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yuumei — PSA for Artists! Don't make the same mistake I did
Published: 2015-12-11 21:10:01 +0000 UTC; Views: 208017; Favourites: 1934; Downloads: 0
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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
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Comments: 647
Good! But... you might want to hide this comment and/or stay off deviantART until you turn 13. Underage users can get banned.
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this was a Birthday gift I turn 13 tomorrow
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Thank you for sharing your experience. I am sorry to hear of your condition and do hope that you find a remedy for it in the future.
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Damn. Thanks for sharing. I have a niece that's venturing on becoming an artist. Hell, she's already an artist and I think it's important for a person to take care of their body and like a person who warms up and cools down after a workout the same thing should be applied to when drawing. There's a time to get real and a time to chill. Thanks once again. I hope for the best on your journey and recovery.
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Thanks for the warning!
I looked up a video for this. It says at the end to hold each stretch for about 2 seconds:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPO-zS…
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Well, I think I know how you feel. I am somehow the same. I just WRITE my Soul out and you DRAW it out. But sometimes, believe me, we Need to live and get trough that eventual pain. I have a lot of Problems and hard issues with my friends. Sometimes we really Need to speak out "hey mom, hey friends, hey dad, hey Manager...whatever..."I feel so sick and ill and I Need saving."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUwkVa…
you ALSO Need a Hand who just cares and saves you. we all know that you try to save the world my dear, try to tell the People "take care". but now you should tell the world to "I Need saving, I Need a hand too."
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Thank you for sharing this, take care of yourself as well!
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I have a swollen joint on my hand too, and it could have been prevented with right care... So young people! Listen to this.
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I'm already to the point of not being able to draw more than 2 hours before my right hand starts to swell up and become stiff and painful. I use a cold pack, massage, and frequent breaks which help a little.
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LoveofDragonsandSnow THIS IS IMPORTANT
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Wow... Wow...
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oh my gosh.....I always take breaks because of the back pain I had before, and my doc says I need at least a break from the computer every hour and take a 15 minutes walk to cool down. I never tried to tire myself from drawing since I have a love for gardening.
but seeing this, oh my gosh I never knew this would be a terrible result...
please take care of your health yuumei.
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Thanks for sharing your experience and the advice.
My work involves sitting all day long. I've been warned by doctors to at least take a break (walk or stand) every 20mins or so. But I still couldn't do it specially if I'm in the middle of working on something (so much like when you're in the flow and doesn't want to be disturbed when drawing XD). Or more specifically: I forget to do it. So when I'm not too busy, I set hourly alarms and do some stretches 
I don't have problems with tight grips (I hold my pen real light) or wrist pains but when I draw for too long, my elbow hurts. Do you guys have any tip on how to reduce elbow pains? It would really be helpful
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check that your elbow is 90 degrees angle and try to sit straight ( yes it is hard), i dont know how else to help. i think u are putting tension on your elbow too much, maybe there are some products sold for evening out this tension?
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Thanks! I already tried the 90 degrees thing. When I get into the zone, I get so lost into it that I often end up in weird positions without noticing hahaha
I tried fixing my desk. Made my chair higher so my elbow rests 90 degrees on the table. I also made the screen higher so I won't slouch... Still orz
I'll try asking others if there are products like the one you mentioned. Thanks!
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Oh that sounds serious 
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Do you have Carpel Tunnel Syndrome or Tendinitis? I have tendinitis and I trashed my right wrist doing fine detail repair on miniaturized electronics that required magnification to even see the components. In addition to the pain, I now also have the shakes in my hand. Bad enough that I can't even thread a needle. Doctors are really good about telling you what you did wrong after you do it for years.
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How many hours did you use to draw?
Anyway, thanks for making this journal!
I already have a little callus on my left ring finger (yep, I hold pens and pencils keeping them on that finger, never met anyone who holds the pen like me xD).
It's almost invisible though... I'd still be able to draw for many hours without stopping, but I'll pay more attention now.
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I also didn't take care of my health and am suffering as an artist because of it. I have carpal tunnel in my right hand which has kept me from being able to work on art for more than a few hours at a time, but over the last few years I've also developed problems with my shoulders (in large part from sitting at the computer leaning forward and drawing on my tablet). A year ago a doctor told me if I didn't stop doing what I am doing I'd end up with permanent nerve damage in my arms/hands and get to a point where I will not be able to use my hands at all anymore.
I've been trying hard to avoid making things worse and I limit my drawing more now than I used to, but I still find myself constantly dropping things, constantly losing control over my hands/fingers and they just kind of jerk and do their own thing (something that makes working on traditional art really unpleasant).
I absolutely hate taking breaks when I'm working on art because I struggle so much to pick something back up once I've set it down. I lose my rhythm and it just, it sucks. I find myself deleting things more frequently these days than I did before I'd try to give myself breaks. But I guess it beats not being able to draw at all someday!
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www.lazada.com.my/dr-levines-p…
maybe something liek that. I know one friend of friend's made this system that u had those "dog toys" or any toy that makes a horrible sound when squeezed. He wrapped some rope or so around his shoulders and attached the toy to the ropes so when he leaned forward the toy would squeeze against his back. Sorry hard to explain, its a bit like in that picture the middle part would be replaced by a squeeze toy.
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Ahh, well, I have arthritis in my spine as well so leaning forward is a big part of back pain prevention for me as well. I take time to lean back and stretch my arms behind my back though to help keep my shoulders from being hunched forward so much. It helps a fair bit.
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i hope you will be able to stay healthy 
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I do what I can. Overall I tend to do alright, but I have to limit myself a fair bit in order to be okay. I think I'm too young for all these problems. Should have listened to people about taking better care of myself when I was younger 
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I feel the pain. I have these weird bumps on my fingers from drawing and writing so much. I write notes for class all day and then write for my my homework late into the night and then practice drawing for hours after that...it does become painful >.< I've stopped seriously drawing this semester though and can feel my hand getting better. Maybe I should invest in a hand brace. I find that doing quick exercise during breaks like jumping jacks and squats for a couple minutes helps with the stiffness and gets your energy back. The sooner we take care of our bodies the better ; A ;
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I think you'll get back to your routine after resting for a while. Still, please make sure you balance work with rest.
I am a dentist, I got cervical desk from my posture when seeing patients and the drawing in my free time. I can't change my routine but can include exercises and using preventative measure like wearing a neck collar. Just find what your body is asking you for.
Good luck
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I understand your pain, I've changed my drawing style quite dramatically over the 2 years, and went through many evolution. I hold my pen very lightly and towards the end, never towards the tip, like you'd hold a paint brush. This way it's impossible for me to grip the pen hard. It was weird at first but I gotten used to it. I knew to prevent injuries I had to adapt few things and discard my old attachments.
Due to this new style of drawing I also had to change my pen pressure settings. Now I set it so that at 50% pressure it reaches maximum pressure - a lot less forgiving when I try to blend in values but I'm getting used to it every time I draw and now I kinda like it - I have to pun on decisive values/colour now because subtle pressure change affects my brush opacity quite a lot. All this in the name of preventing future injuries or OSDs or whatever it's called I can't remember.
If any of you out there your nib wears out within few weeks you're seriously applying too much pressure and that might cause future injuries and you should look at that.
I also remapped my tablet to screen area. I reduced the size of it so I'm only using 75% of my 28' screen to draw. Smaller drawing area (while full tablet area) the bigger your hand movement will be, so my hand won't get cramped when I draw landscapes zoomed way out. When I was painting thumbnail size of picture my hand movement was microscopic my hand used to get nasty cramps and tensed muscles. Now with remapped tablet although the photoshop usable window is smaller, my hand gets to use a lot more area to draw the same small sized paintings my hand and elbow are now freed up and no more cramps and sore muscles.
I come from a factory labour work so I always think of what repetitive muscle movement might contribute in long term, I always think of ways to prevent injuries and I use that knowledge to my drawings. So far my paintings still look suck but I got no injuries!
edit: I also bought a height adjustable monitor and I've set it to its highest so that I look straight towards the monitor, rather than looking down towards it. My eyes and the monitor is nearly on horizontal level. This will keep my posture straight and I don't get to lean forward. I get no shoulder ache even after long hours, and I try to draw with my hand or elbow always resting on desk surface as not to put load on.
Basically, work for an hour straight and stop then check to see if there's any body part you feel tensed or in pain - then you gota think of ways how not to put load on that particular member of your body. Have a break every hour is good but if you manage to come up with system that you can continually work 3 hours straight with no pain then that's a good one, and it is possible.
Edit2: The most effective way to prevent elbow injury IMO is light weight training. Yes, lift some weights sorry to disappoint you. Find anything with weight you can easily do arm curls 10 times with (it's usually something you can barely do 20 times) and do 2 sets of 10 reps in every 2 days. That's all you need really. I used to have tennis elbow but since I started weights my injury is permanently cured. I stopped weights now but the injury hasn't reoccurred.
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Thank you SO much for sharing this. Very good advice. I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your nails. But keep yourself as healthy as you can and continue to do what you love, even if you can't do it as often as you like. Perhaps some time away from it all will allow you ample time to heal and you will be stronger for longer.
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aaaaaw i would love to help you with the comic. i only have college in the mornings but i'd be glad to help you in the afternoon or evenings
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Thank you so much, this advice should be an eye opener to some artist, to better and take care of them self more.
I don't think a lot of artist talk about this kind of issue, and I think it should be talk about and give more advice to younger artist basing on health.
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This is something I'm starting to realize (I'm 24) as well. When I finally started pushing myself with it as a career I never realized how much I was screwing with my physical and mental health. I'm glad someone like you is using this platform to make others aware of this as well!
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Thank you for pointing this out and encouraging as many people as you can to look after their hands. I type a lot writing stories and I draw a ton as well, but I try to do hand exercises for 5-10 minutes as many times a week as I can. The more often I do them the stronger my hands feel and the less likely I am to feel pain (I had a bout of wrist and elbow pain from drawing too much and not being able to draw for more than 10minutes a day after that started really scared me).
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Thanking for sharing this Yuumei! I will share this piece of advice on my journal. ^.^
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Awh.. sometimes I get hand/arm cramps from getting over motivated and drawing too much, but that's just rare for me since 40% (about half) of the time, I have absolutely no motivation to draw. The hand cramps happen more and quickly from typing than drawing. My nails are okay, except for my right middle finger from getting it smashed in a door a few years back but it works perfectly fine. All of my fingers have slight bends in them so I'm kind of worried about that since I crack my fingers often. I hope you all get better someday.
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Wow... I also have a similar (though not as extensive) problem -- on my right hand, my ring finger is pretty messed up from how I hold my writing utensils. It's been that way for a long time, ever since I can remember, because of the way I write, but it's gotten worse with time. I have a big lump on my top knuckle and my nail is completely flat on one side and misshapen. So yes... artists, please take care of yourselves.
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I'm sorry to hear of the troubles you have, but THANK YOU so much for sharing this. It is very important that we take care of ourselves, so that we can continue to be artists doing the things we love doing. This is so very very important for people to bare in mind. Thanks again for sharing! I'm going to go outside and stretch out now.
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I type this while wearing my wrist brace for the same reason. Drawing is my profession not my hobby, that's how I pay the bills so I have to draw all day or else no rent no food. My advice which has helped me a lot is to sleep with a wrist brace on (A good one with a metal bit underneath the wrist to keep it straight). Carpal tunnel occurs because of the tension in muscles when you are flicking your wrist back and forth from drawing, as well as keeping it in the same bent position over time as you grip the pen. When you sleep with a brace (though weird and uncomfortable) it keeps your wrists straight and rests them for at least 6 hours (or however long you sleep). If not, you tend to bend your wrists while you sleep so the muscles are still working even when you are technically resting. Also a cold ice pack helps to keep swelling down as well as frequent breaks in between drawing.
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I'm only 20, and my left hand is an abomination, I've got a lump next to my nail on my ring finger as i've always held my pen wierd. (Something I attribute to my first school teacher never teaching me to write left-handed -yeah, that happened, she was, pretty old, and must have thought me being a lefty was because I was evil or something), my nails are misshapen, its like my nails are a really low poly 3D model. I get wrist and back pains, but I (foolishly, I'm sure) ignore them. This was extremely bad during my A-Level exams, my wrist would cramp up, violently, and i'd have to just power through it.
Worse yet, when I'm stressed (99.99% of the time) i pick the skin off next to my fingernails. Under normal circumstances, my hands aren't the most healthy looking, and appear more like what you'd expect from a Witch, a Vampire, or some other variety of undead. So yeah. They're bad. And I should really take steps to prevent it getting worse.
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Great advice. Also, try to sit up as straight as possible, people. I get chronic back/neck pains from bending down over my artwork too much for too long.
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I have some of the same problems. All of my nails on my right hand are crooked, and there's a lump on my finger from a bone that I dislocated(from being pushed too hard). But now that I see that things can get much worse, I be sure to take better care of my hands! Thank you for the warning!!
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Thanks for sharing to aspiring artists like us.
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I got really confused as to why Thiefoworld would say such a thing.. I guess you're just using his icon though
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No, you don't have permission to use it, SaiyaGina is a close friend, I just talked to her and she doesn't even know you.
Also, whether I currently use it or not, that icon was a gift, made specifically for me from her, so it is rude to use it without asking permission first. From my part, I really don't mind if you use it, go ahead, just please don't lie about having permission to use it, and next time ask before using something from someone else.
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