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That time my tablet pen went dead mid-commission
Honestly, I was 6 hours deep into a 10 hour piece for a client in Austin when my Wacom stylus just stopped responding. No warning, no low battery indicator, nothing. I fumbled around for 20 minutes trying to figure out if it was the driver or the pen itself, turns out the nib had been pushed in too far and shorted something internally. Has anyone else had a pen fail on them at the worst possible moment?
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young.kim1mo agoMost Upvoted
Wait, are you serious? I mean yeah maybe it's not brain surgery but when you're in the zone and six hours deep into something, a dead pen can totally mess up your whole flow. I had a similar thing happen with my old Huion pen where the battery just gave out randomly in the middle of a tight deadline piece. I was so frustrated I almost threw the whole tablet across the room. It's not about it being a literal emergency, it's about that moment of panic when you're like "oh no, is it broken for good or did I just waste hours of work?" You can't just switch to a mouse easily either when you're used to pressure sensitivity for shading and stuff. That kind of break in concentration can really kill the momentum of a piece. So I get why the OP felt like it was a big deal in the moment.
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dianahayes1mo ago
Question if it's really that serious? Come on lol. You were six hours into a commission, not performing open heart surgery. Yeah it sucks when gear fails and I get the frustration, but a dead stylus is just a minor setback, not a career ending disaster. You could have switched to a mouse or a backup pen if you had one, or just taken a break and picked it up later. I've had my tablet act up mid project before and I just save, close the file, and come back after a coffee. No need to dramatize it like it's the end of the world.
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