Date: 29 September 2024

This is hilarious to me because you can feel the progression of me losing it slowly but surely... attempting more complex stuff, not caring about my self-imposed rule to do no more than 1-2h a day.......... which I really, really should start following. Haha. ha.... I didn't draw anything today to compensate for yesterday. Ugh. (my back... maybe making Phoenix my icon was bad luck...)

Sept 18

My right hand started to hate me around the week before, but I stopped using it on the 17th - yes I couldn't stand a day without drawing.

...a 5/10-min sketch that discouraged me tremendously ugh.... I feel like hair is the hardest thing left-handed, because it really needs to be flowy, and my hand just says no.

Sept 25 
I got the courage to try again and I tried to put more effort in it. Mostly I got fed up being unable to draw for a week.
-roughly 1h

I planned it all out in my head before even starting because if you don't have a somewhat clear idea in your head... well your non-dominant hand isn't going to help you. In fact, it's very much going to fight you.

Also: why choose Maya and Fran as my first real attempts? Well, truth is, female characters are my comfort zone. Before AA, I really didn't draw men much. 

26 Sept

This was a miracle. I don't know if I should be happy or offended that this is probably the prettiest Fran I've ever drawn. 
-roughtly 3-4 hrs

Look at the process pics. She wasn't like this. I had to refine her face SO much.

28 Sept
Finally got the guts to draw hands, AND their ridiculous hair!!

I'm not sure how long this took, I think maybe 5-6hrs? I did it in 2 days but I had to lay down so frequently. So I didn't really keep track.

--- notes ---

- If you want to attempt this, please don't overexert your hand!

Consider that even though my left hand 'can' draw, I still need to be very careful because the right side of my body + my back hurts pretty badly so if I use my left arm too much the pain travels. Basically I have a time limit to how much I use it, need to rest often. It will probably be easier if you are only doing it for fun, so I don't think you have to worry a lot about that, but still since your non-dominant hand isn't used to working so much, I do suggest taking frequent breaks anyway. Stretch too, that's important. You can get pretty bad cramps (or worse) if you overexercise any part of your body. 

-Keep in mind that other than drawing, I'm also using my left for everyday tasks (do you want to know how many shirts I stained with toothpaste? the answer is: EVERYone of them. well, those I wear around the house anyway). So that's also part of the reason there may be any improvement even from the 18th to the 25th despite me not drawing at all in the interim.

- Not gonna lie I'm pretty proud of myself not really for the result but for even attempting such a thing. I always thought it would be impossible for me to draw if I ever lost use of my right hand but I'm happy I bit the bullet and tried anyway. Until you try, you never know. And that's such a waste. Do you really want to live with such kinds of regrets forever?

- And I think I'm learning new things from this whole ordeal. So I guess that's the silver lining.
Maybe when my wright hand decides to make itself useful again I can switch back and forth. Who knows.

But good news is that I can grip stuff now (a week ago I couldn't even open a lipbalm), I just can't lift things for a long while, especially heavy things. But it'll heal with a little more patience.