Tuesday, March 27, 2012

To All Those Who Work With Their Hands... Hand #1

Hand with Pen, Gwen Buchanan



For the next while I will be posting a series of  HANDS   I drew during the last 2-3 months...
..
 There will be versions in line, paint, charcoal, conte, chalk, ink..
on plain and colored papers, rough brown paper  and watercolor paper.


This is a drawing of my hand with a pen I have had so long I can't remember where it came from,
but I like the way it feels and lays in my hand when I use it.  
I remember I was wearing that thick orange sweater to warm up 
as my hand was cold from keeping it so still in order to draw it. 



"Reason is our Soul's Left HAND"
To the Countess of Bedford,1... by John Donne, 1573-1631


approx. 12" x10" on brown paper and colored conte.



...created here in our DESIDERATUM Art and Jewelry Studio in St. Martins, 
on the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick,  Canada


13 comments:

Priya Sebastian said...

Hands are one of the most challenging subjects to draw. I was planning to work on them this year and kept putting it off so far. Now you've inspired me so much with your stunning picture so I will probably get down to doing hand studies sooner.
And your hand is holding a crowquill(?) pen, something else I've kept in my list of things to do this year...I think this is a sign to me to get down to doing it! :) Thank you yet again for a beautiful post.

Guillaume said...

It's beautiful. A mise en abyme: artist drawing the instrument of her art.

VioletSky said...

...and a left handed creator!

I also love what you did with your leftovers in creating that headboard (how did I miss that post???)

Carol Steel said...

Hands are a challenge to draw. Your hand holds so much hard work and so much talent. I'm looking forward to your series.

Lynne with an e said...

I've got to hand it to you Gwen, you are handy with your hands and there's no denying it! Seems you're always setting yourself handfuls of artistic challenges, and meeting them with a glad hand. I extend my own hand to you in sincere admiration and encouragement. As usual, very handsome work!
:-)

Gwen Buchanan said...

Hi Everyone, I love your input... and you all inspire me. Thank you!
Hands have always intrigued me.. so many angles, lines, shapes.. I've never seen any two alike.
... How could we live without them?

Tracy said...

Very much enjoying this hand appreciation, Gwen! Beautiful is your own hand. Lovely rendering. I like how the brown of the paper plays among the layering of the crayon, peeking through sometimes. And I, too, have always found drawing/painting hands difficult...but working on getting 'em better. ;o)

pauline said...

oh YAY!!! New posts from Gwen!!! ;-)
I'm always happy whenever i visit your blog & see something new. Your hands are fantastic. I just love the look of conte on brown paper. The oranges that flow throughout the drawing are so beautiful... and that shadow!! oh, need i go on?!? Just perfect Gwen. xoxo

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thanks Tracy and Pauline... it feels so good to sit down and get lost in our imaginations doesn't it... to have a few basic tools to work with..to interpret our thoughts.. it is sheer luxury.

Marie Alton said...

Hello Dear Gwen ... so nice to see you posting!

So ... you're a Southpaw, eh?
I never knew that about you! I think that's special ... and such a mystery of life as to why only a select few are! I can think of less than a dozen people I know who are left-handed.

Love the pics you've shared ... & look forward to seeing more!

Hugs ... Marie

Gwen Buchanan said...

There is always so much to do I have to use both hands.. haha..no really I do try to draw with my left hand and I do many other things with my left hand but I am right handed.. I had to use my right hand to draw my left hand ..

Ruth said...

Beautiful, and ohh, so difficult this task. And you are ambidextrous, but it can't be easy to draw with the other hand on top of it. When I saw this post the other day, I thought of the pain in my hands, and I wondered if you encounter repetitive motion issues with yours? So much close work surely must strain them. I hope you do good stretches and exercises (and lots of rest, though I have my doubts about the latter...:).

Gwen Buchanan said...

Oh yes Ruth, I have gone through phases where I have experienced repetitive strain injury... mainly mine has come from my shoulder and worked its way up my neck and down to my wrists... due to much hammering at the workbench combined with pushing a very heavy upright piano (with a cast iron plate inside) and injuring my rotator cuff.. and moving heavy cabinets up and down stairs using my same shoulder for leverage.. each time the injuries took several months to become full blown,a few months of me self doctoring, another several months to wait for a physiotherapist and 3-times as long to recover from.... and afterward trying to be on constant guard against it happening again...

... not easy though...It is hard to be conscious of consequences all the time when trying to pay attention to things that we all took for granted for most of our lives...

Isn't it ironic as life pulls us along, that our bodies become weaker as our minds become more aware....