Is it fine to listen to music while drawing, or are the expe

I listen to looped music from games if it has a specific feeling I want to draw. The music helps me picture an animation playing out in my head. However, it IS pretty hard for me to cut off visualization in my head and start drawing again.

To put it simply, you just have to know yourself enough to know if it'll work for you. If you're unsure, experiment more.

I play anything and everything while drawing, from podcasts, livestreams, single track on loop and super long playlists, I can't work in silence.

It's probably not a great idea to listen to music when you're planning out an animation sequence, since the music will affect the rhythm of whatever you draw, but once you've got that figured out, and if you're just doing refining work, then I don't see the problem with music.

Now if you're drawing or painting, not animating, then I think it matters even less, but if you're struggling with something, mute the music and focus for a bit.

This attitude of "Work in dead silence or you're doing it wrong" is counterproductive. Music can be quite useful in helping you focus, especially in an office environment, because it blots out the outside world.

I always take Richard Williams advice with a bit of salt, since he makes plenty of decisions as an animator I don't particularly agree with.