When a Creator Cannot Create

[VermillionWorks]

My drawing arm is messed up from too much drawing, particularly at the bend in my arm/elbow area, so I have to limit my drawing time, which is EXTREMELY frustrating because I actually have free time to do extra work and used to be able to pop out two pages a week...I'm not sure I'd be able to do that anymore anyway just because of how long it takes me to perfect pages these days, but it was nice at least being able to without worrying about hurting my arm. Now, just trying to finish one detailed page and get out the occasional extra goodies for people on my Patreon is rough. X__x

I want to draw like crazy until the muscles in my arm just pop, but I know I can't do that. If I do, I may make drawing THAT much harder for me in the long run, if not impossible.

Basically, I can relate. My advice? Just try to make the best of an annoying situation. Read, play games (if you can do that), just don't stress about it.

Though to anyone who may read about my problem and aren't currently suffering from arm strain - STRETCH BEFORE WORKING, spread out your drawing time a bit, try to make your workspace as ergonomical as possible, you may not think this could affect you, but believe me it can, and it really, really sucks.

[Raven_C]

Recently I suffered from an ear infection and let me tell ya, that hurt like a bitch. I had trouble just going to sleep. The pain eventually extended to my lower jaw (a common side effect, apparently) and I couldn't properly eat or talk. Of course to top it off, I developed a fever and had to miss school for a week. Still not fully recovered; the ear is still swollen a bit and I can't hear properly but I've been taking ear drops and I think it's slowly getting better...lol. Anyway, being bedridden is no fun. I got to sleep a lot but I was unable to draw at all during that time.

[gateofselidor]

My RSI flared up last year because I was doing a job with very heavy computer use on top of updating my comic with two pages per week, and I banned myself from drawing for a couple of weeks. It was awful, and I just didn't know what to do with myself because everything I enjoy doing requires the use of my hands. Worst of all, it didn't even help my RSI, and it took wearing wrist splints to clear it up.

[Kura]

Living and working while in physical pain is pretty much my life.

I've two autoimmune disorders, one of which gives me rheumatoid arthritis since a very young age. I've never been able to, and will never be able to draw/play games/walk/pretty much do anything and not be in pain. The side effects from medications I need to take because of these diseases or to prevent them from attacking my organs also make things harder, either making me feel sick, making it hard for me to focus or just making me so tired I can't do anything, and lets not get into when the diseases decide to have a flare up.

What keeps me working despite that is the fact that I am both in constant pain and losing strength and control in my arm, is the knowledge my health is going to get so bad that eventually I will have to stop drawing, so I need to do what I can while I still am physically able to. (To get an idea of where I am at right now, I can no longer use traditional tools like pencils and erasers because they require too much pressure and strength which result in just giving me a lot of pain, then in addition to that the shaking is getting worse, so I need to work at very high resolutions so that my shaky lines are not as noticeable when zoomed out)

Despite my determination to work regardless of my pain, it will still affect my work and schedule, some days/weeks as much as I want to, or try, my physical limitations will just not allow me to work. So I just do what I can when I can to the best of my ability when I am able to work.

[artsylee]

Man, I can only imagine how frustrating that must be. And just plain terrible in general.
My only real-life hero in the world was Michael Turner. He was an amazing artist for Top Cow and, back in the 90's, introduced a totally unique drawing style that still heavily influences a lot of artists today. He died around summer 2007 (I think) from a really agressive form of cancer a few years after it had destroyed his hip. And it was a shame because he was known for being really active in karate, scuba diving, etc.

But yeah, he'd been sick for years and was in remission for a long time before he could get back to comics.

I have a hard time putting my stuff out there due to a crippling lack of self-worth, don't we all, but it really is inspiring to learn of someone who has a real prupose to their work. And works hard to get it done no matter what.

I hope you're able to done what you want to get done and I wish you very much luck.

[artsylee]

Thank you, dear!

I hope so too

[artsylee]

Goodness.

Do you have a brace or anyhing like that? I was having a little wrist trouble a while ago and wore a brace to bed and while drawing for a week or two. That seemed to help a lot.

BTW, it wasn't an official brave, it was an MMA glove I randomly bought a few years ago.

And yeah, the ergonomic thing is important. Very, very imporant, kiddies!

[artsylee]

Ouch, that's gotta hurt.

Glad you're on the mend, though. I mean, boo for school, but I hope you can get back to drawing soon. Wink.

[artsylee]

So it is better at the moment, I hope?

What did your doctor say? I was having a strain issue recently and panicked. I went to a walk-in clinic just to be safe and the doctor was rather flippant basically said, 'just stop doing the thing that's causing the thing to hurt.'

I'd told him I make comics and he seemed to kind of roll his eyes at that. Like, you kmow, he didn't get that I want to do comics for a living and 'just stopping' wasn't an easy option.

[Amirai]

My hands are messed up. I felt a very strong twinge during a speed run a video game about a decade ago, and they haven't been the same since. I can only draw with them about 2 hours a day at best, and that's to the exclusion of everything else (playing video games, etc). If I push past that, they start burning, feeling raw, and getting sharp pains, and if I try to push through the pain, it takes longer to heal and I lose more productivity than if I stop working and rest. I aggravated them a bit recently, so now I'm having to spend weeks resting them. It's awful.

@kurapikasuki - You might want to look into clip studio paint. It has two different types of stabilization, one that runs as you draw a line, the other that runs after you finish a line, and both have selectable strength values. Clip studio paint is only $15 on sale right now on their website, and has a free demo. Perhaps it will help you.

And that's all I can type at the moment because the pain is starting.

[gateofselidor]

Yes, I'm in a new job with less mouse use, so it's not bothering me at all at the moment.

I didn't actually see a doctor for it. One of my colleagues at my previous job had the same problem, and her doctor gave the same advice as yours: stop doing the things that made it bad. She's a professional artist and I needed heavy mouse use to do my job, so it wasn't much of a solution. I consulted Dr Google instead, and it seemed like the options were not doing stuff, wear splints, or have surgery. I bought wrist splints to wear at night and it started to improve within a couple of weeks. It didn't fully get better until I stopped working there, but it was bearable, and it's fine in my new job. I still wear the splints to keep it at bay.

[VermillionWorks]

I do have a brace and wear it when I draw, which helps some but not a lot, actually...though I never considered wearing it to bed for some reason. o.o

[UzukiCheverie]

Solution: sit on the couch, set up a chair or something for you to elevate your ankles on, draw.

I already do two of the three things (considering I didn't roll my ankles lol) and it makes for some very comfortable drawing u w u

[artsylee]

I hope it helps if you give it a try. During sleep a lot of people curl their wrists in toward themselves, so it may not be sitting at a good position for most of the night. Wearing mine during sleep was when I noticed a real difference. Good luck!

[artsylee]

Oh, good! Let's hope it stays that way.

lol, Dr. Google. I like it! I'm thinking about getting splints for my ankles. Honestly, I roll them all the flippin' time. This time was just worse than usual. Good to know it sounds like they're actually worth something.

[artsylee]

I am doing that, yep. I've been spending way more time on the couch than I like. Drawing, playing video games, watching Youtube... damn Youtube.

But the real problem is I can't sit at a computer very long. Which is something I very much need to do to finish off my work.

[TheDJTC]

I'm going through major depression, it's impossible to draw when you just want to die or kill yourself or just something to end this.

Which makes me feel guilty I'm not pursuing my career, which makes me realize no one cares but me, which makes me feel more depressed.

It seems like most days the most I can do is sketches, I never have the energy to do colors without it looking like a slop job. I have no idea what to do with my life.

[artsylee]

(I am having a lot of trouble posting here...)

Aw, dearie, try not to stress about it too much.

I know it's one thing to say it and another to do it, but I know where you're coming from.

Growing up I never had a lot of support in anything I've done. Not from my parents, teachers or friends. And I have really low level of self-esteem to boot. I don't suffer from depression anymore but I still get into bouts crushing sadness sometimes.

I believe that when a person struggles with doing what they want, they're just not ready to get into it yet.

Look at me, I just turned 30 last month. And only now am I working at my comic in a way I think I can actually maintain. Finally. For almost two decades now I have been starting projects and dropping them, starting drawings and not finishing them. Getting excited about things, only to become melancholy about it and wonder what the point is.

Sorry, that was a lot about me. But the point I want to make is that there's no reason to stress about timelines, you know? As you get older you may start to realize that as well, there is no set time that you need to accomplish something by.

So maybe there are some things that you need to come to grips with first. Or just get used to having them in your life before you can move forward with what you want to do.

I know it sucks. It fucking sucks to not be able to draw when you really, really want to. But one thing that's helped me is to not push it. If you punish yourself when it comms to art it may not be that wonderful, freeing experience it should be.

If all you can do right now is sketch, then sketch. Sketching is wonderful practice and always will be no matter how old you are. Also, if you don't like how your colours look, try to find a different way to do it. I can't colour for on paper, so I had to resort to using computer programs. I still don't feel comfy with it, but what are ya gonna do? You can totally have a finished image without colouring it, too. Lucky for me. Wink.

I'm sorry that you're going through depression. Just try to remember that there is always a point to doing something, anything. But at the same time there's no need to feel guilty over something you're not doing. Because there's no rush, no time-limit. The most beautiful flowers bloom late, as they say.

Please feel free to contact me on Tapastic any time. Whether as a private message or not. I'd be happy to talk and also go over artsy stuff.

[sarahrebecca58]

When I can create, I take a nap. Then I take a nap, then take a nap. Welp, I think I'm starting to see a procrastination problem.

I hope your legs get mended soon.^^

[talissacosta1]

Oh! Can't you sketch, read or write? I usually sketch a lot when I can't use my notebook... And think OO

My problem is that I have tendinitis, sometimes both hands hurt like hell, I can't play DS anymore, because it makes the pain go to the roof. I don't like to stop for long, so I just handle the pain and try to not use things I know are going to make the pain even worse x-x it sucks balls...