June 2022 was not a great month and it follows a poor month in May. The reason for this month was a physical injury or condition that laid me up. Basically during June I had a pain in my upper back but nothing more than an irritant or knot and I put it down to posture, desk sitting, you know all the things that you get from sitting hunched at a desk too much. After a period of three days when I did some gardening (ie bending over, lifting heavy stuff etc), badminton twice and a back massage to get rid of the knot. That was over 3 days and and then after an incredibly bad night’s sleep, I couldn’t stand, sit or walk around without being hobbled by pain. I then spent the best part of a week laid up as I a) tried to get the right sort of painkillers, b) waiting for the painkillers to take effect. As the pain is down my left arm, when I type it feels like RSI plus it has taken me a while to build up time at desk. During that time I had to prioritse work-work and limit how much time during the day I spent at desk – the art suffered during that spell. Even now, on 4th July I am better but still not looking to spend the same sort of time at desk as I was before. I am currently only able to do what I am doing with the benefit of a lot of painkillers so I should be sensible. The diagnosis (by my physio who is amazing rather than the actual GPs who were useless) is a disc bulge that is pressing down on nerves. Not sure if there is a fix for this but so long as I have painkillers and things don’t get worse, then I should have a functional day. I am due to have an MRI but who knows when that happens!
Overall not a great month and one, especially following May, that I think may well have broken the habit that I spent months 1 to 4 building up.
I do have some stats for June but they are not great. I’ve not made a distinction between digital drawings and charcoal drawings.
| Data Point | June |
| Total days ON v OFF | 10 v 20 of 30 (33%) |
| Total number of 60 mins sessions | 0 |
| Total mins drawing | 416 mins |
| Total number of drawings | 14 |
| Average drawing time | 29.7 mins |
| Average session time | 41.6 mins |
| Longest session | 48 mins |
| Shortest session | 14 mins |
| Longest single drawing time | 64 mins (over 2 days) |
| Longest sequence of days drawing | 5 days |
| Longest gap between drawing days | 14 days |
| Shortest gap between days | 1 day (3 times) |
So not one day when I drew for a 60 min session and rarely managed to get a sequence of days going. Even if you discount the number of days of being unable to sit at desk, it still isn’t great. July promises to be difficult as well because I am due to go on holiday (painkillers and flights permitting) so any momentum I build up will be broken.
Lessons learnt?
In terms of charcoal drawing, I am very bad at setting out the points of reference to ensure I’ve got proportion. And I think it is because I am trying to be “free” with the hand and focus on broad strokes but failing to make sure they are within the correct points. The big positive is that the medium is starting to feel more natural and I can feel its limitations (detail) and strengths (values).
For digital drawing, the use of the pen and pen pressure is still very difficult. I can do light lines and heavy lines but not every time. Also thick/thin line selection is still pretty poor. However, I am getting starting to introduce cross-hatching which is adding depth to a drawing. I may do some research on that area or even read the book I bought ages ago on it!
Finally, I’ve also identified an issue, namely I need to sketch/draw away from my workstations. At the moment, I’ve now two desks sets up – one with the pen display and one for the traditional drawing. I only draw there and nowhere else ie I don’t sit on sofa with a sketchbook and doodle. If I can do that then when I am away, I can doodle and not break any momentum I may have built up. I will think about that as a separate target.
Given the stuttering couple of months and failure to really progress the targets, then for July, the plan is simply to continue with learning charcoal and practise the pen on the pen display. I am also going to invest in both a charcoal and pencil holder plus some mesh sanding paper so that I can create my own powder. After those items, I think the only thing remaining will be the palette knives but I’ll wait for that until I feel I’ve become more comfortable with the medium and the scope of what I’m drawing: for skulls, what I’ve got is fine but if I do more detailed drawings like faces, then I may invest.
Fingers crossed that a) the pain gets more manageable, b) I don’t have any more distractions and can get back on track!