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5:28 PM, Tuesday August 11th 2020

Hey, I just noticed your post by coincidence and it really stood out to me. I think it is super inspiring that you are putting so much effort into trying drawabox despite your physical limitations. I'm no expert, so take my advice with a grain of salt. However, I do believe that if you are pushing yourself this much to follow the rules given by uncomfortable, it may be beyond what is necessary. Since it seems you are willing to put in the time, I would experiment with the best compromise that you can find, and don't be afraid to bend the rules to work in your favor. After all, the idea of drawing from your shoulder comes from an assumption that drawing from your shoulder IS the most effective way to achieve smooth lines for the majority of people. If this isn't the case for you, I urge you to find some way to achieve as smooth a line as possible without pushing yourself to the extreme. This may involve resting your elbow, or even drawing from your elbow if necessary. I'm getting quite redundant, but I hope you understand my point. I'd love to talk with you more about what strategies you've tried and what works/ doesn't.

2:28 AM, Saturday February 20th 2021

Thanks for your response! I appreciate you saying I'm putting so much effort into trying drawabox. I dropped out for a while as my hand and wrist pain got worse and worse, until I realized I couldn't draw like I had been without permanently damaging my joints. My disability, EDS, isn't progressive, but it does cause tissue degeneration a LOT faster than is typical. Knowing that, I calculated the risk of drawing when functional use of my hands isn't going to last forever, and decided it wasn't healthy for me to try drawabox until I built up strength and worked with my doctors to make it safer for me.

In the 6 months since my original post, I've made a lot of progress in bulding strength and regaining function in my hands and wrists. Just as important was changing my perspective on bending the rules. If bending the rules is about accommodation, then it's a way to level the playing field, and my own body is the best guide for what rules I should or shouldn't bend.

Drawing from my shoulder is helpful now that it's possible, but it's still difficult and strenuous so I'm learning to adjust what muscles I use and when, and listening when I need a break.

My occupational therapist said a very helpful thing in line with bending the rules. She told me I need to respect pain, which hit me wrong at first. In my mind "respecting pain = stopping," so I said, "I'm always in pain, if I had to stop every time I hurt I'd never do anything." Obviously just never doing anything isn't good for me either, and she suggested I take pain as a prompt to try whatever I'm doing differently.

That's really at the core of bending the rules, imo. It's also the same kind of self-reflection on what works and what doesn't work that drawabox is all about, you know?

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Sakura Pigma Microns

Sakura Pigma Microns

A lot of my students use these. The last time I used them was when I was in high school, and at the time I felt that they dried out pretty quickly, though I may have simply been mishandling them. As with all pens, make sure you're capping them when they're not in use, and try not to apply too much pressure. You really only need to be touching the page, not mashing your pen into it.

In terms of line weight, the sizes are pretty weird. 08 corresponds to 0.5mm, which is what I recommend for the drawabox lessons, whereas 05 corresponds to 0.45mm, which is pretty close and can also be used.

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