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2:06 PM, Wednesday August 5th 2020

To be completely honest, I think this is going to be better asked to a physician who is more familiar with your specific challenges. At the end of the day, every restriction and requirement I set out for students - drawing from their shoulder, not leaning on their elbows, etc etc etc. gets thrown into the wind when we start taking physical disabilities into consideration. While I have to be pretty firm with people who don't have diagnosed disabilities that the muscle exhaustion they experience after drawing from their shoulders is normal, that we are pushing ourselves to do things in a way that inevitably will be uncomfortable for us, simply because people have a tendency to think themselves uniquely unqualified for the tasks, your situation is fundamentally different.

Talk to your physician and find out what kind of stress your body is going to be okay with, and what might actually be harmful for you in the long run. If drawing from the shoulder is simply not an option for you, then that changes things - it means you'll be drawing from the elbow at best, and suddenly anchoring your elbow on the table by leaning on it becomes a useful approach, rather than something to avoid.

Always remember that you are going to have to be extra patient with yourself, and accept that because your situation is more unique, there will be "rules" that simply cannot reasonably be applied to you. This doesn't mean you can't draw, but it does mean that there will be new strategies you'll have to come up with along the way for yourself, and that these more generalized frameworks won't necessarily apply to you in every possible way. There's still plenty of value here for you, but don't hurt yourself while trying to conform to every little bit.

2:42 AM, Saturday February 20th 2021

Since my original post in August, I did talk to my doctor, who referred me to a physical therapist and an occupational therapist. I'm very grateful I had access to their support, because I'm able to draw again. I dropped out of drawabox for a while because my hand and wrist issues got worse and worse, until I couldn't draw for even 15 minutes without giving up any use of my hand for the rest of the day, like lifting a spoon.

I didn't get much drawing done in that time, but that was for the best because I could rest and build strength to get where I am now. Originally my question was influenced by understanding drawing from the shoulder is recommended for a reason, and knowing my disability affects every joint in my body, I figured it would help to draw from my shoulder since the muscles are bigger and stronger. That wasn't possible then, but now I can draw from my shoulder some of the time, which saves my wrists and hands from damage.

I only did a couple assignments after what I'd mentioned in the first post, so I'm going to restart drawabox now that I'm finally able to draw more reliably. It took a lot of accommodation and physical therapy, which I discussed a little more in another reply, and I'm ready to try again.

Since I've had to build up functional use of my hand again, I'm glad I'm starting over because tbh I'm basically a beginner again, at least in my mechanical skills. That perspective, plus the extra patience and evaluating what strategies I can and can't do make a big difference.

Thanks!

3:36 AM, Saturday February 20th 2021

I'm thrilled to hear that! Honestly it's a bit crazy how impactful physiotherapists can be. My girlfriend (one of the TAs here, ScyllaStew) has had limited use of her right arm for quite a while, due to overdoing rather physically taxing work in the past, and she just assumed that she'd be limited to only being able to use it to draw/write/type for an hour or two per day. Since we got her going to a physiotherapist though, she's made considerable progress and we can already see her endurance increasing a great deal.

On the topic of drawing from your arm - make sure that if you haven't yet, you check out the updated material on that topic. I'm currently going through the whole course, starting from Lesson 1, and updating the videos and explanations to make them more succinct and to eliminate certain wording that may have snagged students at times. For example, instead of talking about locking the elbow, in the newer video I now just talk about drawing from the wrist vs. using the whole arm. I feel this will be beneficial for students.

The recommendation below is an advertisement. Most of the links here are part of Amazon's affiliate program (unless otherwise stated), which helps support this website. It's also more than that - it's a hand-picked recommendation of something I've used myself. If you're interested, here is a full list.
Ellipse Master Template

Ellipse Master Template

This recommendation is really just for those of you who've reached lesson 6 and onwards.

I haven't found the actual brand you buy to matter much, so you may want to shop around. This one is a "master" template, which will give you a broad range of ellipse degrees and sizes (this one ranges between 0.25 inches and 1.5 inches), and is a good place to start. You may end up finding that this range limits the kinds of ellipses you draw, forcing you to work within those bounds, but it may still be worth it as full sets of ellipse guides can run you quite a bit more, simply due to the sizes and degrees that need to be covered.

No matter which brand of ellipse guide you decide to pick up, make sure they have little markings for the minor axes.

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