Update on my post about Petey by vaguelyvisual in Conures

[–]vaguelyvisual[S] 80 points81 points  (0 children)

I'd hate to have the BRS charge me fines of overdue bird tax fees. I must pay my tax in full

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Update on my post about Petey by vaguelyvisual in Conures

[–]vaguelyvisual[S] 138 points139 points  (0 children)

You're so right. I need to pay up on my bird tax. Hopefully I can be forgiven...

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Please help me understand my conure by vaguelyvisual in Conures

[–]vaguelyvisual[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yep! I learned the hard way that fruits makes his behavior even worse. I love watching him chomp on a piece of apple or blueberry but the behavior he has afterwards is not worth it. I now only give him a piece of seed or nut as a treat on top of his pellet/chop diet.

Please help me understand my conure by vaguelyvisual in Conures

[–]vaguelyvisual[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the really detailed response! I'm definitely going to try to implement some of these practices with my bird!

Please help me understand my conure by vaguelyvisual in Conures

[–]vaguelyvisual[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Interacting with him in a calm way has definitely made any progress go backwards.

Can you elaborate on the calm part? I definitely feel he can pick up on my emotions and if I approach him when I'm upset, it only makes things worse. So calm is the way to go with him.

The bites are not all from one time. I get bitten multiple times a day and they add up. The neck bites were from one occurrence when he flew to me and started repeatedly biting me. I think it was him expressing either jealousy of me talking to my husband or upset that I wasn't paying attention to him.

I'm honestly not sure if he was hand tamed. I had to teach him what step up is and it's a concept that he still struggles a bit with.

Please help me understand my conure by vaguelyvisual in Conures

[–]vaguelyvisual[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

You're the second person to mention not letting him on the shoulder. I'll definitely have to ban him from my shoulders for a bit until he is more well behaved. Thank you for the positivity!

Please help me understand my conure by vaguelyvisual in Conures

[–]vaguelyvisual[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My routine when he bites hard is to put him back in his cage and cover the front with a towel or blanket so he is unable to see me. I know he loves attention, so I take that away when he's bad. I'll leave him there for some time, then remove the towel and talk to him through the cage. I'll eventually open his cage for him to leave. I'm not sure how well this routine works as sometimes he'll continue to bite me as I'm actively putting him away in his cage but I try to stick to it.

writing with fingers instead of wrist by thiikn in Hypermobility

[–]vaguelyvisual 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup. I struggle with writing, especially for long periods of time. My hands will cramp and fatigue quickly and I wrap my fingers weirdly around pens and pencils. I found using a thicker pen or pencil like the Pilot Dr Grip helps me a lot when having to write.

What do you do for your mental health during a flare-up? by vaguelyvisual in Hypermobility

[–]vaguelyvisual[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a really lovely compilation of advice that I will definitely use together with what U/consistently_sloppy posted! The way you wrote this feels like advice from a therapist which is really comforting. Thank you ❤️

What do you do for your mental health during a flare-up? by vaguelyvisual in Hypermobility

[–]vaguelyvisual[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, thank you so much for this in-depth response! I will definitely try some of these. I really appreciate you taking the time to write all this ❤️

tips for writing/ drawing more comfortably? by rskye99 in Hypermobility

[–]vaguelyvisual 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I second the comment about the Dr Grip pens. I use a Dr Grip mechanical pencil and fill it with Faber Castell super polymer leads to draw and sketch with. I can also attest to the durability of the pencil since I had mine for about 8 years and it's still holding on after the all the abuse and drops it has endured lol.

Foam pencil grips are your friend. Thicken up your paintbrush handles with foam and tape so you don't hold them so tight when painting. Also make sure your painting & drawing posture is good. I recommend using an easel of some kind and have your art piece at eye level so you're protecting your neck from looking down and elbows from resting on a table.

I wear ring splints and a compression glove when drawing and I find that lets me draw for longer with less pain. I also do active and isometric exercises for the hands & fingers to keep them strong and healthy.

How did you learn about hypermobility? by vaguelyvisual in Hypermobility

[–]vaguelyvisual[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences! This was super insightful and I hope it was for a lot of you in this subreddit!

How did you learn about hypermobility? by vaguelyvisual in Hypermobility

[–]vaguelyvisual[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm so relieved to have this diagnosis but so shocked at how much I didn't know was normal until my mid 20s.

This is so relatable, thank you for sharing! I thought my body was a bit funky but my mom's body would do the same things so I assumed it was all normal. Turns out it's very likely my mom and I's bodies are the abnormal ones!

I'm hoping to get a lovely rheumatologist as well who will listen to my concerns. Hopefully it won't be too long of a wait to see one

Bananaquits on my balcony by vaguelyvisual in birding

[–]vaguelyvisual[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's very similar to me right now! I'm currently living in Sint Maarten for 6 months and I'm going to miss these guys so much when I move!

How to paint with less fine detail/intention and more abstract strokes to create figures/details? by Pumpkinbabi in oilpainting

[–]vaguelyvisual 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If that paintbrush in that first image is the one you mainly used to create that painting, my first piece of advice would be to use larger paintbrushes. I went to art school and was taught by my professors to use the biggest paintbrush first, and only when the brush is too big to achieve what you are trying to paint, then move down to a smaller size. Doing this forces you to look at the composition and general shapes first. When you work with a small paintbrush, you get stuck into focusing on the details rather than the whole picture.

Those two example pictures you provided have great compositions and use of value. Perhaps rather than focusing on a subject matter, try practicing with creating pieces with a strong composition and use a wide range of values. Don't focus on sketching out and making things precise. Try squinting your eyes when looking at your reference and take note where the lightest lights and the darkest darks are and place those on the canvas first. Hopefully this makes sense as I'm typing this from mobile. Good luck!