The Adolfsson syndrome
I don't know if this is a common problem amongst illustrator but since I've started drawing every day I've got me a lump on my index finger, exactly where the pen is. This might be part of an evolution process or a new kind of sickness. I know that syndrome sounds a little grandiose but lump doesn't have the same ring to it, I'm aiming for posterity here . Don't want to go down in history as the Adolfsson lump. It would be interesting to know if someone else has noticed this or some other malady due to their artistic craft.
I too have a lump on my middle finger from drawing. It's a common thing among illustrators.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry Mattias, it does no harm ;-) I'm actually proud of it, it means that I am a real artist!
don't worry, mattias, help will be there soon! just await the emergency horns sounding around the corner.
ReplyDeleteI just had a regular surgical treatment the last days and it didn't (really) hurt: they directly implanted a rubber in that part of my finger instead, so that I could use the regrowing lump and rub it off myself
in case of need I'll share that surgeon's address
take care,
thorsten
I have something like that too.. but it used to be bigger, when i wrote in high school! With such beautiful hands you shouldnt worry about that. And i know what im saying, im a sculptor! :)
ReplyDeletei was watching alien the other day ... have u met any suspicious beings in the past days?? lets say with acid blood and long tails??
ReplyDeletewell hope the adolfsson lump vanishes quickly so u can keep drawin .. when i draw to much my thumb aches , but no lumps for the moment. im not a jedi yet:P
man, your illustrations are crazy, I get lost in that flying elephanteque one. Great inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI'm an animatior and get that, too, such is the fate of us artists, I guess...
I too have that. I had stopped drawing for 5 years and it kind of went away, but now that I'm drawing again, it came back. It's a sure sign of any artist I think.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, nice work. You do some incredible stuff.
It's true, as the others confirm. I've had one on my right middle figer since I was nine years old. Its size and intensity depends on that which you use to draw, and the individual positions with which you grasp said implement, but all I know is that when the lump goes away, it's a sure sign that I've not been in the studio as much as I should.
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Phew!I'm so glad you posted this! I have a lump on my index finger (the first finger) and I thought it must be some awful geriatric medical condition beginning with osteo something or other! Yes, I think it should be called the Adolfsson Lump, sounds much better!
ReplyDeleteActually Mattias, my lump has been on that middle "l" finger since even before I started drawing. I remembering it being there since at least grade 4 or 5, I started drawing around that age. I think it has to do with the intensity of the grip, you see we really love our pens and pencils. :) So we hold on real tight!
ReplyDeleteIt grew on my finger too after holding any kind of pen or pencil since I was a child.
ReplyDeleteBut I think it's there not only because of drawing, in my case it grew mostly from writing by hand.
It must grow just after using pens all the time.
But, like Bjorn said, it's nice to have it and show it and say "yes, you know it grew after drawing a lot".
I realised that I tend to compare myself with people who develops activities that I like mostly by those marks they get on their bodies after practicing that activity for years. For example, those long nails of guitar players or even I envy the twisted necks of violin players and the weird shape of the lips of trumpet players.
Those who draw just get this little beautiful mark only, but surrounded by other awful ones such as fat bellies, humps in their backs and blury vision.
It is not fair.
I have that too - only I just noticed now you mention it, and, as Bjorn said, it's a good thing - It means I do actually spend a lot of time drawing...
ReplyDeleteI have had this since a kid..drawing and writing..holding pen/pencil too tightly.
ReplyDelete:)
http://www.penagain.com/
ReplyDeleteHi Mattias,
ReplyDeleteI've got this lump too! And the best part is: it has a poor green glimmer because I used a green wooden dip pen today.
Yep, I've got one of those lumps, too. But now, thankfully, you've given me a name to call it!
ReplyDeletewonderful that so many of us share this, it's like a masonic thing, you can spot an artist just by looking at someones hands.
ReplyDeletejust in case, I usually practice with the other hand...
ReplyDeleteHmm.. mine is on the left hand. Wonder what that means..
ReplyDeletei think, i will now wait for the moment in which i find that I have a lump on my finger.
ReplyDeleteknowing ive done enough work that i too have become Lump material!! :D
Jason, it mean that you some day will inherit the earth, but for the moment your life will is hell.
ReplyDeleteDibujador, practicing with the other hand is probably a good idea.
Carol it's not the lump that makes the artist :)
This is an affliction for more than artist's and surely a sign of a willingness to suffer for your art. My husband is a musician and he has these kind of things on the pads of his left fingers from bass playing.
ReplyDeleteive got one too. When i was little all my teachers used to frighten me saying that i had a huge problem, cause when i grew up the lump would grow and grow and grow. It hasnt, but now im not afraid of it anymore xD
ReplyDeleteoh, forgot to say. ive been coming to your blog to see ur drawings for a while, but ive never said anything. I really like them ;)
ReplyDeletethe lump is familiar. but the web growing between your index and middle fingers, that's disturbing!
ReplyDeleteI have something like that too!!!!Oh!!
ReplyDeleteThanks all, as it seems this quite common amongst artists, and probably something we should be proud of. I wished I didn't hold my pen as tight as I do though.
ReplyDeleteThat's weird, I thought it was only I that had that kind of lump on my finger. But now I know I'm not alone with this syndrome:)
ReplyDeleteJag har också detta syndrom. Lite knasigt, det måste ha med tecknandet att göra.
I got this lump on my first job out of college - in-betweening on an animated movie - from gripping the 2b pencil too hard. I've relaxed a bit since then, and the lump has gone away BUT that area of my right middle finger is NUMB. I've had no feeling there for 22 years. I must've squashed a nerve or something gripping the pencil; and all the drawing I've done since then hasn't helped, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this!
me too, well it's not really a lump but a completly crooked index finger from years of drawing... I'm pleased to have a name for it now, thank you ;)
ReplyDeleteDon't think I can take the credit for the lump thing, but I might have been the first to blog about it, well maybe not.
ReplyDeletei had one too at school, it went with time, which i guess means that i don't write and draw enough ...uh.oh! really like your work lots and lots!
ReplyDeleteI have also that lump!that protects your bone,don't worry!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has the same lump on her finger because she writes and draws all the time. What a coincidence!
ReplyDeleteYou can take it away by putting lapis on it
ReplyDeleteI have had it since elementary school and most of us (Chinese school kids)have it before going to middle school because...we just had too much homework to write. Haha.
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