I think that one of the most helpful habits that I've been doing that's helped to improve my art and my workflow is listening to music that fits with the overall theme and tone of the piece that I'm working on. It's really helped me get into the headspace that I need to evoke the feelings that I want. A couple of examples off the top of my head:

• NG Summer Jams Bumper: I listened to the Jet Set Radio OST on repeat for this one, not just because both my bumper and the game both revolve around graffiti, but also because the soundtrack evokes feelings of rebellion and having fun that I tried to get across in the art and animation (which I think I did, at least a little bit, even though it was rushed as all hell).

• FNF GF Dr Pepper DTIYS/Slime Girl OC: Bubbly, sweet, girly pop--I'm not insulting it, though, I genuinely like it!

• FNF GF Swimsuit DTIYS: Vaporwave and city pop for those 90s anime, summer love vibes.

Of course, listening to music might not always be the best for focus--Richard Williams has a thing or two to say about it--and I remember times in college where listening to certain types of music made it hard for me to write papers.

I think it's a case-by-case basis. Some people do better with audio in the background while others need it completely silent. I think also that music with vocals could be an issue when animating dialogue. Maybe the best solution is to only listen to instrumental music or just turn it off altogether. I'll have to actually try and animate dialogue with either method and see what works.

I kind of like these diary kind of posts. It's better than having to get all of my thoughts into a Twitter thread and make them fit the character count. I think I'll keep going with these.