As I near the end of Teyr'loch Delter Pach and we resume our normal sessions to continue the story, I can use the skills I've been developing for character icon design as a segue to begin the more intensive website redesigning process.
Go big or go home? More like go small to go big.
Other Notable Accomplishments:
Finally finished reading "Pastwatch." I'm not a fan of how Card paces his stories at times. I felt the same during "Empire," as well. Areas I wanted him to linger on as actual scenes he glossed over instead as part of his time lapses.
The whole implementation of going back to the past to have the natives adopt Christianity conceptually before Christianity itself was ever introduced through Columbus' arrival I also disliked, like he was pushing his Christian agenda onto the reader, similar to how it felt in parts of "Empire," as well.
It makes me wonder if "Ender's Game" is also riddled with Christian dogma. I didn't think it was, but I also read it in Middle School (Junior High School), so I don't fully remember. If it is, I may have to set the rest of my Card books aside. I already have to digest people's "Christianity," on a daily basis. I don't need my fiction preaching at me, too.
Replaced a few pieces of music I'd chosen previously for Teyr'loch Delter Pach. Been editing as I practice.
Continuing the bulk phase of my workout program, but I've found that the more I eat, the harder I work out, so I've actually maintained my weight for the most part, gaining maybe an average of 1 lb since I started.
Questions for Contemplation & Discussion:
What projects, current or future, would benefit from you starting with smaller assignments to first acquaint yourself with the tools and skills necessary for those larger ones?
For example, if you have an idea for a book series but you've only ever written short stories--or maybe never wrote at all!--maybe you would first try to write a novella set in the same world, maybe even using some of the same characters, before trying to write the first actual book.
Or if you were wanting to create an RPG but have never developed a game in your life, you might start with a mobile game with a simple objective, just to practice coding, art, music, etc... And for any of those skills you've never before practiced, maybe you'd start even smaller still.
This Week's Obligatory Cat Pic: Mura
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