Shaky hands

[daddyo]

the shooter is correct, muscles are on/off. don't force the issue.

caffeine intake is something you should control- some is good, a bunch doesn't help.

breath control is the one thing you must learn: get a good free breath, relaxed, not slumped over (posture, ladies!). let it out slowly and when you've breathed about halfway out, make your stroke. or dot. or squeeze the trigger. it should come as a surprise.

relax. take a break. you might find that night has become day without your notice. (been there). posture, ladies, posture. don't slouch, let your arms be able to move freely on their joints (even if you've propped against something- like the table's edge). and even then, the more calendar sheets you've flipped over, the more likely it is that you're going to shake a bit. as an example, i was on the prototype team for dirt, so i expect to shake some.

(i'm a lifetime competitive shooter and a 7-year air force sniper. breath control is the key to everything. don't hold it, or you will shake like an aspen tree.)

 

[Thomgirl]

I have very shaky hands and so does my mother (a painter as well, but she does canvas work). I do a fair amount of handgun shooting but a lot of archery recently. Learning to aim while shaking is all based upon what other folks have previously said. I would like to add though that actually practicing shooting has helped me understand my muscle movement a lot better so I can work with the shaking and not try and fight it. The great thing about archery is that it will strengthen the muscles in your arms a great deal since you are holding a heavy object extended out with one arm, and drawing weight back with the other. After doing that, you find that when you get the opportunity to rest your arms against you you'll be a lot steadier since you've trained your arms to aim extended, coming back to aim closed in will seem like a cake walk. I suppose if you don't have access to a handgun shooting range or archery range, you could always set up a "bullseye" on a piece of paper on a wall and and practice doting a mini eye on it, rest and then see how your steadiness is when working with your arms resting on something. Doing exercises to strengthen your arms helps a lot.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

Archery relies on shoulder and back muscles, your arm muscles are not doing anything in archery apart from lifting the bow and the arrows, so it's not going to help as much as you would think.

The breathing excercises are all about rythm as well as keeping oxygen in the blood (holding your breath and over use of the muscles uses up all of the oxygen and as a result lactic acid builds up)
best thing for shaky hands is speed (less time for lactic acid build up and you can find a rythm which allows better concentration,) before you can build up the reflexes you have to develop muscle memory (all physical training is based on this just that with shooting/archery you also have to develop your observation skills as well)

 

[Einion]

and even then, the more calendar sheets you've flipped over, the more likely it is that you're going to shake a bit. as an example, i was on the prototype team for dirt, so i expect to shake some.

I was on the funding panel for dirt, this was after the completion of the rocks project.

Doing exercises to strengthen your arms helps a lot.

:good:

Archery relies on shoulder and back muscles, your arm muscles are not doing anything in archery apart from lifting the bow and the arrows, so it's not going to help as much as you would think.

Don't agree - hand control is mostly about forearm and hand muscles but they naturally improve when doing isometric exercise of the shoulders and upper back. Using a chest expander works the same muscles in somewhat the same way as archery and it can help, a lot.

Einion

 

[Ribonucleic]

exercise!

Once I was doing lot of push ups, and I noticed that my hands got very steady and I had much better control of my muscles. Of course you can't paint right AFTER doing pushups, your hands will be too shaky to hit the paint pot! Even 2 or three hours after they are shaky. So I painted before doing my daily pushups.

Maybe something like a gyrotwister is also good to excersise your arms (it's fun and not too expensive, google it!)

 

[frozenfoxx]

For shaky hands, of which mine do frequently due to spending all day on a keyboard (they're used to movement, comes with the job) I do and recommend the following:

-Alcohol, as previously mentioned, can actually help a bit. If you're underage, obviously don't bother.
-I find caffeine, in particular doses, can help. Some people are already used to having a lot of caffeine in their systems and if you're one of those people more of it might actually mellow you out a bit (because you just burned your system on it). It also will depress you a little, but that's what painting in groups is for.
-Rest both elbows on the table. You will feel weird. Trust me, it works.
-Work on big pieces. Depends on your game or hobby obviously but get something like a tank or a base or whatever that takes big, wide brush strokes and do that for a bit. THEN come back and it's much easier to do the small stuff because you just got it all out of your system.
-Get one of those hobby bases with the alligator clips. I don't use them often, but when you're trying to get something particularly screwy there's *nothing* better. As a precaution put some cork in the alligator clips so they don't damage the base it's clipped onto.
-Do not use magnifying hardware, it'll make you anxious. This is because...
-The human body is *always* in motion due to blood pumping. Some movement is to be expected. You simply must balance the pieces of the brush, painter, and model so as to remove as much disturbance from this effect as possible. Think of it like a sniper getting into position: tripod, covering, comfortable prone position, so on and so forth. Now apply that logic to your painting "stance" and you'll get a lot more precise, smooth headsho-...err, paintjobs every time.