Any questions for a BLIND artist?

[deadaccountrip]

hi everyone! I’m suuuuper blind but I’m also an artist! I became blind almost two years ago while studying at art university. I left the course later on for other health reasons but I never stopped drawing! I have only a tiny amount of vision remaining so drawing can be difficult but I try. There’s a lot of misconceptions on blindness so I thought I’d start a thread for any questions you may have! Can be either art or general blindness related

Proof I’m blind:

Here’s some examples of my art and a link to my comic

Hybrid Society | Tapas

[A-weird-girler]

How do you know you have the right color palette?

[cookiety]

I hope you check your inbox soon

[deadaccountrip]

I have some colour perception so i can usually see colours roughly but I can’t tell different shades apart well.
I use reference pallettes for my characters and have memorised the colour wheel pretty well but some days my colour perception is worse than pthers and I’ve coloured something thinking it looks good only to look at it the next day and realise the colours are completely wrong!

I don’t have any examples of when I've drawn things the completely wrong colour (if I find some, I post them) but a minor example of this is in the Hybrid Society title card, I used the wrong purple for Shinya’s hair and make Luka look sunburnt! I didn’t realise until quite a while after posting and I can’t find the original file to edit.

Warm colours are usually easier for me to see though.

[deadaccountrip]

I was just about to!

[Pablo.C.S]

I appreciate you doing this Q and A, I never realized how many questions I had about this subject until you brought it up.

How do you maintain anatomical consistency for your characters?

Also, how do would you use references for backgrounds etc? Do you use memory or do you have someone to assist and describe to you colors and details, as well as technical aspects such as POV?

Lastly, and more generally: do you think that the blindness has inhibited your talents, or capped as it were, to that which you remember from memory alone?

[unknown_user]

I'm sorry if it is too personal, but what is the exact diagnosis? Sight can be impaired in a plenty of ways. So it is hard to say anything on topic without knowing the details.

[Harmony-S-S]

How do you know if your characters turn out the way you want them?

[minerrale]

The only real question I have is: do you still enjoy it? Are you having fun drawing?
Also wow. Just wow. You are amazing. Your art is great, and so is your courage. Kudos, mate.

[deadaccountrip]

I’ve always been slightly visually impaired due to ocular albinism (mostly not being able to see in bright lighting) but the majority of my sightloss was caused by connective tissue damage from my Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. There’s very little research into the ocular effects of EDS so there isn’t much that can done except for eye exercises to prevent further damage. My doctors also suspect I’m developing cone dystrophy since I’m losing colour vison so I’m having more scans done in a few weeks.

[deadaccountrip]

Guessing and asking my friends pretty much

[deadaccountrip]

I love drawing! I can’t draw for too long because it causes eye strain and (unrelated) I have a lot of issues with my fingers dislocating and locking but I try to draw as often as possible!

I’ll reply to the rest of the questions when I’m online again later, thank you everyone that’s commented so far!

[Harmony-S-S]

You are the definition of a creator...I admire you greatly

[Chopythes]

oh wow, this is a super interesting thread!

My mum's blind on the right eye, she can only see some colours but not much more. She used to draw as well but stopped mainly because she got other interests instead of drawing xD

I kind of want to ask:
How has your blindness affect your life as an artist?
Like, what kind of problem do you often run in to, and what would you say are your strengths?
(And a side question, how does it affect your daily life? If it's too personal, please feel free to ignore it!)

[kip]

being part of a community like tapas or webcomics in general often means a lot of the studying of material and even just connecting to other members includes reading other people's comics.
are you able to do that at all? do you feel like, if not, or even if just not regularly, you find your work is hurt by being constricted in terms of being to research in that way?

Either way, your works looks fantastic! keep at it!

[Azifri]

I had an co worker who progressively lost her sight over a few years, and the subject was (as expected) very hard for her, especially during the stage where she had to stop doing things like driving. Knowing first hand how complicated this can be, I wanted to thank you for giving us the opportunity to ask you such personal questions.

Mind if I ask, how did you adjust to a different way of perceiving your surroundings? In which aspects did that influence your storytelling through your art comics?

And by the way, I just looked at your instagram and I LOVE the colors you use. So soft and soothing.

[bakasama25]

I was blind for several months due to high blood pressure damaging my eyes. It affected my ability to see clearly and my ability to see color. I have a pretty good idea what you're going through.

For a time, I would be standing outside on a clear, sunny day and the sky would look grey like if it was cloudy. If I was inside with fluorescent lighting. I can make out people and objects but I could not make see any faces. It's like their faces were a grey blur.

[deadaccountrip]

I try to visualise what I’m drawing in my head as well as using my own body for reference to help me understand anatomy. I’ve been thinking about getting one of those realistic drawing anatomy figure things though,

For backgrounds and stuff I use my imagination as well or find a large image I can magnifiy on my ipad to use as reference. Sometimes I will ask a friend for advice as well.

I think my art’s improved since before I went blind but I’ll have to find some old art to do a comparison.

[deadaccountrip]

Definitely! A lot of building a following involves reading and subscribing to other people’s comics so I feel like it’s harder for me to make friends and gain readers that way.

Some comics I can read with enough magnification but it does depend a lot on the font and contrast.

[kip]

Do you feel like people should work harder to make comics accessible to people with impaired eyesight?