Fine Motor Skills

I’ve had to go through physical therapy a few times in my life. If I did my exercises regularly and correctly, I was usually rewarded with less pain and my PT telling me she was seeing improvements in my strength. Although the exercises were always mind-numbingly boring, they worked. 

This lefty has been sketching every day with the right hand for two weeks now, and I’m pleased that I can already feel it getting a bit stronger. Unlike my drawing skills (which have always gone up and down, up and down, like a series of rolling hills instead of on an upwardly progressive line), the physical development of my right hand seems more consistent. Presumably, my right hand’s drawing skills are also improving, but it’s harder to see that progress. The development I feel is more in how easily I can move a pencil to make a curved mark in the right location and even how quickly I can move it. It’s satisfying to feel those changes. 

Drawings of my hand, however, don’t seem to show improvements in fine motor control as I thought they would. Here’s where that skill is much more apparent: in writing. Just for fun, I thought I’d make a writing sample (bottom of post) with my right hand. I won’t test it every day, but often enough to see progress, if any. If my self-directed “physical therapy” is successful, I should ultimately see improvement in my penmanship along with my drawing. We’ll call this sample the baseline.

A redo of the pose from Day 140, which I wasn't happy with. I like
this one better.

8/6/20 writing sample