1. Drawing Hands
Hands can add so much expression to a painting, just like a face, they can add to a story. Are they place over your chest, do they hang limb by the side of the body, or are they sending something away? Maybe a bird or a random thought?
They certainly don’t have to punctuate a story, merely suggest it, and then we are free to add to it what we like. That is the storytelling art. We let the observer complete their story and make it their own – and then the bird flew up in the sky and delivered my message. Even though the message is not seen, I know it’s there.
And so the hands never have to be perfect, but their movement is important. Don’t focus on the details, just remember, what are you trying to say.
Here is another video on drawing expressive hands expressively. Again, just try to remember the movement of the hand, what is the hand trying to communicate and what is the direction of that movement. As long as you keep that in mind, the details can be alway worked out later. Start with the simplest shapes and lines and then progress to the details, or forget the details.
To view image on Pinterest, click on the image
Here are two artist that inspire me very much in the way they draw/paint hands.
Do you have an artists that inspires you? Find their artwork, maybe you have a book and study how they use their lines to create/express the movement or position of hands. When you look at the picture, what do you sense from it, or what does the position of the hands say or communicate. Then try to express the same.
Here is the picture I used, from Leonardo Da Vinci
Now we are going to start adding hands to our faces. I would like you to create a composition drawing hands in relation to what you are trying to say in your story. Is the person holding an object? I she giving a hug, is she offering something? Try to think of something and then say it in your drawing.
The Art of Wabi Sabi for Expression
Wabi-sabi represents Japanese aesthetics and a Japanese world view centered on the
acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a concept derived from the Buddhist teaching of the three marks of existence, specifically impermanence, suffering and emptiness or absence of self.
Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, asperity (roughness =
or irregularity), simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy, and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes.
According to Leonard Koren, wabi-sabi can be defined as “the most conspicuous and characteristic feature of traditional Japanese beauty and it occupies roughly the same position in the Japanese pantheon of aesthetic values as do the Greeks ideals of beauty and perfection in the West.
Whereas Andrew Juniper notes that “if an object or expression can bring about, within us, a sense of serene melancholy and a spiritual longing, then that object could be said to be wabi-sabi.
For Richard Powell, “wabi-sabi nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.” Buddhist author Taro Gold describes wabi-sabi as wisdom and beauty of imperfection.
The words wabi and sabi do not translate easily. Wabi originally referred to the loneliness of living in nature, remote from society; sabi meant “chill”, “lean” or “withered”. Around the 14th century these meanings began to change, taking on more positive connotations. Wabi now connotes rustic simplicity, freshness or quietness, and can be applied to both natural and human-made objects, or understated elegance. It can also refer to quirks and anomalies arising from the process of construction, which add uniqueness and elegance to the object. Sabi is beauty or serenity that comes with age, when the life of the object and its impermanence are evidenced in its patina and wear, or in any visible repairs.
After centuries of incorporating artistic and Buddhist influences from China, wabi-sabi eventually evolved into a distinctly Japanese ideal. Over time, the meanings of wabi and sabi shifted to become more lighthearted and hopeful. Around 700 years ago, particularly among the Japanese nobility, understanding emptiness and imperfection was honored as tantamount to the first step to satori, or enlightenment. In today’s Japan, the meaning of wabi-sabi is often condensed to “wisdom in natural simplicity.” In art books, it is typically defined as “flawed beauty.
I have always been attracted to Wabi Sabi, or to those paintings thats carried in them this calm and peaceful transient beauty, that was visibly understated, weathered or almost visibly covered. I always return to this style, but in some way the perfectionist in me tries to win over, and correct all the mistake. I still like the muted palette and the stressed surfaces of wabi wabi, even thought what always tries to emerge, wants to be seen.
This video demonstrates my intention of playing with wabi wabi, and see what can be uncovered.
For this lesson you will need mixed media paper, I used two brushes, number 4 and 6, acrylic paints – Paynes gray, Quanachridone Orange, Quanachridone Magenta, Raw Sienna, I used Irresistibles liners, pencil, chalk and gesso.
Going along with the wabi-sabi theme, this is how I added my hand to my portrait.
The colors I chose again were Paynes Gray, Raw Sienna, Raw Umber, Magenta, Quanachridone Orange and Gesso. Brushes sizes 2, 4, 6, Charcoal, Irresistibles Liner in Plum color, Inktence watercolor pencil in Plum.
Expressions 