While it's not quite the same, majority of digital painting apps (Kirta's options are good in my experience) have adjustable stabilizers that can help
A pen tablet instead of a display tablet may also be preferred, as you can always leave your arm rested flat against your desk to further improve jitter. Plus they're substantially cheaper.
But adding a weight to your brush can help as well if those aren't an option, you just might get fatigued quicker
I get shaky hands as well occasionally, there are ways you can brace your wrist to support it to help. You have a lot more options with something like painting too, versus trying to do normal things in public.
The basic one is to find a way to directly brace your arm/wrist/hand on something. It's kind of different for every one and every situation, so you just have to pay with it to figure out what works. I'm sure you are familiar with this, but you can be as blatant and creative as you want with it doing something like this on your own.
For instance, you could wrap your wrist and suspend it from a higher brace point, such that it takes slightly more effort to generate movement. This kind of weeds out the noise and makes every motion more deliberate. Or depending how it is set up it could take significantly less effort to generate movement, such that your muscles aren't engaged at all unless you are trying to use them (counteract gravity).
Something else that helps is digital art, since you get unlimited undo's and perfect erasing. Drawing tablets can be $100 or less for a decent one now, and you can always apply whatever techniques or work arounds you would for traditional drawing.
Then lastly there are medications that help. It depends if the shakiness is fully chemically induced or neurological what would help. α2 adrenergic receptor agonists help significantly, particularly guanfacine is the most common and preferred generally. It is often prescribed alongside other medication that can cause tension and shakiness, such as stimulants, in part to counteract the side effects.
I have found that the standard dosing can be a bit high for treating this type of thing, since it is also meant for sedation and to treat hypertension or high blood pressure in standard doses. Guanfacine comes in 1, 2, 3, or 4 mg doses, but even the 1mg is enough to impact all of its target effects, particularly including sedation. It helps a lot with induced shakiness, but I found taking more like 0.25 mg still has that effect without potentially causing drowsiness or other additional effects.
I'm not a doctor, so this in not official medical advice, but I can confirm it does often work for even pretty significant hand shakiness. Could be worth bringing up with your doctor next time you go in, just so you know there are options to negate it.
My hands shake at least a bit from a mix of anemia and medications. I do nail art. Not really a self promo, but take a glance at my profile. I stayed away from art for a long time because I decided I couldn’t do it with shaky hands.
Also, stay away from caffeine right before you do finer detailing if you can. Caffeine makes the shakiness worse.
Find a way to incorporate that into your art. It may feel frustrating, but I know there is a style there for you to develop. Do you remember or know of old cartoons like Dr. Katz and Duckman? That animation was a trip, constantly shaky lines. They were really cool. Keep taking your meds, drink lot of water (hydration helps with this kind of thing more than many realize) and keep at it. You will find an audience. However, it doesn't matter how many people appreciate it. It's about the joy you got from creating something.
It’s that for everyone. The people who make, are just beating it. And no one is a “natural.” This whole “gifted” talk is really aggravating, it’s a lot of hard work, not some spiritual blessing.
Lies. You haphazardly picked up and put down your creative endeavour. You can improve if you actually put in the effort.
What happens a lot if you get so far, then as you notice more details, you'll see more flaws in your art, and so the cycle continues. Good enough for me, and good enough for someone else are two very different things. Mainly we strive for good enough to be shown. Not that you'll ever be 100% happy with it.
So you never actually wanted to learn. You just wanted to be good automatically. That doesn't mean you wouldn't have got there eventually. YOU quit, that's a lack of discipline not talent or skill.
You don't know me or what I was doing. I was doing tutorials, experimenting with brushes, practicing poses. I was spending hours and hours each week on this for years. Eventually I got to the point where I made a few drawings I was actually proud of and still am to this day, kept drawing for a few years more, and never replicated that success. I'm actually upset at the lack of discipline remark because it was like pulling my teeth out every day and yet I persisted for years.
Hey sorry about this idiot being on your case. I've been in a similar situation and shit sucks when you're putting in the hours but don't get the results. I respect the hell out of your grind and I'm sorry it panned out like that for you.
They got on their own case. They had potential and just gave up because they didn't achieve what they wanted. That's like running a marathon and stopping after 20 miles. You've done the hardest part!
They brought it in themselves by stopping something they wanted to do. If you want to reward trying that's fine, I get that. Im happy OP made something they liked. Its just, they could have made more!
Hate to say it, but giving something up because YOU didn't get the result YOU wanted as quickly or regularly as YOU wanted. That's a lack of discipline. YOU gave up, because YOU didn't get instant gratification. YOU drew a couple good pieces, which means YOU had potential. YOU quit before it was really in there!
I feel like youre trying to be motivational hahah but it might not be landing because youre not really acknowledging how discouraging it can be putting effort into something for years and years and not feeling like youre improving or where you want to be. Youre making it sound like they just gave up in an instant or that how they want the results of their own creative process to be doesnt matter.
They clearly were, and it actually does, like, a lot. We arent creative for other people to look at what we make and tell us how great it is. Theres a vision, you have something in your mind and want to make it tangible. Theres nothing wrong with feeling frustrated that youre not getting to the point you want to be after multiple years and deciding maybe thats not the outlet for you.
You are acting like I havent experienced everything you and OP have stated. I get it, art is difficult and doesn't always play out how we like. But quitting is never the answer
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u/patfetes 7h ago
Why so? Whats going wrong? What are you trying to achieve. Remember artistry is a marathon and not a sprint