PSA for Artists! Don't make the same mistake I did

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yuumei
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I've been posting some video tutorials to teach aspiring artists my drawing techniques, but I think it's very important to learn from my mistakes as well.

I'm 25 right now, and I've been drawing all my life. I started drawing a lot more and professionally when I was about 19-20. I drew all the time and didn't think much about it. I would draw until I'm in pain, from sitting too long, from not eating because I was in the flow and didn't want to stop. I would get terrible back pains and even heart palpitations from sitting in the same position drawing for so long.

That's when the nails on my right hand started to get weird and lumpy. At first I thought it was a dietary thing, so I took vitamins, went to the doctors, exercised, changed things up but it was too late. It's been years now and 3 doctors later they couldn't fix it.

If it were just ugly nails, I wouldn't really care, but the nails are just the tip of how bad I've been treating my body. One time during a particularly hardcore drawing marathon, my right hand swelled up for a week. Nowadays I try to take it easy and take long breaks in between but the damage that has already been done can't be undone. I can only draw for so many hours in a day before I have to stop or I will get pains from my entire hand, arm, and shoulder.

Now I have a standing desk, ergonomic mouse, hand brace, and all that. I wish I had done these things sooner so I can keep drawing without restraint. I used to update my comics more frequently, but I can't realistically sustain that speed without hurting myself. (Hence I plan on doing a Patreon in the future so I can hire helpers to do some of the comic's background drawings)

In those speed paint tutorials where I paint within 1-2 hours, it may seem like I have it made, dishing out art in hours, but after those hours I have to massage my hand and arm. I can't draw for more than a few hours a day now without hurting.

When I was in college all I could think about is how to improve my skills, practice endlessly, and all that hard work has paid off in some ways but not in others. So please take care of your hands, and your general health. It seems obvious in retrospect but I never thought about it when I was younger that, hey maybe, just maybe, if you overwork and break your body, you won't be able to draw and create all you want anymore.

Take breaks, don't grip too hard, do hand exercises, do general exercises, get ergonomic mouse and a standing desk if you can (I just piled a bunch of books on my regular desk until it was tall enough) These are some of the few ways you can help your hand last in the long run :)

© 2015 - 2024 yuumei
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fenice8's avatar
fenice8
Carpel shoulder syndrome ..common in comic strip artists who drawing three to six pages a week in pencil and then in ink using dip pen and brush on bristolboard or illustration board ...I did this in the 70 s to 90s..weekly deadlines and long hours..urgent deadlines 12 to 18 hour stretches ..then off to the publishers ....short break every hour or hour and half with a cup of tea and chocolate...now have carpel shoulder with stiff right hand thumb and fore finger..exercise and fresh air between jobs and rest the eyes..look after yourself when drawing long stretches....the use if Wacom and photoshop has the same problems aching wrists and shoulder..but your eyes are more likely to suffer now as a computer screen is more demanding than a sheet of strathmore or Fabriano ....look after your health ..best wishes to all budding and older illustrators...