Saturday, January 26, 2013

Talking Hands - #12




Ever notice how we talk with our hands.

Many times our hands reveal what our  face may conceal.
 They may express our feelings without us even realizing it.


































Besides our face, our hands are the most exposed part of our body.
The hand in the center is mine, drawn from life...  rugged looking as an old fishermans, from years of using them rougher than I should have... probably because I never wear gloves... 
(well I say never but I have learned I will wear them anytime in the future I prune Roses)
 
...the other hands are drawn from photographs in a book where I kept turning pages till I found a hand and immediately drew it.. some are better and some are worse but every one taught me something.
Nothing was planned, they just went on the paper where they found a spot.
Oh to someday draw hands like Leonardo and Durer...  



Talking Hands,  drawings of hands,  8 1/2" x 11",  cross-hatch and line drawing, dip pens, india ink, watercolor wash... 
center fist was drawn with a large writing nib, all surrounding hand sketches were done with a fine crow quill,  in my sketchbook at Desideratum Art and Jewelry in St. Martins, New Brunswick, on the Bay of Fundy.


32 comments:

Guillaume said...

I talk a lot wit my hands.

Lynne with an e said...

I've got to HAND it to you, Gwen, there are some fine sketches in here. I like how you separated each one out from the original composition so each could be viewed and appreciated on its own. My favourite is the one that appears first on this posting. It might have something to do with the palm being up and open, thus extending an invitation; and how the fingers are expressively, playfully, curled.

Owen said...

Can only echo Lou here... truly wonderful sketches. And I'm sure Durer and Da Vinci would approve... I can hear them clapping...

Penny said...

Great hands, when I have nothing better to do I often sketch my hands, but not very well!

ELFI said...

j'aime! naturellement...

Gwen Buchanan said...

Guillaume, You are very expressive.

Thanks Louciao and Owen, I really like using the small crow quill the best as the lines are more delicate.

Penny, I need another hand so I can draw both my hands at the same time.

Thanks Elfi.

ArtPropelled said...

My hands are just as battered as yours Gwen. We really ought to be kinder to them but how wonderful that we can use them to make art.

Gwen Buchanan said...

I was actually thinking of your strong hands this morning Robyn, using chisels, hammers, gouges, wrapping wire, twisting... and the strength you need to do your work... and it made me happy!

Steven Cain said...

A hand is worth a thousand words. Isn't it wonderful, the vocabulary they have... all the languages they speak. A mouth with fingers. Wonderful stuff Gwen.

ShannonAnn said...

Thank-you for visiting my blog and leaving such a kind comment. Your blog is beautiful and so interesting!
I love your Hand drawings, so expressive.
Xo's

LE CHEMIN DES GRANDS JARDINS said...

Laissons de côté Dürer et De Vinci, les grands maîtres pour regarder simplement ton travail dont le graphisme me semble vraiment personnel et intéressant. De plus ces croquis illustrent parfaitement ton propos.Que demander de plus? Je t'en félicite et je m'inscris à ton blog qui me plait beaucoup.

Roger

Gwen Buchanan said...

Ha, Love that Steven, "a mouth with fingers". a perfect description for a hand.

Thank you so much, ShannonAnn, ..I very much enjoyed your delicate and sensitive portraits.

Hi Roger, I appreciate your lovely comment very much, Thank you. I'm glad that sketching is enjoyable because I have much to learn and many to do.

Lynne with an e said...

The sound of one hand clapping brilliantly captured in pen and ink!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Haha.. oh, the silence.

VioletSky said...

We used to tease my aunt that if she sat on her hands we wouldn't hear another word out of her.
I also remember a friend of mine being criticized when in teacher's college that she her gesticulating would be too distracting for the children and she should hold something in her hands at all times in an effort to keep them still.

Andrea said...

These hands are wonderful...
Your style here is so free and bold. I love it!
Well expressed!
xo

Tracy said...

Your hand studies are amazing, Gwen. And I talk with my hands a lot too... mouth & hands often running at similar speed. ;o) Happy Day ((HUGS))

BumbleVee said...

I like the second one....hahaha.... "talk to the hand" ..... they are all great Gwen....and...mine are just as rough and wrecked as yours. Feel like velcro today ....ick.... but, gloves, unless they are surgical gloves... are just too darn awkward most of the time!

Hillary said...

Generally observation is a worthy thing to do. I love your hands Gwen. I like your style. If you want left and right try a mirror and see what a difference that makes. Two together will still be difficult.

Anonymous said...

I really like these sketches. I can tell a lot about a person from their hands. Soft or hard, cautious or overly enthusiastic. Nice post.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Fun story, Violetsky. I can relate.. ...in a similar way, I make sure I stand back when John is talking... he has big hands.

Thanks Tracy, haha, You are a very expressive girl!!

Thanks Dee, I love those tiny crow quill dip pens. I always feel freer when filling up a page in my sketchbook than if I am aiming for a finished piece to stand alone. I'm working on trying to get over that... one of these days.

BumbleVee, you say that with conviction, "talk to the hand".. Love it! My hands were so full of rose prickles they looked like a cactus. I was picking out thorns for at least a week and if someone had seen my hands they would have though i had a disease. ugh!

Haha, Hillary, Thanks, That's a great idea, I will try it. I found an old self-supporting triptych style vanity mirror at a flea market that would work great for it.

Readingwithrhythm, Yes I love looking at hands too (and ears).. I remember checking out a mans hands once, a city fellow with soft delicate digits and remember him being very concerned about his slightly torn fingernail and asking for a band-aid.. of course I thought "weany"... funny I can't get that image out of my head... the things we save in our memory!

dixiebelle said...

I use my hands a lot to express myself and I also garden a lot without gloves however, someone special recently purchased some garden gloves for me with kevlar in them and they are great!

I love your sketches! You capture the hands so well!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thanks Dixiebelle, Do you suppose he has a few jobs lined up for you?...just kidding..., but kevlar, that's for some serious getting down and dirty....

dixiebelle said...

Haha Gwen! He just might =) He did let me help him paint his shop a few weeks ago! The gloves are great for gardening though! Zero dirt penetrated the lining! My hands are always filthy after gardening and I've used these gloves twice (in the mud) and my hands stayed clean! Can't say enough good things about them!

jerilanders said...

You say that your hands look like an old fisherwoman...just last night I told my husband "My hands look 100 years old!" And they do. But they have worked hard,and accomplished much, as have yours. In fact, I think it is the rugged hands that say the most and are worthy of being captured in a drawing. I love all of yours. I can see why you couldn't stop sketching them, each position is fascinating.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Dixiebelle,I might have to find me a pair of those gloves!

Jeri, I guess the more wrinkled hands are, the more lines there are to draw. Funny thing, the more we use our hands to make things beautiful, a garden for example, the more worn out our hands become. just doesn't seem right.

Anonymous said...

I'm thinking 'Rodin'. The hands, and feet, on his sculptures are disproportionately large, it appears, and I shall have to look this up, but I've always thought because he wanted his figures to speak to the viewer. Perhaps ...

Gwen Buchanan said...

That's an interesting perspective. .. speaking to the viewers, I like that.
I hadn't spent time looking at Rodin's hands till you pointed it out.. I enjoyed them more.

jerilanders said...

Gwen, I was just visiting your "dry stone wall and stairs" post. FABULOUS!!! Oh, what I would give for that magnifico wall. I am totally in love with stone walls and put them up wherever I can, but this wall is just perfection. The curving steps, the height, the moss, and the size of the stone is simply superb! My gosh, the stones were free??!! What could be better than free HUGE stone! Tell your man that I think he is a HERO for doing such a beautiful job.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Hey Jeri, I'll tell him. i know he enjoyed it even tho it was hard manual work. It feels good to take materials that would have been buried or thrown away and come up with something beautiful and functional.

pauline said...

oh Gwen... to "someday" draw hands like Leonardo?! You are well on your way, dare i say. Your sketches are amazing. Always good to come here for a visit. xox

Gwen Buchanan said...

I always like it when you drop by Pauline. I'll just be here practicing.