Drawing with eye problems and other hindrances - Let's complain about our ailments

[J.Lovelace]

For a long time I have been drawing with my left eye closed, pretty much similar to wearing an eyepatch (and if I had one, I'd definitely wear it).
I didn't know why I couldn't keep my both eyes open, it was really annoying especially in the evening when drawing was just impossible. But then it came out that my screen settings were off so badly, somehow my eyes couldn't handle it. Now the problem is gone after I discovered a program that protect eyes from the flashy monitor screen. I haven't been encountering that nuisance ever since. But due to the strain I put on myselfback then, I think I damaged my eyesight anyway. I have a hard time drawing symmetrical faces, they always appear tilted, and I have to spend a lot of time fixing the mistakes. (I know real faces are slightly assymmetrical anyway, but the way I draw them have weird angles haha).

Other than eyes, I often strain my left shoulder when I draw, because I lean on my left arm while drawing, and I put too much pressure on the shoulder sometimes.

[TopJimComics]

It's not an eye ailment, but I have a type of muscular dystrophy called "FSH", which mainly affects the face, neck, and shoulders. Because of that, drawing really really gives me neck pain. I have a drawing table finally, and the incline helps a lot, but unfortunately I'm not always at home sitting at it when I draw.

whine whine, complain complain

[DTSaranya]

How could you stand to keep one eye open and one eye closed? I find it way too awkward to maintain without something actually covering the eye.

[J.Lovelace]

It was pretty much on it's own, and I didn't even pay attention to it until it started to hurt.
And I was like oh crap not again.

[joannekwan]

While I draw with my right hand, my left hand uses the keyboard for shortcuts and it was putting major strain on my left elbow. It was getting really sore so resorted to folding up a hand towel as an elbow rest. Works great!

[DTSaranya]

I do the right-hand-draw left-hand-keyboard thing as well, as I'm sure many do, but I've never had elbow pain from it. I do notice, though, that my right hand cramps up really painfully if I draw for several hours at once. I try to grip the pen more loosely and take proper breaks, but can never maintain that.

Is that a common thing or nah?

[joannekwan]

I would think it's common! Doesn't really happen to me though but I've been told I have a light touch and I do hold the stylus pretty loosely.

[DuneDeca]

I'm red/green color blind so I struggle with what some people call "basic artist fuctions" such as blending or picking colors. I've downloaded a bunch of color pallettes and have altered my screen colors to try and make up for it, but I still worry that my inability to do color theory related things is obvious.

[SamNoir]

I have glaucoma. Permanently lost vision in my left eye. taking drops for it to keep further damage contained.

[SethJH]

might not be as big of a deal as some of you guys are suffering with... I can see "20/20" but I have a "2-click" astigmatism, so if I'm not wearing my glasses and they're not properly aligned, I'll get really nauseating headaches. It also happens when there's a bright glare, so I have to have my window covered with 100% light blocking material. It made snow days not so fun when the light was so harsh outside I got sick from it. Other times, it feels like there's a faint sheen of tv-static over my vision, and it can make picking out details kind of uncomfortable.

Another problem is that I'm using an HDTV as my computer monitor, and since it's so old at this point, there's a big burn-in spot on most of the right side of the screen that makes it noticeably darker. It makes checking value and color frustrating because I have to move my work around to the screen get an accurate display.

[Choosybeggar]

I'm working on eradicating this, but I've struggled with medium-to-intense anxiety whenever I create art. It's like my brain is going at a hundred miles an hour as I try to figure out the "right" way to draw something. I sweat, I get all sorts of tension in my head and body, and afterwards I realize I'm depressed and haven't taken care of myself in ways such as eating.

Currently I'm on a diet of silly doodles that are helping me let go of my need to spend way too many resources on any given project.

[novasiri]

Tritanomaly, every heard of it? Probably. blue/Yellow color blindness to be precise, though I have the most problems with yellow and only minor issues in blue due to how my retinal cones have developed. Because of it, I've had to rely on memorization of the color wheel, saving colors in a palette and always having them open when drawing a particular character and abusing my poor color dropper to get colors I once could see just fine right. It hasn't gotten much worse, so I'm thankful for that. But add that on top of requiring glasses to see anything past 5 inches in-front of my face.. yeah.

I still have issues with color blending, and it takes a lot of trial and error before I get something right. But I get by, slowly.

[monotone_ink]

I shouldn't be complaining, but my hands get very, very sweaty. This is easily countered by placing a handkerchief between my hand and the paper, but after a while my hands start to get swollen, which hurts a lot.

[jordanthelass]

Oh. My. GOSH.

Okay. I became visually impaired five years ago and lost all drive to draw, write, or play music. I couldn't draw with pencil, write on paper, etc. I depended on everything digital. I couldn't even see where the keys on a piano were, or didn't even know where my hands were while playing guitar.

I'm totally blind in my left eye and my retina detached in my right because both eyes are underdeveloped. I have no peripheral vision in my right eye and there is a small spot in my central vision so I have to kind of look above what I'm reading to see it clearly.

Also, it's like my eye is dilated 24/7, which makes everything SUPER BRIGHT. >_< I have to wear sunglasses everywhere, unless I'm not outside/the light is tolerable.

When it comes to drawing, everything I see is distorted so it's hard to tell wen my lines are straight, curved the right way, or even the size I want them to be. There's a spot in my vision where everything BENDS, so it just makes me more frustrated. But .. after a year or two of drawing almost every day--it's gotten less noticeable.

I thought I'd never be able to draw again, but somehow I am and improving every day. <3 If you put your mind to it, you can do anything!

[Shanny8]

I'm having that SAME issue. My left elbow/wrist has been hurting for the past few weeks. Been taking breaks & trying to pace myself but it has been making the little time that I've been sitting at my laptop excruciating. Bought an elbow brace and wrist brace- so far I've been able to do some stuff with no pain.

[serverpanda]

I used to be a digital artist, but I can no longer use a screen larger than a cell phone without taking some sort of seizure. It's caused by my permanent vertigo that I'm told is incurable. So not only can I not work, drive or lay down to sleep (I sleep sitting up and have been for 4 years), I also can't play video games, draw digitally or do anything that involves a large screen. I even have to limit my eyes' exposure to my cell phone!!!!!

Now my eyes are starting to bother me when I do traditional art too (thankfully no seizures though).im worried because if I lose what I have now, I lose everything. I do freelance work to pay my bills. It's the only way at the moment. If I don't have that, me and my pets will be on the street. I hope my vertigo stays vaguely as it is so I can at least keep myself afloat. It's starting to cause massive anxiety. I'm already miserable.

[joannekwan]

Omg, I've had bouts of vertigo before. I'm sorry to hear it's so bad! My heart goes out to you ;_;

[DTSaranya]

Jeez, so many people in this thread having such a tough time. D:

I offer all of you hypothetical internet hugs.

[Michelle]

I now feel incredibly grateful that I only have to worry about being very near-sighted, as far as vision goes. :x

I admire those of you with severe vision problems for pushing through and making art by any means possible. Looking forward to a future where we can all have cool cyborg eyes that work 110% :u

[Alenonimo]

My only issues are my mental health, the fact my hand shakes considerably and an overall lack of time.

Clip Studio has brush stabilization, so the hand shaking thing is not a problem anymore.

My best wishes to you people. And if you have eye issues, consider using a pirate eyepatch. It won't solve the problem, but you'll look rad.