Grips! The best for drawing, and NOT getting carpal tunnel!

[@specialkrj]

I am a physics major who gave myself carpal tunnel in my right hand from taking lecture notes and doing practice problems. I'm struggling to keep up now because my right hand can't be used, so I tried that between -the-fingers grip on my left hand and immediately my handwriting is actually legible. I am so grateful to you. You might have just saved my semester (and my wrists)

[@Salgood]

that's fantastic to hear, hope it goes well! I'd just note that really any ONE thing if you do it all the time, might still lead to repeditive injury so try to see if you can get a couple grips going that work for you along the way so you can change it up a bit. An upside will be once your right wrist recovers, you'll be able to switch back and forth between them to distribute the load ;)

[@robertaragon8270]

It doesn’t come easily at first, but the more you alternate between the various grips, the more you will start to do it automatically. You’ll even invent your own hybrid grips without thinking. The pencil will float around in your hand without any thought at all, sometimes line by line. It seems like a hassle when you’re learning but it ultimately becomes an easier, more natural way to draw with much better control over all aspects of line-thickness, direction, straightness, curvedness, darkness, etc. Hand dexterity isn’t innate, it comes with practice, even if you’ve got sausage fingers like me.

[@mischief5905]

Thanks this gives hope

[@justin-rs6hb]

Your comment on the illusion of accuracy by using a tighter grip is so good. It’s a questioned I’ve asked myself so many times during my time on fps video games using a mouse.

[@Salgood]

I think you mean strong rather than good, but yep, it is indeed, an illusion. Hope you start to do your tendons a favour and not give into it so much! Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

[@moga_263]

Thank you for this great video. I had a horrible writing and drawing grip for years (basically making a fist with the pen wedged between my middle and ring finger) and this is the first time I've really understood why a real tripod grip is important. As a lefty I've been trying the tripod grip with the pen between my pointer and middle fingers, and it's a game changer. I always felt hopeless even at drawing fundamentals but now my line ghosting and other practice is showing monumental progress, AND my hand no longer cramps up every 10 minutes!!

[@nomadicwolf6132]

Thank you for this! I've been struggling for years w/ progressing my fledgling skills due to time constraints brought by the inevitable pain that always came from how I grip the pencil. That final grip is extremely comfortable & doesn't feel like losing control. Thank you!

[@Frustratedartist2]

+2000 on this comment

[@lukasmarks6504]

As a leftie, thank you very much for that last grip between index and middle finger! Was actually searching for something like this after my cramping hand forced me to pause my drawing 😅

[@Salgood]

Wonderful, hope it's helping!

[@lukasmarks6504]

@@Salgood Definetely allowed me to continue my drawing. Although, I noticed that the angle towards the page changed more to 25 or 30 degrees, which was messing a bit with my pigment liners. Apparently I adopted a weird wrist position again a few times to mitigate that. Have to test around a bit more there.

[@leojpowers]

Great video. I'd never paid much attention, but switching from the not-quite-a-tripod against the middle finger to the tripod felt really good and I noticed the increase in control right away. Thank you.

[@abelrrant]

i came here after learning the attack on Titan creator draws this way to avoid carpal tunnel

[@Salgood]

Cool. Which grip specifically? Link?

[@陈kopo]

Do you have a link to where you learnt this from? I'm interested in knowing more. Especially which grip you're referring to.

[@WanJae42]

Oh wow! I tried the grip with the pencil between the 1st and 2nd fingers, and it gets the body of the pencil out of the way so I can see the area around the point of the lead better. Excellent for detail work! Thanks for all this!

[@chantalrochon3566]

Wonderful teaching. Thank you for sharing your knowledge 🎉🎉🎉😊😊😊

[@Laine_44]

Thank you so much. My wrist has kept me from drawing but these techniques really take the strain. 🥺

[@Lumpsack]

Loving that grip near the back end of the vid - really useful on my quick test just now, thanks

[@tinktwiceman]

Great video. I'm very heavy handed and have always struggled with controlling my pen/pencil. This has resulted in bad handwriting and lines that don't look aesthetically pleasing. Could you make more tutorials on how to fix this? Thank you for this amazing knowledge which seems simple but is important.

[@catherinebealka6014]

Weighted pens and pencils can help tremendously for this. Unfortunately they are hard to find

[@oldhorseshoe1776]

I have enjoyed your work for some time and appreciate this video. I never considered grip and origin of motion (shoulder/elbow vs. wrist/fingers) when I used to draw as a boy. I try to be mindful of it now. Thanks for the insights. As a lefty, I will give the last one a shot! :-)

[@rt_ka]

That's so helpful.Thankyou!

[@tommymeyer]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I found this video because i noticed some pro inkers wrapping the thumb around the pen, kind of tucking it under the pointing finger. I'm usually a tripod gripper myself, but i want to learn about the "thumb tucker grip", and if it has any advantages compared to the tripod grip. By the way - being left handed myself, i would argue that it makes no difference what hand you are drawing with, because a drawing doesn't have a set direction, unlike writing.

[@jffaust]

Thank you for sharing ❤

[@adjvic13]

Fantastic video! I'm definitely gonna pay more attention to how I hold my pencils. And you were right about the left-handed people mistake (I'm left-handed and I do it sometimes). BTW, you're very good at teaching and conveying information :)

[@Salgood]

Thanks!

[@CalicoParade]

amazing and informative video!!! im quickly realizing the way that i draw isnt great for my hand- and ive drawn everyday since i was 12 (im 22 haha) 😅 But i want to be able to draw for as long as i can!! Stretches and different grips will be my friend-

[@shindig9000]

I've been holding my pencil between my pointer and middle finger recently and it is so nice I'm baffled that more people aren't taught about it Dx

[@Salgood]

Hi @paintedwyvern13 AbyssWraith Kaameus For some reason while I can see your question in notifications it's not showing up when I click through to here so replying like this. I think part of the issue is if there is one, will be around how long you're using/applying more pressure? If it's just a short time to get a bit more dense color in a spot it's probably not doing any harm unless you already have a reparative strain injury. Otherwise it takes a sustained period to cause strain. But you could also minimize any strain by using an overhand grip rather than a tripod. I also know from back when I used to use color pencil more that you can build up the color density/darkness more gradually using a lighter pressure but going back over on multiple passes in the same areas. I learned to do that mostly because I was just sloppier when I pressed harder and I was able to be more precise if I didn't do that and just went back over the same area as multiple times. Also really got into color mixing that way using multiple passes of different colors to get an interesting hue.

[@Abdi-libaax]

Great video

[@lksxxtodin5292]

Thank you! The best vídeo that I saw in this subjet s2

[@OralxanLarzimova]

Ооо thank you🎉

[@FletcherDoesStuff]

This is great, thanks!

[@RealYoSized]

this vid helped me somuch ty

[@mygills3050]

I have used modified tripod since forever and never learned the other way. Very useful for cursive, but for me odd with art. That’s probably just my lack of practice, though.

[@virtuosyc]

As the human failure I am, I never learned the tripod grip when I was young. Trying to learn it now, but it's really hard, especially writing...

[@Salgood]

It's always hard at first learning new motor control paterns, especially as we get older. Remember to relax and breath and just go slow at first focusing on getting used to the way things feel.

[@JL-vt5nb]

THis is really helpful but i have a question how would you grip something like a micron or other fine tip

[@Salgood]

Mostly exactly the same things apply . Standard tripod for fine work, extended tripod and more using the arm for larger forms and longer lines. And not too hard, in grip or pressure on the paper. Microns are pigment pens, and all pigment pens mostly draw best when more vertical, so the only real constraint is that you need to keep them more upright, the overhand or underhand grips are less useful with them I suspect.

[@Nag11s]

Is it bad to draw with the locked grip(left-handed)? 1:01 Tips for grips?

[@Salgood]

it restricts how much you can do with your wrist so it's not great for it. The video has my tips in it, try working from the top right side down to the bottom left corner to be able to not cover your drawing as you go. No reason a drawing has to be done left to right. For the occasional situation where your hand is over the art you have the same issues a right handed person does, move your head or stop and lift your hand out of the way for a moment to look at it all.

[@aabirk8400]

Your the only one on KZbin that even addresses this. I’ve hand terrible hand writing and a fisted grip my entire life. Switching to a tripod hasn’t been easy at all. Feels like I can barely make a mark before it wobbles. Been trying to practice by drawing circles and lines, etc. It’s been about a 2-3 months now but I still can’t make a decent circle. Is that normal? Should I be doing something different? Do you lightly have your hand on the table or it just relaxed and planted. Thank you for making the video, hope I can make marks like you one day!

[@Salgood]

I'm often resting my arm if not my palm on the desk a bit, but not all the time, depends on the nature of the strokes I'm doing. I'll use my pinky to stabilize things when I'm using a brush and you can't really do that as much. Posture and stance is important in this, if you're leaning over it's hard not to be using one or both arms to brace yourself so that's where being able to suport your body without your arm is impacted by your posture. But there's lots of times where it's fine to rest your arms own weight on the desk for some of it. Try that last grip for a bit to break the only fist habit maybe? it's really stable and I suspect a more comfortable intermediary from the kind of grip you're trying to get out of the habit of. And make sure you're hand and arm are relaxed and not tensed, that will help a lot too. For the circles, remeber to do it more with the arm. And then it's basicly two isolatable movements - swing of the shoulder back and forward and the swing of the elbow left to right - being smoothed into one.

[@aabirk8400]

@@Salgood Thank your for sharing advice. I’ll try to keep at it and draw with the last grip, but I’ll try to keep my stance and posture straight more. When you say circles come from the arm, I already can make pretty much any stroke I want from the arm. Big to medium circles aren’t a problem for me. It’s just like you said in the video that I lack a lot of finesse and my detail work sucks. I never learned to write correctly and as a result I can’t make a small stroke with my fingers or medium stokes with my wrists without it being wobbly. That’s mainly the issue I’m trying to solve. I think that has mainly to do with my grip and not my arm, right? I saw you make really good small circles with only your fingers in this video.

[@Salgood]

@@aabirk8400 Probably need to work on strength and dexterity for your fingers, i use a couple of large bearings and pool balls [heavy and light options] like Baoding balls, as a warm up/stretching/dexterity exercise to deal with hand cramping, might be of help.

[@aabirk8400]

@@Salgoodsorry I have one last question for you. When you rest your hand on the table, is your weight towards the bottom or top of the side of your hand. I put most of my weight towards the bottom I I think it’s causing me to move my fingers weirdly.

[@Salgood]

@@aabirk8400 so really it's only on the outside edge of the bottom of my palm. But i hardly put any weight on it most of the time, really mostly use that for some stability.

[@Patshes]

🆒😎👍

[@43Rhein10]

I often use fineliners for drawing and am finding it quite irritating that quite many fineliners only work if they're held completely upright(vertically). The tip of these fineliners are often stuck in a metal or plastic tube that is simply too long - especially the FaberCastel fineliners, but many others also. (Fortunately this isn't true for Monochromos but most of these are just too thin for me).

[@Salgood]

Hmm, I don't know what brand you're using but generally I don't find they are that limiting unless the nib has been mashed in or worn down. If that's the case you may be just pressing far too hard and damaging them? Most don't work that well past about 40, 45 degree angle and do work better, or give you their full line width around 30. But within that range they work pretty forgivingly I find. Not nearly as limiting at Rapidograph pens are. The Windsor Newton fine liners might have a nib you like better, it's not flat so it works a bit more like a felt pen or tinny brush. Tolerates more of an angle.

[@rumsky_r]

Save Earth - use clutch pencils!!!

[@Salgood]

um, no that's not going to save the earth. In fact I would bet that many with all the plastics and metal that go into them, are more carbon heavy and a bigger pollution issue than what's left of a wood pencil when we're done with one. Don't get me wrong, I have several technical pencils for different size leads, but I do not buy the premise of your comment at all.

[@rumsky_r]

@Chiwi_XD well... And who will care about 🌎 saving if we remove humanity?

[@Salgood]

@@rumsky_r @Chiwi_XD Look, both of you get the hell out of my comments with this nonsense. EARTH IS NOT IN DANGER, and at best what you want to save is ourselves, and life ON earth. And there's NO ART TOOL that will save the biosphere or solve any of our ecological problems by using or not using. The problem is FAR bigger than art tools. The only thing anything like that that might make a difference? It's NOT USING THE WEB or AI. The resources, power and water consumption that goes into things like video servers and AI generation eclipses ANYTHING you're doing to make art. So if you care so damn much about that, log off now. Whatever you do though, get the hell off my feed and do it somewhere else dumbasses.

[@polar6066]

i take it this doesnt really apply to wacom styluses

[@Salgood]

Quite a lot of it does actually. Since a couple months after I made this I've been working in animation nearly full time in an all digital workflow and I set my tablets [XP-Pen 22] sensitivity to pretty high to help reduce the amount of pressure needed and try to work with a light hand as a rule, based on what I leaned working in traditional mediums.

[@polar6066]

@@Salgood woah, a xppen? i didnt know they were that popular. honestly my experience with styluses has been mostly the pro pen2 which i struggle a lot using (you can see in my channel) and the spen/wacom one for my samsung s7fe, which is somewhat better since it has a screen unlike the intuos pro m... but the wacom one pen for some reason always feels like i need more force to activate it, especially if i tilt the pen (no app changes solved this). i started watching this video because everytime i use my propen2 on my intuos pro m i get a looooooot of pain on my quervain zone, its crazy. sometimes i think if its related to the surface or my grip... which is why i started watching your video. i actually want to upgrade to those chinese displays they sell since most of my latest work has been done on the s7fe, despite the complications... what i fear is that it might be too heavy too activate in comparison to the pro pen2 (which, unlike the wacom one or spen can be activated with no force at all). iirc pro pen is less than 1 gram and xppen is more, but idk how much

[@Salgood]

I don't know how popular they are but they make some good laminated screen tablets. I had a 15.6 Pro for a few years and was slowly getting into more digital rendering. Then the studio I got hired by late 2020 uses Artist Display 22E Pro and gave me one to use at home and i've been on that ever since. Would like to get a 22R Pro at some point for myself but for now sticking with the one that costs me nothing ;) I like them a lot, I had a few older model Critique screens to work on in a class I taught in the years before but never really liked them as much. And the prices is a lot better for what you get too with the XP-Pens. And yeah, that muscle group in particular is going to be too much GRIPPING most of all, pressure on the tip will add to it but mainly you're probably holding the tool in your hand too tightly. For the pressure you're applying on the screen, most styluses have a setting interface with a graph and you can set how much/sensitive it is to how much pressure on that. That's what I used to make it so I have to use very little pressure at all. Doing that might help you to grip less hard but it's maybe also just a thing to work on with your grip as well. @@polar6066