I've bought the 2mm very soft leads and a large sketchbook (I'm a miniaturist)... I've been trying the overhand grip and drawing with my shoulder, but I couldn't grasp how to make a fine line other than the tripod way... And my palm hurts a lot... I've had an inflammation there in the past, the fact that now that injury is in the way of holding the pencil like a professional really bums me out... I also tried drawing vertically, and now my back issues are reminding of themselves too 🤦‍♀️ I'm such a mess, and I would really like to hear opinions on whether it may hurt to healthy people too, and is there a way to achieve professional results if I can't do it vertically or holding the pencil in the overhand grip for something other than shading the background...

I want to add my own two cents about paper based on what I learned from my fountain pen hobby (though it applies mostly to inks): 1. Heavier paper doesn't necessarily mean better bleed-through resistance. Tomoe River 52 GSM paper is famous in the FP community for having an incredible resistance to bleeding. Meanwhile, I have a notobook from Shinola Detroit with 90 GSM paper that bleeds through *two* layers if I use a fine pen on it. 2. Paper affects color and other properties of inks. Some fountain pen inks are particularly good at shading or sheening (sort of reflective with a different color) depending on the amount of ink in a certain spot. Some papers won't show these effects at all. Others with make the effect easier to see. 3. Paper can vary even from the same manufacturer. Referencing Tomoe River again: people were able to detect the differences between paper made on different machines despite the company not announcing they'd made the switch. Machine #7 paper is extra valuable now. I think most of the difference comes from the coating applied to the paper. I doubt that this would have any effect on people who are using a dry medium like charcoal, but it may show a difference for markers or inks.

I hope everyone has joined the class discord server created by Mark Karcz. I'll post instructions here again for anyone who missed his post: If anyone is interested in a study group, I can start a discord server were we can follow along with the course as the lessons come out. Comment below and I can shoot you an invite. *Edit* Sorry, not as discord savvy as I thought I was. I'll need you to friend request me, and then I can send you the invite link (has to be friends only). My code: Other Barry#8117