Working with your hands.

A comic about embracing mortality.

Simon Peng

Nov 28, 2023

What do you do when your hands hurt when you work...but you work with your hands?

As an artist, the pain represents something troubling... Not just a threat to your work, but a threat to how you express yourself.

I've been thinking a lot about this mortality of my own physical ability. How it's not a question of *if* I lose the ability to draw by hand, but *when*.

Up until a few years ago, I held my pen in an... unconventional way. I used to get annoyed when people would point it out (I learned that many people are very comfortable telling you if they think you're weird) but to me, it wasn't something that needed fixing.

Until... the pain started. Just a little at first, but eventually I noticed I was avoiding drawing or writing by hand.

It felt like writing with my left hand, but after a lot of practice I managed to retrain my hand to hold a pen more conventionally. And the pain receded for a while...

But that can't be the end of the story, right? Now, I type a lot at work, and the pain returned. And I can reduce it by learning a new way to type...

...but what does it solve? When I know there will eventually be another thing that invites the pain back, why even try to do anything about it at all?

Part of me wants to seal my hands up, put them on a shelf, and preserve them forever. "Oh, no, they can't be used. That would reduce their value!" The absurdity of this feeling is not lost on me.

Instead, I think the lesson is in the experiences of retraining myself... learning a new way to hold a pen... practicing a different way of using a keyboard...

...what these experiences taught me is that, while we might not always be able to do things the same way, we have an amazing ability to learn new ways of creating.

So, while I'm trying not to actively hurt myself, I'm also embracing the finite nature of my hands by using them. Have a great day! Love, Simon <3

Thanks for reading Robot Fan Club 🤖 I’m pretty proud of this comic and I’d love if you would share it with someone you think would like it! ❤️

This post is inspired by my own increasing discomfort in my hands. It’s an homage to the parts of my body that are having a hard time, and it’s a reminder (to myself) that pain or disability doesn’t exclude you from getting to make art. Many amazing artists have shown us that before and many more will continue to for the rest of our time here. You deserve to make. We all do!

Leon Leung

What an inspiring comic. I think we can apply the same thinking to other limitations, even non physical ones like time or ability.

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1 reply by Simon Peng

leifpeng

Nov 30, 2023

Love this comic! I can still recall the first time I had to draw non-stop for hours and hours on an all-night pitch session at O&M. My hands ached. That was new. Aching pain was new when I was that young - LoL. Mom got me those Chinese medicine balls that you roll around in your hand to limber it up. I didn't have the patience to keep at it, though. Now I kinda wish I had, because having aching hands is just a regular day at the desk. Sorry to hear that you have joined the club, Si. :(

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Working with your hands.

A comic about embracing mortality.

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