My left knuckles are kinda sore, which is a new one to me

[soc_puppet]

Okay, self, repeat after me:

We should not stay up and ink a few more drawings for our commission. We can do that tomorrow afternoon. Or some other time of day after we wake up! We finished the majority of the drawings for the commission, and we have plenty of time to finish the last two. Even if we didn't, our friend will understand. Worst case scenario, we can probably dig up some old art and use that. Right now, you need to sleep, and/or do things that don't make your hands hurt.

Got it?

Okay.

You can do this.

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

You can do this.

OTOH, hyperfocus on art making feels so good. Yesterday I just had to spend 20 minutes sorting some colors for beadwork because I needed the boost.

[soc_puppet]

I successfully did it! I went to sleep and finished the final drawings the next day, inking included. Getting the final drawings scanned after that was a bit more of an adventure, but I did eventually manage, and my client is happy with the results 😊

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

Yeah, sometimes my hands cramp up. Things I've found that help:

* squeezing a stress ball

* doing a totally different activity

* if winter, warming my hands

One of my artist friends got the most benefit from the carpal tunnel exercises where you gently tug your fingers forward and back, side to side. I've found that helpful sometimes. Another swore by kneading bread dough, and liked to collect recipes that required lengthy kneading. I don't bake bread frequently but have noticed that using a rolling pin -- which I do for shortbread cookies -- can shake my hands loose.

Drives me bats when I can't work, so I like to collect solutions.

Re: Thoughts

[soc_puppet]

Oh yeah, I've got a set of carpal tunnel exercises that I go back to whenever I feel the need.

In this particular case, the culprit was actually behavioral, and something I managed to figure out real quick as a bonus: I've been drawing some coloring pages as a commission for a friend, and have been using my cozy little crafting nook to do it in. Only, my cozy little crafting nook is a recliner sat next to a table, rather than in front of a table, so when I would use my clipboard to draw, or my light board to trace, I would... brace the back of it with the fingers of my left hand 🤦‍♀️ Luckily, adding a pillow for support under the clipboard/light board fixed things up a treat, and I also don't expect to have a commission for twelve drawings in under two weeks again any time soon, so. I should be safe for the time being!

That said, I can't imagine it would be a bad idea for me to have extra possible solutions *ahem* at hand, should the need arise, so I may give some of these a try at a point in the future 😉 (As a professional baker, I also don't know if I could get away from dough kneading for very long if I wanted to 😂)

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Only, my cozy little crafting nook is a recliner sat next to a table, rather than in front of a table, so when I would use my clipboard to draw, or my light board to trace, I would... brace the back of it with the fingers of my left hand<<

Yeah, that'll do it. :/

Also, I'm still loving your little rats.

>> That said, I can't imagine it would be a bad idea for me to have extra possible solutions *ahem* at hand, should the need arise, so I may give some of these a try at a point in the future <<

The whole hand issue stems from repeating too much of the same motion, especially in a non-optimal position. So the more different solutions, the better. I find that some solutions work better for different situations. If it's just mild, shaking my hands out, a few carpal stretches, or getting up for a bathroom break will fix it. But if I've been writing all day, sometimes that's not enough, and I need to break out the stress ball or do something else for a longer period. So I like to watch for different options.

>> As a professional baker, I also don't know if I could get away from dough kneading for very long if I wanted to 😂)

That is an awesome job. \o/