I'm curious about what people use to protect the paper from the moisture in their skin when drawing. Is it just cotton gloves? Or is there something special/unique? I considered asking at an art store, but the possibility exists that they may only want to sell something that means more profit.

I've done a lot of different things, but the simplest is what I ended up settling on:

-> Folding a piece of paper in half and having it under my hand.

You have to be careful not to just slide it around with your hand or you can smear your art underneath, but if you get used to using it as a stationary platform that you lift and move as you need access to different parts of the drawing then it works quite well.

Unless you're prone to sweaty hands, there shouldn't be any issue with -moisture-. (if there were, I would expect your paper to become warped from absorbing sweat. Is that what is actually happening?)

Rather, skin oil can be a problem, for ink-based things (eg biro, calligraphy pen, etc) only. Personally, my experience is that it's only a problem with the off-hand (which may press on the paper to hold it in place).

I think most people successfully ignore it, though; I've read many art books, and haven't seen any mention of gloves.

I sometimes wear gloves or put something under my hand from touching the paper to prevent smudges. Oily skin sucks sometimes but it does help with shading if you have to use your finger :V

I know this doesn't exactly answer your question, but you shouldn't be putting your hand on the paper while you draw. No, seriously! The best way to draw is gripping the BACK of the pencil/pen/brush, it also helps to be standing, and to draw with your arm extended. You use your whole arm to draw, not just the wrist. you should try it some time.
With this technique, It really helps to use an aet easel, they exist for a reason :D

Tokaido said:
You use your whole arm to draw, not just the wrist. you should try it some time.

I've read the exact same thing before, except for improving aim in FPSs. Basically, lower your dpi/sensitivity and aim more actively using your whole arm for greater control and accuracy.

savageorange said:
Unless you're prone to sweaty hands, there shouldn't be any issue with -moisture-

Yeah, I meant sweat. Sometimes I choose a better word that isn't when I'm tired. It can also fuck with my cheap pencil's ability to lay down graphite.

Nyteshade said:
I've done a lot of different things, but the simplest is what I ended up settling on:

-> Folding a piece of paper in half and having it under my hand.

You have to be careful not to just slide it around with your hand or you can smear your art underneath, but if you get used to using it as a stationary platform that you lift and move as you need access to different parts of the drawing then it works quite well.

That's an interesting idea, thank you. I don't know if I can use it though. I don't flex my wrist much.

TheHuskyK9 said:
Oily skin sucks sometimes but it does help with shading if you have to use your finger :V

I haven't progressed that far yet, I'm still building my line work technique. I will store that bit of info for future use. Thanks.

abadbird said:
Basically, lower your dpi/sensitivity and aim more actively using your whole arm for greater control and accuracy.

What's dpi? Also, I guess you could say I'm trying to increase my sensitivity to the pencil on the paper.

Tokaido said:
I know this doesn't exactly answer your question, but you shouldn't be putting your hand on the paper while you draw. No, seriously! The best way to draw is gripping the BACK of the pencil/pen/brush, it also helps to be standing, and to draw with your arm extended. You use your whole arm to draw, not just the wrist. you should try it some time.
With this technique, It really helps to use an aet easel, they exist for a reason :D

Yay. I already put my arm into my technique. 1 out of 5 instinctively. Go me. :3
As for holding on to the pencil near the "eraser" end, not touching the paper, standing, and using an art easel, I am eager to try. Thank you.
Kind of a weird coincidence that a friend gave me an easel just a couple of days ago.

Thank you to all of you for the help.

try this

Thank you, Mutisija. That's the idea I was looking for. Sometimes I'm stuck waiting in a car with a small sketch pad. Tokaido gave good advice for at home, you helped with the other common situation I find myself in. Much appreciated.

Again, my gratitude to all who offered help.

A rather cheap solution would be to place some tracing paper underneath your hand while you work. As a leftie I had a lot of trouble in art classes when it came time to draw, so it helped me out a great deal.

Mutisija said:
try this

Book marked

edidaf said:
Thank you, Mutisija. That's the idea I was looking for. Sometimes I'm stuck waiting in a car with a small sketch pad. Tokaido gave good advice for at home, you helped with the other common situation I find myself in. Much appreciated.

Again, my gratitude to all who offered help.

Yeah, I can't dtraw like that all the time either, it's not exactly possible to stand up and whip out an art easel every time I want to doodle something :P

Learn not to touch the fucking drawing?

edidaf said:
Again, my gratitude to all who offered help.

Well, almost everyone.

Tokaido said:
Yeah, I can't dtraw like that all the time either, it's not exactly possible to stand up and whip out an art easel every time I want to doodle something :P

I use a clipboard (usually A4 format, but I have an A3 as well). It does mean that you can only get a certain distance (arms distance) away from your art, but you can get whatever angle you want (provided you have good control over your left arm too), and it's pretty easy to carry everywhere along with a folder of suitably-sized paper. Good to use even for a sketchbook, since a sketchbook isn't really all that rigid.

IMO you should avoid going any further than a rough sketch if not standing up. Arm control is unreliable sitting down at a table or in a car in my experience, there are certain 'lumpy spots' which seem to be directly caused by posture. Slightly less of an issue if your drawing is small.

(I've been recently also focusing on controlling core muscles (ie. abs) during drawing, and it seems to improve stroke control, especially for large strokes. Trying to think in terms of putting my whole body into it.)

savageorange said:
I use a clipboard (usually A4 format, but I have an A3 as well). It does mean that you can only get a certain distance (arms distance) away from your art, but you can get whatever angle you want (provided you have good control over your left arm too), and it's pretty easy to carry everywhere along with a folder of suitably-sized paper. Good to use even for a sketchbook, since a sketchbook isn't really all that rigid.

IMO you should avoid going any further than a rough sketch if not standing up. Arm control is unreliable sitting down at a table or in a car in my experience, there are certain 'lumpy spots' which seem to be directly caused by posture. Slightly less of an issue if your drawing is small.

(I've been recently also focusing on controlling core muscles (ie. abs) during drawing, and it seems to improve stroke control, especially for large strokes. Trying to think in terms of putting my whole body into it.)

When doing traditional stuff I do prefer to stand up, but I haven't tried it with digital stuff because I only have a drawing tablet (can't look at what I'm drawing and my hands at the same time).

Tokaido said:
When doing traditional stuff I do prefer to stand up, but I haven't tried it with digital stuff because I only have a drawing tablet (can't look at what I'm drawing and my hands at the same time).

You can set up the desk at the right height that this works out. It's my current setup. I'm about 6'1", the top surface of my tablet has been arranged so it's at 3'4 (101.5cm); was previously a little higher but that resulted in sore wrists. Tablet is a Monoprice 12", which has a slope of about 5 degrees without the feet mounted. It's placed as close to the front of the desk as possible, next to the keyboard.

(Some assembly required ;) This was a cupboard unit that turned out to have an ideal height and structure for a stand-up computer desk. A bit of basic carpentry made that a reality.)

Of course, this means your arm is pointing down rather than forward. But, it works out okay, big sweeping strokes are fine, etc.

Not quite as good as an easel setup, but far better than sitting down. Sitting strokes are poor in any medium IME.

(I think I'll try to mount my tablet vertically, now that the idea has come up.. vertical surface is really much better.)