Quitting sports for your art

[Romans6]

So I really enjoy I guess what you could categorize as "extreme sports" and the more I get hurt the more I hate myself for doing them. A while ago I told myself I would only participate leisurely, as I truly fear that one day I'm going to break my hand and not be able to draw. Anyways today I went long boarding and kept going on bigger and bigger hills telling myself that it would be fine, and sure enough I was going way to fast and ate the pavement. The pavement was unsmooth so it basically cheese gratered my leg and part of my left hand. Luckily I'm right handed and I only got a couple small cuts on the drawing hand. So I’m pretty sure this is the last time I’m going to mess around doing anything overly dangerous, its to scary to think about risking your art for a little adrenaline rush.

So I guess my question is how many of you have quit sports or cut back drastically so you don’t have to risk your art?

[Qitsune]

Last year, as I was biking back from work, some old guy opened his truck door without checking first, in my face and I ran into it, my drawing hand first, then I fell in the street. Turns out that it was bruised, and other parts of me too. I was lucky that I didn't break something in my drawing hand, but I was also lucky that I wasn't run over by another car. Basically, I wouldn't do stuff that specifically has higher risks of hand injuries, but I'm not going to stop everything I do to protect my hand.

I could get run over by a car tomorow when going to the drugstore but I'm still going to go to drugstores. That and I figure repetitive strain injury is pretty much the biggest danger to which my hand is submitted.

[Romans6]

thats rough Qitsune, thats like someting you would see in a movie. Good thing you didnt break anything! What the heck did the guy do, please dont tell me he drove away haha?

[Pezz]

I play hockey now, and I don't know if I could give it up. I wear full padding, cage and big thick 13"-14" gloves which seem to act as a brace for when I fall. As far as extreme sports go, I try to minimize injury when inline skating or skateboarding by wearing wrist guards.

They're not the coolest thing in the world, but I figure if it means possibly not being able to draw or sculpt, I choose to look dorky. I like my wrists, knees and chicklets.

I will not stop riding my bike though because of fear of breaking something. I like it WAY too much.

[FourTonMantis]

That's something I've never thought of. I do karate and we frequently practice wrist locks. We keep it pretty controlled but there have been a few times where I've come home with my drawing hand wrist pretty sore, and accidents are always possible. There's no way I'm quitting that though. Luckily, the only place I've taken a really hard hit is the throat, which I typically don't use for drawing. :)

[Pezz]

Luckily, the only place I've taken a really hard hit is the throat, which I typically don't use for drawing. :)

Usually it's good for breathing, which is good for living and therefore drawing. :oneye:

I do southern style trad. kung fu and I know what you're saying, we get a little crazy with our Qin Na class.. and Fight Night. Hell if you don't tape or support your wrists properly just hitting a heavy bag can KILL. It's important to do everything properly, protect yourself properly in all things.

[Bill]

When I was roofing I'd try an figure out the best way to fall.

[MyOrangeHat]

Meh I'm not going to stop longboarding or horseback riding to play it safe. I just do those sports safely. It would have to be a pretty huge injury to really impact drawing. I've broken both of my arms/wrists(at different times) horseback riding and it's had no long term effects on my art. Drawing doesn't rely on such delicate movements so that's not what worries me, I'm actually more worried of doing something stupid and jamming/breaking a finger and not being able to play my violin!
But no it would never stop me from doing a sport. Sports get me thinking, get my blood flowing, and make me happy. In that way they help me create art so they're worth the risk in my mind.

And, dude, don't bomb down crazy hills with bad pavement! Gravel and potholes are the enemy. Smooooth pavement. Go scout local hills for some smooth pavement. ;)

[Demo]

well i did give up a sport but not because i thought i would hurt my hands or any thing, i was just unhappy with the amount of time the coaches wanted us to put in weed getup around 4 swim till 7:30 go to school and then swim after school till about 6:30 it was completely ridiculous and i didnt see actual sunlight for like 4 years. around my 3rd year i found CA about half way through my season, and from their on out i became less worried about swimming and more concerned about art so the next year i didnt come back to the team. yeah i do miss i but i love ca and art more so :P
but still it was about the hardest 3 years of my life and i have great memories like getting to swim against micheal phelps for olympic trials and stuff.

but really dont stop giving up things you love on the off chance you might get hurt i still like to do karate, ji jitsu, and being a photographer for the military. just got to b aware of whats going on and know your limits

[Romans6]

myorangehat: yeah I should have been riding on a smoother hill but this one is close by my house so its always tempting, I've actually biffed on it before, so shame on me for my stupidity. But yeah horseback riding can be pretty dangerous, my gram owns horses and they freak me out whenever I attempt to ride them.


But yeah I think I'll buy a helmet, wrists guards, and elbow/knee pads. I'm just being stupid about it I could be way safer. Luckily I had jeans on though, which actually ripped on impact. So I'm bumming about that as well.

[Max Challie]

I get my adrenaline rush from videogames and deadlines. Often mix them up.

I never knew what the deal was with these motorcycles and fast cars anyways, but then I think the same way about going out to get drunk, etc.. it's up to you really, but you'd benefit a lot more from martial arts anyway

[smugbug]

"risking your art"?

I think it's more of a "risk myself from living my life to the fullest". And that means the occasional physical challenge. The worst thing, IMO, is to live within fear and die with regrets.

[Meloncov]

I broke the elbow of my drawing arm once, preventing me from using my main hand for a month or so. Obviously the quality of my work suffered during that month, but I think using my off hand aided my development.

[VulgarDragon]

Well, I'm not into any sports except for weightlifting and some running. But I am afraid of working around with heavy machinery and power tools. I hate working on cars or with big machines that smash, spin, or grind....easy to lose a finger or worse. I still do some work on cars or use power tools on my construction projects, but I try to be careful as possible, like wearing safety glasses and making sure the project I am working on is secure.

[Grendel Grack]

If you're planning to venture into an illustration/concept art career, have fun now while you can. Once you start working, your ass will be glued in your studio. :)

[Jason Ross]

I gave up most of the sports that I've really enjoyed in my younger days. There are still things that I enjoy now that I try to avoid like Poker. I sometimes think that I wasted "art time" trying to get good at things that were not art related. So now I'm that guy who seems to be good at a lot of things except in the area that really matters to me now. Although...I would do it all over again and most likely make the same choices.

[NickGuy]

I was a baseball player my whole life first, artist second. I was a catcher who moved to right field in 7th grade. My senior year, my High school was number 1 in the nation in boys high school baseball in the USA today rankings. I have the article framed and i took a picture with my team around it. I thought I was seriously going to go pro. However, Our main attraction to our team was our shortstop and pitcher, both of whom were phenomenal and have moved on to college ball (one of them actually did modeling for ea's MVP baseball video game). I decided to skip that and just straight up try out for the minor league club here in town...I made it past the first 2 cuts then got let go.

After that, there were no adult men baseball options in my area (upstate new york) so it was with great reluctance that I quit and focused on art. It still burns me up to this day to see guys like delmon young and justin upton playing in the big leagues. they are only a year or two older than me.

[Qitsune]

thats rough Qitsune, thats like someting you would see in a movie. Good thing you didnt break anything! What the heck did the guy do, please dont tell me he drove away haha?

It was not really spectacular to look at (was going around 15 km/h coz ppl jump out of nowhere on commercial streets like that)

The guy didn't run away, he was just repeating :"omg! I'm sorry! I didn't see you!" over and over.
And I was just checking the bike and myself and everything was fine, except the hand turned blue later, but nothing was broken or even really strained. Only when I was at home did I realise it was my drawing hand and it freaked me a little.

[J Wilson]

A friend of mine, a children's book illustrator played roller derby. Of course she wore full gear, including a wrist brace to in case of falls. During one practice there was a big pile up of girls fall in front of her and she went over all of them, landing on her drawing hand. She broke every finger, and badly. I believe she said the wrist brace actually caused some of the damage by limiting the fingers movements, and by giving them something to break against.

Anyways, her career would have been over except she lucked out in getting a couple of the best hand surgeons in the country. She says she had parts of cadaver bones used to help fix the damage. Although she has recovered, she's told me that she permanently lost some clients, and had to build some contacts back up.

She doesn't do roller derby anymore, but she does still skate. I'll tell ya that hearing that story put to rest much of my desire to join the men's team.

[TASmith]

the closest I do to any extreme sport is teaching English to one group of aggressive young Slovaks in school. I do it four days a week, and I've been told they're dangerous. So far it hasn't effected my drawing hand, just my peace of mind.

[serhc]

if you're going professional, i think it's generally a prudent decision to pass up on activities that might cause you to be unable to do your job for a long period of time. i have a virtuoso violinist friend (performs as a soloist with symphony orchestras, etc.) who absolutely LOVES basketball, but won't play for fear of damaging his hand. if you're making a living off your hands, you want to keep them in the best condition possible

[FranciscoShreds]

Honestly, I can't say not to do it. As an avid skater I can't picture my life without it. Personally I'm with PatriciaS on this, I need to live my life to the fullest. However, when I do go into the industry I might slow down, till then I'll just keep hucking my self down long sets of stairs for as long as I can. :D

I don't regret any of my rolled or dislocated ankles, fractured arms, bruised ribs or every single permanent dent in my legs.

[Noah Bradley]

I don't out and out avoid doing things that could potentially injure me, but I try to recognize danger and be especially careful. Working carpentry, there are plenty of ways to get hurt, but if you keep an eye on yourself and don't do anything stupid, most injuries can be avoided (or at least they'll happen to your non-drawing hand). :)

As far as time goes, I think sports and other physical activities are great things to include in a schedule. Sure, it's nice to devote every waking moment to art, but your body has its needs too. Moving around and refreshing/envigorating yourself is gonna show in your art when you go back to it.

[MyOrangeHat]

But yeah I think I'll buy a helmet, wrists guards, and elbow/knee pads. I'm just being stupid about it I could be way safer. Luckily I had jeans on though, which actually ripped on impact. So I'm bumming about that as well.

Definitely get a helmet!! A head injury will put you out of commission faster and more permanently than an arm/hand/or wrist injury. Heck a decent head injury would be worse than having your drawing hand be mangled into unusability! At least if your brain still works you can figure out how to draw with your other hand or your toes or something. Bombing down a hill you can pick up some mad speed too so a head injury isn't some far off possibility. Okay head injury rant over. Sorry about that.


I've got a funny longboarding/art story. I was running late to The Met this fall to meet up for a field trip so I decided to do the unwise thing and skate on the sidewalk of one of the roads cutting across Central Park to save some time. There were leaves covering the sidewalk so I couldn't see the pavement very well. Well I was going darn fast and I hit re-bar that was sticking up out of the sidewalk and hidden under leaves. I went airborne and I completely tore up my one arm, broke my glasses, and put massive holes in my jeans at my hip and knee. But I had to meet my class so that's how I went to The Met and walked around. I was a disaster bleeding all over and looked a tiiiiiiny bit out of place walking around the museum. :P

You can check skateboards at the bag check at The Met and MOMA in case anyone wondered. I do it all the time. But they won't let you check musical instruments. Just a random probably not useful fact.

[Straight Edge Ryan]

I gave up sports because I'm lazy

[drd]

I gave up sports because I'm lazy

I'm even lazier

I never started

[Liz Edwards]

I played paintball competitively from when I was 13 to 17 or so... I sold all of my kit to buy my Intuos3. I kind of regret it because I miss it pretty bad, but I love art too so I guess it's cool. Plus, it's nice not being one big bruise

[EFrost]

It'll take a fair bit of damage to make your hand completely useless. Are you sure you don't want to slow down on the drawing, in fear of RSI or something making it impossible for you to continue drawing?

[Mock]

These threads are all the same.

Do you have to give up a social life for art? Did you ever have a significant other who broke up with you because of art? Have you ever given up sports, drugs, or hookers in pursuit of your artistic goals? Do I need to stop watching so much tentacle porn due to fear of Carpal Wanker Syndrome interfering with my ability to draw?

Art is like any other difficult, highly competitive and time consuming career. Many med school students rarely do anything other than study. Surgeons are very rarely willing to risk their livelihood by breaking or injuring hands that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and a hell of a lot of time to train.

What you give up for your art depends on how much it means to you and how much time you want to spend on it. It also depends on how recklessly you do that activity. If you don't want to injure yourself, don't try to play Speed Racer down your local steep asphalt hill.

Now put that midget porn away and draw!

[Ryuartyi]

I just started up doing a sport again, so I'm doing quite the opposite. I'm still young and I can balance both art and tricking/free-running, so I should be fine.

I don't like the idea of giving up something you really love for a career, you'll just want to do it more and more until it's all you can think about. It happened to me while I was working on my chemistry degree, and I won't make the same mistake again.

[Jason Ross]

My best friend told me about this article some time ago and urged me to read it.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-expert-mind

This article talks about why there are people like lance armstrongs, tiger woods, and michael jordans out there. By all means enjoy your youth as you only have 1 shot at it. But art is like training for sports... someone else is practicing while you're not.

I was an avid chess player, martial artist, Gamer, sports athlete, and Poker player...I gave it all up for the most part. If I am doing anything besides working, it's art related...I still sneak in some Poker for fun from time to time.