But I Don't Even Play Tennis.

It is true that you don't appreciate what you have until it is gone. For example, the last few months have been . . . difficult. Last year I had experienced a bout of tendonitis, or tennis elbow, in my right arm. I received a cortisone shot directly into the tender cartilage that lets your elbow bend. While uncomfortable it was not terrible. What was terrible was the cortisone flare afterward that made every arm motion painful for a few days. When that passed my arm felt great!

Until a few months ago.

Then my old friend came back with a vengeance. This time it became severe enough that my entire arm hurt. From the shoulder to the tips of my fingers. I experienced numbness and loss of mobility and for a right-handed artist this is devastating. My left hand was getting overused to the point where both hands were aching.

After two MRIs and a nerve function test it was clear that a lot of my problem stemmed from my neck. (Did you know that many people develop arthritis in their necks as they age? Yeah, me neither!) Therapy has helped but now it is clear that I still have some lost sensation in my hand. Thankfully, I can still draw! But having a couple of months where I wondered if I was going to have to learn how to draw left-handed really worried me.

What caused it? Here's the list: Repetitive motion, poor posture, not enough stretching, and too many marathon sessions in front of the computer. Basically everything I do on a regular basis. So here is the takeaway from all this.

If I want to continue to do this art thing I need to take better care of the tools. 

So I am now incorporating a stretch routine and regular breaks to prevent this from happening again.

While I was recovering I did discover some great books and that spurred all sorts of imagery that I had to draw. In fact here's a work-in-progress from a scene in the book Lost Stars by Claudia Gray. I read it after seeing Star Wars 7 because it references the battle of Jakku and I really wanted to learn about the Star Destroyers laying on the planet surface. What I came away wanting to draw was a scene where one of the main characters is tasked with retrieving Darth Vader after the destruction of the first Death Star in the Battle of Yavin.

This sketch was a struggle to get a good composition incorporating the TIE advanced and the Gozanti carrier. After a lot of thumbnails and research I discovered I was also able to include everybody's favorite Sith Lord (who I imagine is not at all happy) and the damage inflicted to the TIE fighter during the battle. There is still a long way to go but I am pleased with the progress.

I usually like to draw from my own imagination bu this image was too powerful to ignore.