How To Paint: a hand

Sunday is here again! And, as with every Sunday, it is?átime to paint.

Each Sunday, artist Natasha Henderson?áwill guide you through some simple ÔÇ£How ToÔÇØ tips for painting. Having been (honestly) inspired at a young age by the oft-spoofed televised artist Bob Ross, Natasha would like to offer some simple tips on How To Paint Stuff.

This week, I would like to try?ápainting from observation, rather than from memory. One thing that is usually available for observation, is a hand.?áAs with all the?ápaintings in this series, I started by rubbing a bit of white acrylic paint onto?ámy paper in order to seal it.

Now, I want my model to be comfortable. So it is important to not only be happy with the shape that your hand is making in space in regards to the painting, but it should be a pose that is?ánot tiring. Tense poses are interesting, and you can try that later, but to start I’d suggest a relaxed pose.

Start with the centre of the palm. Try to find a shape within the palm. This will act as a sort of map, a guide on which?áto gauge distances and markings of reference points later.

Next, look closely at the distance of the fingertips from the palm. Try to mark the outer edge of each finger.

Next mark where the little lines where the joints in the finger are, and paint around the edges of the fingers and hand.

After this, it is?áall a series of “back and forth”, similar to when we painted an egg. White, black, grey, wipe, mark, white overtop… all based on observation. If you find that one of the fingers maybe is too short or too long-looking, paint it as it should be, and “erase” any paint that is too dark with some white.

When you think the hand looks pretty good, you can fill in the background. This situates?áthe hand in space, and is also an opportunity to fix any weird bits and straggly edges to the hand.?á

Paint on! Paint?áon.

Natasha Henderson, Montreal
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