pawlmtree - Tumblr blog

[pawlmtree]

Hey Max!

So I have suspected EDS and a family history of carpal tunnel syndrome and I recently started drawing a lot more than I usually do. Due to this I decided to try drawing with a splinted wrist brace (which I've done multiple times but get annoyed and itchy and give up). The issue is it feels weird to draw with one. I really don't want to end up completely unable to draw though. Do you have any tips on getting used to a wrist brace?

i feel you, it definitely took me a while to get used to drawing while wearing a wrist brace or any other aids (tape, gloves, finger splints)

all i can say is keep practicing/doing it for a while and your body should slowly get used to it, but in a way it does feel like re-learning how to draw because your range of mobility and sensory abilities are altered a lot.

when i started drawing with a brace and it felt all weird and wrong, i had to do more warm ups/loose sketching before i could really get into the flow of making art that felt right.

please don't give up on art! good luck :)

[pawlmtree]

שלום, מה נשמע ✨🦁

what sort of stuff do you do to manage your EDS and widespread pain (no pots for me). I’m looking for some items and recs because my pains really flaring up during finals and I wanna get back home to a comfy place all set up with disability friendly stuff. thank u!

🦓🎉

I had another question I’ll put here too, which was could you give a list of the things that help you work as an EDS/pain guy like me? I’m looking into a better chair but I’m sort of overwhelmed and lost and in pain when I work too long, and I haven’t worked in months because i can’t find a good setup. product recs here also work great but I’m really just looking to ask what’s made ur life a little easier :,)

shalom!! 🦁

it really differs from person to person what items will help, and also depends on where your pain is, so all i can do is share what's helped me personally, and hope that perhaps some of it could apply to you

wrist braces

for wrist pain - i go through periods where i wear them and periods where i don't, they can be helpful for stability during times of activity, some people wear them when they sleep bc many (myself included) often accidentally hyperextend our joints during sleep -_- but do be careful not to wear them all the time bc it can sometimes cause more pain or result in weakness

compression gloves

for hand pain/finger joint pain - i don't use these much lately but i used to use them almost every day in combo with wrist braces to try to calm down finger + wrist pain by providing tightness and support, honestly they just feel really nice and comforting in general for me personally but theyre not for everyone.

plastic finger splints

these changed my life when i was having severe finger joint hyperextension and pain..... wearing them restricts the finger joints from hyperextending/bending too far which is helpful in preventing pain and keeping your joints in a more normal range... these helped me a lot for finger pain so i highly recommend them if you have finger pain!!

KT TAPE

i don't use it much anymore because it's kind of annoying to apply and remove, but it helped me a lot with keeping my knees, elbows, and wrists within better ranges of movement, and it felt really comfortable and tight in a secure and safe way if that makes any sense..!? warning is that it can be painful to remove if you have sensitive skin or body hair, but i take it off in the shower which helps a bit. its economically more worth it to buy a roll and cut it yourself rather than buying pre cut pieces, but if you dont have the patience or spoons for cutting it each time then they do make pre cut pieces!

other than that i have used a cane, elbow crutch, and now a hybrid manual/electric wheelchair, with the wheelchair ABSOLUTELY CHANGING MY LIFE ive had the least amount of pain and highest about of mobility (in terms of spending 5+ hours outside!! wow!!) that ive had in a long time, and if your condition gets to the point where going places is difficult/painful/anxiety inducing to you because of how much pain you'll be in during or afterwards, please don't feel ashamed to look into using a mobility aid!

as for the second question, honestly i still struggle with that myself, i can't keep up as well as i'd like to on my homework and commission work, but what does help is trying to maintain good posture while on the computer (sitting in a chair without slouching too much, keeping my neck from bending weird and trying not to hyperextend wrists or fingers while typing, which ermmm i still fail at a lot)

also trying to switch position and task every 2 or so hours is what's necessary for me, unfortunately i suck at doing this and get hyperfocused on drawing for 3+ hours sometimes, which ends up in a lot of pain and soreness afterwards -_- so i do recommend trying to give yourself breaks/switching position and task every so often if it is possible for you to do so...

thank you for the message and i wish you so much luck and low-pain days <3

[pawlmtree]

Hiii I’m confused and want to use your pronouns right! How do you use paw pronouns is it paw/paws/pawself or is there some other way paw is used? If you had a chart for comparison that would be helpful!

hi thank you for asking! any variations of these pronouns (he/it/paw) can be used for the character, and as for myself personally i use he/him in academic/professional situations, but paw/paws as well are perfectly fine to use to refer to me online if you feel like it :) however it/its is reserved only for when i specifically feel in the mood/ask to be referred that way

and here's how paw/paws/pawself pronouns are used:

[pawlmtree]

genuine question, whatever happened to your fursuit? do you still wear it?

i still own it! but it's at my mom's house in america and i'm in japan, and i made it when i was 16(?) and im about to turn 21 so i definitely wanna remake it once i return to america hehe

[pawlmtree]

マクスサンは日本語で話す時、どんなpronounを使っていますか？🤔例えば、僕・私・俺などです。Just wondering if people try to correct you depending on how they read you/how you present & what your personal experience is

面白い質問だね、聞いてくれてありがとう!

普通に(人と話すとき)、「私」を使っているんだが、頭の中で（考えるとき)「僕」とか「俺」とかを使うときもあります　^_^

Usually I am read by others as a woman/female (I don't really mind, and sometimes I enjoy it), but the employees at my school address me as male (「彼」とか) and every time I've explained to medical workers that I'm transmasc (" 身体は女性、心は男性 ") they've all been respectful of that :)

[pawlmtree]

I just came here to brag I’ve started developing “Wings of fire DND” with a friend.

— @cringgekingg

That sounds fun!!! Good luck with it

[pawlmtree]

hiii I’m considering trying to sell adopts, do you have any advice on the matter? Like good practices, pricing, coming up with designs, etc :o) I already color in/design bases a lot for fun as well

honestly i dont know if i could give any super helpful advice, but personally ive been having a positive experience selling adopts through toyhouse and ko-fi at the moment. one thing about ko-fi is that you can list items with a minimum price pay what you want, so i've been selling a few designs with that method and it's been easy and worthwhile! toyhouse is better for larger designs and auctions in my experience, and using the comments feature people can have bidding chains + you can advertise with bulletins and get more traction to a specific design maybe..? pricing is all up to you, but it's generally good to keep in mind whether the design was made on a base or not, if the design has multiple images/art, etc. (generally, base designs are seen as less valuable and sell for less, but this is not always the case) coming up with designs can be really fun! i like to start with color palettes and work from there, but sometimes i get inspiration from photos of animals or clothing from pinterest. some people also make designs based on aesthetics or moodboards. i've also used random animal generators and random colors generators in the past to come up with adopts :) good luck!!

[pawlmtree]

I'm super curious about this as someone who also does it, but when you draw/design human characters as furries, how do you choose what species to draw them as?

Like for example, what drove you to draw Emma and Noah as a lion and a cat?

(sorry for the late reply!)

this varies depending on a few things! i usually start with seeing if the character has an existing assigned animal motif or self representative animal, which was the case with emma. he has a lion's paw for one of his hands and his special ability is called "lion's fist" so that's why i made him a lion! also i just sometimes make my favorite characters + characters i relate to into lions because theyre my favorite. LOL. noah is the other case, which is when a character doesn't have an existing animal motif, i try to consider their personality, appearance, and narrative theme when assigning them an animal. for noah i made him a cat because his personality is kind of cold/skittish/solitary in comparison to emma, and also i thought the lion and cat being the 'king of cats' and 'domestic counterpart' also fits for their social standing (emma being high standing/rich and "free" VS noah being stuck struggling at his shitty job) and i thought it represented their characters well if that makes any sense.

[pawlmtree]

I love your art!! Your colors are so good!! It makes me wanna break out my coloring pencils!! Thanks for the joy!!

(sorry for the late reply!) thank you so much!!!! this is such a sweet message. please have fun drawing if you choose to do so!!

[pawlmtree]

Has your improvement in art been from drawing a bunch or did you follow any specific study/practice? I feel like I've been stagnating in my art and it feels like just drawing isn't taking me veyy far :(

i think a lot of my improvement comes from the drive to keep improving what i'm already doing, if that makes sense? usually when i'm drawing i'll keep in mind if i don't like a part of it and try to think of how i could do it better next time. but aside from that, i occasionally study from photo references or from other artists, the latter actually being really helpful for discovering new techniques. if there are artists you look up to and enjoy their work, i'd recommend trying to pick apart what exactly you like about their art and try to think about how they might have done it so you can recreate a similar effect if that's what your goal is. idk if that makes sense but that's how i learned some shading/coloring techniques that i use + i also just think consuming and looking at a variety of other artists work/styles is really beneficial for giving you an idea of how many different methods of drawing there are out there in the world... good luck!!!

[pawlmtree]

Sorry for running around and liking everything.

Your art is incredibly peaceful to look at and your experience in Japan is fascinating to me

I hope to do some sort of exchange program some day :)

don't worry about like spamming, i don't get notification alerts so it doesn't bother me at all

thank you very much! :) and i hope you can do that someday

[pawlmtree]

Congrats on 3 years of hrt!!!!!! You're art has always inspired me esp the colors and anatomy omg, one of the best furry artists no doubt! Hopefully this next question isn't too invasive or intruding, but regards to hrt how has it been? You don't need to give specific details I'm just asking since I myself am considering acquiring t gel soon and pursuing hrt myself to finally start my long awaited transition. Was it difficult to get on? Sorry for the long question, feel free to ignore or delete if it's too invasive. Have a nice day!

the actual 3 yr anniversary isnt for a few more months, but thank youuuu!!!!!

for me its been really affirming and significantly improved my quality of life because i really enjoy many of the changes that came with hrt, particularly having a lower voice and body hair.

for me it was a bit difficult to get because i was a minor (17) when i started and thus required my parents to consent + i also was seeing a gender therapist at the time who took about 2 years to diagnose me with gender dysphoria and for him to feel confident that hrt would be okay for me

but thats a very specific personal situation, everyone has different levels of difficulty in accessing hrt and if you're already an adult it should be a lot easier. i was also going through my health insurance/hospital, but many people opt to go through an outside source like planned parenthood(?) or other clinics specified to trans healthcare.

good luck with your transition :) <3

[pawlmtree]

do you have any tips for drawing longer snouted furries (most canines, lizards, birds and such) because everytime I traw to draw one the perspective is off or it just looks wrong...

when i draw furries i typically start with the eyes and eyebrows and then move down!! i like to use the eyes/eyebrows as a guide for where i'm going to place the nose bridge (dark blue) and then i can add the upper mouth (turquoise) and the chin (purple) and cheeks (pink)

i try to think of the face as being these separated parts in 3d space and fit them together like a puzzle to make different species/appearances (shorter for cats longer for dogs etc)

idk if that helps at all but good luck

[pawlmtree]

Was looking at these fellas thinking ab how I could have my own little circus in my room and then I thought ab how you’d love that!!

— @cringgekingg

-

sooo CUTE i love that idea :D

[pawlmtree]

Hi max. I've been a fan of your work for a good time and I just want to say, thank you for sharing your work and being earnestly yourself. You have no idea how much that's impacted me and made me want to be more expressive with art, self expression and accept my own disability. Keep on being you and I wish you a great day!

Thank you so much for sending me this message, i appreciate it :)

i'm really really glad to hear that you were inspired by me/my work, it really makes me unimaginably happy to know that i can have positive impacts on people like that, and it's one of the reasons i keep doing what i'm doing.

i'm really really glad that you can be more expressive and accepting of yourself and i hope you can continue to create art that is meaningful to you!

thank you for supporting me

[pawlmtree]

Heya max!! I was wondering if you own any books for learning Japanese? While I’m using Duolingo I’m thinking of getting one or two for extra help!

— @cringgekingg

yes! i used the nakama textbooks when i was first starting out, and i prefer them a lot to the genki textbooks (what most people use) then after that i used an integrated approach to intermediate japanese, and now i'm currently using the second book of QUARTET: Intermediate Japanese Across the Four Language Skills

i also used 新・にほんご敬語トレーニング to learn keigo!

good luckkkkk this language is hard

[pawlmtree]

where do you get your clown outfits?? they all look super high quality!!

was this meant for someone else by any chance!? i only own one clown costume and it's actually a really low quality one, just a standard adult size clown halloween costume my mom bought from amazon for me when i was 16 LOL... ive been wondering myself where to get some nicely made clown suits and i think ive seen a few on etsy? but they werent in my size :(