Hands

Hands are viewed as one of the most complex parts of the human body, and with such complexity they bring about great intrigue. They’ve been a popular subject of study among artists for centuries, and I am no exception. I pursued a hand study as I wished to investigate the challenge that is their structure and dexterity. The hands are my own, which made the study both more difficult yet easier. As consequence of being my own model, while painting I had to keep my non-dominant hand in pose, trying to keep it under a specific lighting as to not alter its illumination.  

In my studies, I learned that both the back of the hand and the palm bring difficulties. Bone has greater prominence on the back while the palms carry more details through wrinkles and curves. I also found that I had to memorize their structures, especially concerning the lower left and upper right hands, as the fingers were curled in such a way that it was difficult to recompose the original position for modelling. In fact, the original pose that I had for the upper right hand had to be changed entirely as I couldn’t recreate the pose. While the study proved to be quite challenging, it was also enjoyable because of such difficulties. I’m quite happy with the end product and believe that I achieved the goals that I had set for this hand study, now being much more familiar and confident with the structure of hands.