[diissar]

hi,i don't know if i m the only one or not,but i think any artist can have health problems that can stop his career as an artist.
its been 4 years now that i m suffering from arm pain(i used to draw around 8 hours a day).
some of my work mates have neck and back pain,due to long hours works in front of our PCs.
so i decided to open this thread to talk about right and healthy way to work,and advices to keep us healthy to produce better art for longer time
hope it will be useful for the ones that already have problems,and for the other to prevent any trouble in the future.

Younes

[The_Wrist]

Great idea to start this post.

I'm a storyboard/illustrator artist for an ad agencs/film industry. I use a Cintiq 17" tablet at work and a 21cm Cintiq at home with pen. My deadlines are damn tight & stressful. As I'm 6'4in in height it's not easy sitting at a table drawing all day. (But damn fun drawing all day & getting paid for it)

I have a timer on my Mac and when it chimes-every 15 mins I stop. STOP. No matter how busy I am. I stop stand-up, stretch, walk around etc, then back to work.

I have a tight shoulder, pain in arm/shoulder. The damage is done so I just have to be mindful of it and manage the injuries.

U just have to force yourself to stop-otherwise u could end up stopping permanent.

[diissar]

Originally Posted by The_Wrist

Great idea to start this post.

I'm a storyboard/illustrator artist for an ad agencs/film industry. I use a Cintiq 17" tablet at work and a 21cm Cintiq at home with pen. My deadlines are damn tight & stressful. As I'm 6'4in in height it's not easy sitting at a table drawing all day. (But damn fun drawing all day & getting paid for it)

I have a timer on my Mac and when it chimes-every 15 mins I stop. STOP. No matter how busy I am. I stop stand-up, stretch, walk around etc, then back to work.

I have a tight shoulder, pain in arm/shoulder. The damage is done so I just have to be mindful of it and manage the injuries.

U just have to force yourself to stop-otherwise u could end up stopping permanent.

hi,thank you for your reply,actually i'm a storyboarder and illustrator too,since i do storyboard for TV commercials,programs and short films the deadlines are very very tight,sometimes i need to make around 50 frames in less than 2 hours.
as you said the best thing is to stop every 15-20mins,and have a break.
there is another thing i found to be very useful,is to set the Wacom tablet settings to the highest pressure value,that way you don't need to press a lot to get strong lines(its good for storyboarding and won't be very useful for normal painting).
also having a good chair is very important.
good luck my friend and be careful

[Layer01]

Great topic.

I got a sore shoulder and arm several years back as a result of an injury and it just set off a chain reaction of muscles getting strained and hurting lol.
That's when I learnt that the body is not made of individual parts but one big interconnected web of tissues. So while my neck was hurting it could be my lower back that's causing it, and that in turn could be caused by calf muscles being too tight etc.. So whatever you're treating don't just treat the problem area, you need to work on the whole body.

For me the solution was to start going to the gym, I cannot recommend it enough. Not only will it keep you fit but it will ensure your body is not going to fall apart on you.

Cardio helps spread blood throughout the body and thus gets oxygen to hard to reach places/flushes out any build up of toxins..the end result being that you'll help heal the problem areas faster. (just remember to drink lots of fluids)

Weights will help build muscle strength allowing your body to support its own weight better when you're working, and when you stretch afterwards you'll be helping undo the tightness that leads to pains.

Also if you start going to the gym to help with back/neck/whatever pains its a great idea to have weekly massages to start with. It will help speed up the recovery process.

I started with two a week for a month, then went to one a week, then one every two weeks and then one a month and so on..

Doing this keeps things in check for me.
Hope this helps

[geckzilla]

I have one of those exercise balls sitting around in my room here for whenever I get cold from being on the computer too much. It's fun bouncing around and looking like an idiot while getting some blood flowing and some exercise! Thankfully, no one is around to see such antics...

Having a good chair matters a lot to me too. I finally got one of those aeron chairs (wish I had snagged one when the dot com bubble burst years back) and it's great. Expensive, but the thing is so well built. My old chair used to get destroyed when I ran it into the desk on accident. The aeron instead destroys the desk. It also is good at pulling loose lint off the bottom of my pants as can be observed by the snowfall of lint over time on the parts below the seat. But the main thing is that I don't get back pain with it and am pretty comfy. I used to sit all weird and tried to use pillows and stuff to compensate. Good posture for the win!

[diissar]

Layer01 and Geckzilla:thanks for your advices

[Qikalain]

Since i started to draw more then sketching in philosophy classes,i started to got a stiffening of my back and neck musculatur. i got also some eye problems, since i started to paint digitaly.

i also got a friend who is working more then 10h a day on a computer and now he god cardiac problems...

i guess making art is as dangerous as extreme sport

to prevent pain and stuff like that im doing breaks and stretching exercises. that really helps alot. there is also a triangle thing for your chair so that helps you to sit straight and you wont curve your back.

( i hope i wrote understandable sentences ... my english is so bad )

[diissar]

Qikalain:thanks for your advices you said there is a triangle thing for the chair,can you tell me more about it?

[Qikalain]

i couldnt find it on google, but its like a tirangular pillow for a chair. i have to ask someone for its name, or what i have to look for...

[geckzilla]

Oh, I think you guys are talking about a lumbar support pillow. There's all sorts of different shapes and sizes and materials.

[diissar]

oh,ok i did a quick search on Google,i understand now.never seen that kind of pillow before,thanks for your help

[garrymikedavid]

I have no problems so far, but I've noticed that my eyesight was better before I started working digitally.

I make sure I sit up straight and that the armrests of my chair are aligned with the top of my desk. This way I pivot my elbows on my armrest to reduce strain on my wrists. I also make sure that my monitor is far enough away from my eyes and positioned at a height that makes me look straight at it, while I'm sitting up straight. When I work at night I always have indirect light coming from the back of my monitor to balance out the brightness of my monitor with my working environment.

Another thing is to take breaks every hour or whatever suits me right. I tend to keep working when I'm in flow and I stop before I get frustrated. Then it's time for coffee, a sandwich, a visit to my friends or some fresh air on the balcony. I also go jogging or train in the gym to compensate my passive artist lifestyle.

The main thing is; it's all about balance! If I have to stay up all night because of a deadline and work for 14 hours straight, I make sure to take a couple of days off afterwards and do absolutely nothing!

Cheers,

Garry

[scala]

Hi every body I'm new here . I discovered that website because my back is hurting for 4 weeks . Right now I am able to sit ... I guess maybe you were talking of an ergonomic chair.
For sure you need a good chair a good position ....and go to the swimming pool . Cheers .

[Piekarski]

For all who cannot make themselves to take exercise breaks, there's a little program that will help. It reminds you about breaks in specified time intervals, provides you with many useful, interactive exercises, and can even be set to block your keyboard if you delay your breaks. It's open source and lightweight, you can check it out here:

http://www.workrave.org/welcome/

[diissar]

Originally Posted by Piekarski

For all who cannot make themselves to take exercise breaks, there's a little program that will help. It reminds you about breaks in specified time intervals, provides you with many useful, interactive exercises, and can even be set to block your keyboard if you delay your breaks. It's open source and lightweight, you can check it out here:

http://www.workrave.org/welcome/

thanks a lot,i installed the program today and its really cool!!i was looking for something like that

Scala: welcome and thanks for your help.

garrymikedavid: i agree with you,balance is the most important thing,take care my friend.