Flight (1, 2, 3, 4)

Flight 1

Flight 2

each: 14" x 18", oil on canvas, 2002, private collections

Hands can be tricky.
They're kind of hard to draw, and, since everybody knows what hands are supposed to look like (we see our own all the time!), it's easy to spot it when a drawing of a hand is off (this doesn't matter, though, if it's deliberately stylized to not be realistic).

I like these two paintings of my cousin Amanda's hands for their looseness and liveliness. I did two more in this vein, but they're not as satisfying as these two.

 Flight 3
14" x 18", oil on canvas, 2002

This one was done shortly after the first two, maybe only months later, but my tendency to "tighten up" came through. Still, there's some nice looseness, just not as nice as the first two paintings.

Flight 4
14" x 18", oil on canvas, 2005, private collection

I think this was done in 2005 (it might have been 2006) and I was using Krista's hands here. I don't think there's enough contrast in the hands themselves (I should have just rotated her until the sun lit her hands better), but the forms are okay and I like the knuckles on the right hand.

My next group of paintings will feature the human figure again (after taking a bit of a break last year by painting the Barnscapes) and hands will play a big part; practicing how to draw them is crucial. Practicing how to draw –period– is crucial.

All this also applies to feet.