Trevor Hairsine tells us how he overcame an injury to continue his sequential artwork with Marvel Comics. He's currently working on a one-shot featuring the metal mutant, Colossus.
THE PULSE: I think one of the biggest worries of anyone who is creative and uses a part of their body for their job is getting an injury in or around that area. What was it like when you injured your hand?
TREVOR HAIRSINE: Well Jen, I crapped myself in the half second it took me to realise it was my left hand and not my drawing hand. After that, even when I was dragged off to hospital to have the tendons stitched back together, I just felt lucky.
The left hand being out of action is a pain in the arse, but the right hand would have spelled disaster for me and my family. I am now insured up the eyeballs ;-)
And after 20 years of dangerous sports, how do I finally injure myself ...?
I was putting out the trash.
The garbage.
I went to pack down a bag on the top of the bin which, unfortunately, had a broken glass in it and the glass went through my hand.
Nice.
THE PULSE: That's awful! How long of a recovery was it for you and how did that delay some of your expected work?
HAIRSINE: It'll take three months before it's fully healed, but I can use it pretty well after eight weeks.
Unfortunately, I was already way behind on my Wisdom deadline when this happened, so it was the nail in the coffin. Marvel had to take me off the interiors of the book, leaving me the covers to do at my own pace, while I healed up.
THE PULSE: How do you get over hurting yourself and push yourself to continue working, but also be aware that you don't do any more damage?
HAIRSINE: Fortunately, it didn't stop me from working altogether. Just stupid things like ruling lines and rotating the paper were a pain in the butt.
So I just avoided drawing buildings ;-)
The biggest problem for me was looking after my daughter, Molly. She's 10 months old, I was looking after her in the afternoons, and when I injured my hand, I just wasn't able to care for her, which caused a lot of problems.
THE PULSE: How is your hand doing now?
HAIRSINE: 'kay. Good. After eight weeks it's stiff, but I've good movement in all the joints (except the wrist, for some silly reason).
THE PULSE: Are you back on track now with your art assignments for Marvel? What are you currently working on?
HAIRSINE: I'm getting back onto the swing of things again. I've finished the Wisdom covers and I'm working on a Colossus one-off written by Chris Yost. S'good stuff.
THE PULSE: What do you like the best - as an artist - about the Russian hero, Colossus?
HAIRSINE: His shiny bullet-proofness.
THE PULSE: Who's working with you on Colossus?
HAIRSINE: Kris Justice. His inks lend my scribbles a weight that I like very much.
THE PULSE: What are some of the challenges to drawing this character?
HAIRSINE: Probably his shiny bullet-proofness ;-) Actually I don't know yet. I've drawn him briefly in the past but never had the time to concentrate on his look. I'll keep you posted.
THE PULSE: Which is harder drawing him in human or armored form?
HAIRSINE: Armoured. It's the reflections, see.
THE PULSE: I know it's a long time before your story will see the light of day in comic shops, but what's the gist of this story?
HAIRSINE: Pete's origin. His backstory. There's helicopters (I like helicopters).
THE PULSE: What's next for you after Colossus?
HAIRSINE: It's one job at a time for me for now. Small steps. One day at a time.
Like an Alcoholic.
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