Pen Grip Advice?

[bluejeans07]

Hey guys! Does anyone have any advice or tools that they've used to adjust/loosen their pen grip? I've been holding my pens and pencils inappropriately for years and lately I've been noticing how hard I actually grip my pencils. I've also been getting some stiffness in my right hand, but that's because somehow, I end up sleeping on it. -_- But since my right hand is directly connected to my livelihood, I'd like to maintain it as long as possible! Thanks friends~

Comments

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

One of the best ways I've found to loosen up in general is to hold your pencil not like, erm, a pencil, but more like a knife, with your hand on top of it. In that position holding it with a death grip really makes no difference in the sort of line you put down, and you have less fine control of it, so you have to loosen up and use your arm. I think of this as the 'life drawing' hand position; if I feel like I'm losing my connection to the looseness and expressiveness of life drawing while I'm animating or even just drawing a pose, I'll switch to this method.

A less extreme approach is just to hold your pencil further back ... the closer to the tip your fingers are, the more your stroke is controlled by your fingers rather than your arm, and the tighter your fingers become. You get less precision, but it'll train you to loosen up.

Also: try using a really soft pencil. It'll make quite a dark mark without much pressure, and pressure usually equals grip strength. If you're on a Cintiq try adjusting the pressure sensitivity in the tablet calibration so that you have to use a feather touch to keep it from splurging all over the place. This might be something to practise at home as it'll slow you down as you get used to it and correct mistakes, etc.

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

I've been noticing that I hold my cintiq stylus the right way, so I'm wondering if I should get stuff to make the pencil thicker as well :O

[phavorianne.livejournal.com]

I was going to say, it seems like fatness alone makes pens and pencils easier to hold properly. So I second that idea. XD

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

A coworker was also commenting that it's not just fatness but weight as well. Any info on that?

[phavorianne.livejournal.com]

umm... low center of gravity? XD I dunno. Hahaha.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I know there are people who vastly prefer writing with a heavy pen, but I find it distracting, and often even more of a strain on my hand. Maybe it works like a 'steadycam,' moving the centre of gravity back from the tip and smoothing out sharp sudden movements...

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Now I'm curious what this 'right way' is ... I have known many people who have many different pencil grips, and have gone through an assortment of them myself, but never been told any of them were 'wrong.' 'Inefficient,' maybe, or 'too stiff,' but not outright objectively 'wrong.'

I have had times where I absolutely cannot draw without a pencil pillow, and other times where I really couldn't be bothered to care about it one way or another. I also remember the distress when I discovered I'd been working exclusively on a Cintiq for long enough that a regular pencil felt weird in my hand and I'd forgotten how to hold it comfortably.