Physical Danger
With a universe as diverse and massive as ours, it's difficult to use the word "never" with a straight face. Still, we're going to use it here: in the vast history of time and space, an aspiring sketch artist has never chosen a different career path because she was scared of being injured. This will (hopefully) come as no surprise to you, but moving a little black stick across paper is not exactly a dangerous proposition.
Of course, we'd feel just terrible if you read this section, felt safe, and then wound up injuring yourself on the job, so here's a quick list of potential accidents to watch out for anyway:
- You sharpen a pencil too much, then drop it, tip-down, on your foot. It hits that thin little stretch of skin between your toes.
- You're suddenly curious what charcoal dust smells like, and raise the paper to your nose. Boom—paper cut right across the septum.
- Your police sketch helped catch a serial killer who can't stand looking at himself. He sees your sketch, flies into a rage, and head-butts you before the police can haul him off.
- Saddled with the fear of serial killers who can't stand looking at themselves, you become the first official sketch artist of an experimental wildlife magazine that, for some reason, refuses to use cameras. Your first assignment is to draw a hungry crocodile. You get too close and...you get the point.
