okay so not to do one of those "reblog to save an artist" things but i REALLY wish someone had told me this could happen BEFORE i went and gave myself a permanent, chronic back injury in college from painting.
basically, because i was an ADHD stricken goblin procrastinator of an art major, i wound up putting myself in a situation where i had to paint my entire senior thesis show in 3 days. so i locked myself in the art studio and painted 12 massive oil paintings in a 3-day sprint without stopping to sleep. i finished the show! its quality was certainly debatable but it was done and i was gonna graduate on time! huzzah!
except then the next day, after sleeping it off, i went to drawing class and sat down at my station and tried to lift my arm to draw... and had a sudden and SEVERE pain in my back, right between my spine and my right shoulder blade. i kept trying to draw and just physically could NOT. eventually i said something to my teacher and she was like "oh sweetie, you gave yourself a chronic repetitive stress injury, it's likely permanent, here have a vicodin and go lie down on the floor." so i did and was like yikes.
ANYWAY this was 11 years ago. and she was right, it WAS permanent and it fucks with my life on a daily basis still. pretty much whenever i have to do any task that involves lifting my arm and holding it at a certain angle and doing small, repetitive movements. like washing dishes. or, you know, drawing or making any kind of art. it's like a horrible, painful itching feeling that no amount of stretching or iboprofen can really touch.
basically, i REALLY wish someone had warned me about this before i went and mangled my back forever. so to all young artists out there: use arm support (like one of those sling things, especially if you're standing to paint at an easel)! take breaks! do not paint a 12 painting series in a 3 day sprint with no sleep! do not repeat my mistakes!!!!!
also reblog to save an artist from suffering my fate lol
