#Jeri can't answer things simply part ????

[jerirose]

how long have you been drawing? i used to be really into drawing when i was in high school but a chronic illness has made it really hard for me to hold things like pencils, pens, markers, and styluses so i had to give it up. you're just really good with your art and i'm super jealous.

Hi Anon!

Firstly, please don't be jealous 😔 though I very much understand where you are coming from and I'm so sorry that Chronic Illness has taken away something you love (I can very much relate).

Secondly, to answer your question I've been drawing literally since I could hold a pencil! I was ambidextrous as a child (left hand dominant) and my dad loves to tell me stories of how I'd work on two completely different drawings at once, sometimes at different stages of each drawing. That was until school forced me to use my right hand and I lost my left-handedness and my ambidextrousness.

I drew all the way up until High School as well, I was an A+ student in Art Class but my teachers weren't great and since I was a "gifted child" my parents really, really fed into it and milked it for all they could, which really tainted my love for art, so I dropped my pencil for a camera when I was 15 and pursued that as a career and went on to college to study photography. Chronic illness and disability took that from me so I understand how much it hurts and how sad it can be loosing a creative outlet you love.

I do traditional art now once in a blue moon, basically whenever the mood hits and I've done digital art on and off for the last 8 years, mostly painting one or two things a year and then not touching my tablet again (because I couldn't get my hand-eye coordinationnto work and it was annoying), until last June when I decided for some strange reason to get an XP-Pen, I've literally no idea why or what drove me to do so, but made it far easier for me to do digital art, even though it took me like 3 weeks after it arrived to touch it. (I'm literally so stubborn and I will continuly try to find ways to do what I want to pursue). And I've been doing art seriously, for the first time since I was 15, since July last year. (And by seriously I mean, I work on my art skills most days for at least 2 hours if my health/body permits it, sometimes (like yesterday 11 hours) please don't be me 😅 it's less than healthy but I do take a lot of breaks)

I have a neurological disorder that makes anything and everything I do painful and there are some days where holding my stylus is very painful, but again, I'm stubborn as hell and if I can push past the pain I will - I also take breaks frequently throughout my art sessions and do lots and lots of hand exercises too! But it can be difficult and on some days I can't even hold my phone or type because the pain is too bad and it's very disheartening, so I completely get how you feel and I know that me pushing through the pain is something that not everyone can do in my situation either.