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take a few minute break every hour or so and do something else.

I tend to sit on the floor to paint & model, so being hunched over really kills my back, & if Im not careful, I get pins & needles.

The best solution Ive found is to take frequent breaks. Whenever you start feeling a bit stiff, go make a cup of tea, play some guitar, check your facebook, do some work. Whatever.

Its also good, because it breaks up potential monotony. If I paint for 3 hours solidly, I wont want to paint at all for the rest of the day or the next day, but If I paint in 30 minute bursts & take breaks I can keep it up all day & not get bored.

I do drink tea fenris, its the greatest thing on the planet, bar none. And that assgroove/ball groove chair is friggin hilarious

Stretching hands, back and neck before, during and after painting works wonders. I've dealt with mild arthritis since high school and when I trained as a court reporter I learned some great stretches for the hands:

Splay your fingers out, curl into fists, straighten your fingers while pressing the tips together (like a bird's beak), then curl your fingers to claws and repeat.

I just tried your technique, and it works wonderfully! Thanks for that one!

GoFenris wrote:

My painting chair.

Hand exercises, back stretches, Aleve and caffeine in the form of sun tea! Also, I get up and browse DakkaDakka between coats (i.e. I take a break every 20-30 minutes).

That's brilliant. It's beyond brilliant, there isn't an adjective that can describe that chair.

OT, I procrastinate my painting so much an ultimatum ensues within my gaming group, so that kind of motivates me. That, and just thinking about the end result of a fully converted and painted army just gets me going. Usually.

Rico, currently drooling over the in-the-nude-painting-chair.