A show of hands
 

It would fun to see close-ups of hands from the members as well as some from other painters.

Ingres - when he did them right....
 

One of my favorite hands by Ingres...

Tough act
 

Tough act to follow, but here's one about 85% finished. I didn't get a close-up of it done. There's now more rounding and softer edges.

body parts...

Not exactly Ingres but I think my best hand to date.

a

I find hands wonderful. Complicated, but wonderful. I make myself do them as much as possible.

These hands are a detail of larger image seen here: http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...=&threadid=936

The incomparable, William Bouguereau:

Chris,

Nice job on those hands. I too like to do hands, I think they can add so many possiblities to a composition.

Cynthia,

Thanks for liking my hand, here is a link to the full portrait:

http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...&threadid=1233

John Howard Sanden produced an entire video demonstration on this subject, entitled "Painting Hands".

I would commend to anyone reading this thread, a look at the close-up of the hands in Peggy Baumgaertner's "Unveilings" portrait of the Consulate of Malta.

In preparing to begin a new portrait, I've been skimming Joe Singer's Painting Women's Portraits (out of print but not impossible to find, a great addition to the library), in which he says, on the subject of hands:

"I urge every prospective portrait painter to devote all the time he can spare to learning the anatomy, symmetry, and configurations of hands, for they can be a fascinating addition to a portrait, or a dam*ing embarrassment.

"You can, more or less, fake your way through poorly drawn facial features by employing cheap tricks to lull the unsophisticated viewer -- tricks such as sharp catchlights in the irises, startling reflected lights in the shadows, or hard-edged exaggerated highlights. It's not that easy to bluff with hands. Even the untrained eye quickly perceives a lamely constructed knuckle or finger.

"Next to faces, hands are the feature by which the general public separates the poor from the skilled portraitist. They are worth all the study and attention you can give them."

Lately I have been painting a lot of hands. The first is a pair that has been around for a while, and the second are the hands of an eight year old girl.

And here are the little girl's hands...

Apple hand
 

a recent detail of an oil...

Beautiful, Tim

Little hands
 

I love the little hands of children.

I think Chris wins ... hands down. :D

Minh

I must arrange to visit the Judge whose hand is seen here in this attachment in order to get a better picture than the professional photographer, who did not capture the hand under the book in this pic. The entire painting appears here under unveilings.

Handy man
 

Here is a closeup of the hands in my recent portrait of Sylvia at seventeen.

A young mans hands.

These are the hands of a two year old girl. They are part of a wip composition of the little girl with her grandmother.

Violinist hands. . .

Boy's hands

Man's hands
 

Two new ones
 

Here are two new hands;

Tim, I've seen those hands with the pomegrante in person - that is a poor photo compared to what they look like in person - not even close. Those are fabulous in person.

by Nelson Shanks.
 

I love this one!

Awesome!
 

Lovely Lovely!

by the way, Claudimer, you have a great artist name!

Mary Holland Sargent and Juliette Artistide are the only two rivels you have!... just plain ole, Tim

Really?
I think I didn't understand.

what

Boring
 

I have a dull, boring name. I have name envy! I always wanted to be left-handed and have a great "artist name."

Well, we could exchange names, I'd be Tim, and You Claude!
By the way, I'm ambidextrus.

Hum...
 

There have been many times where a new name sounded good to me! ;)

Missed
 

[QUOTE=Claudemir Bonfim]what

;) I know this is an older post but found it interesting.

Tim, it's funny what you said about your name. I too have tried even different spellings of my name , various ways of initialing, even contemplated changing it legally. The things we do artistically speaking. I had an artist friend--perfect name Romney Shelton Collins. Sounds great doesn't it? :thumbsup:

Ended up with Patt ----not that great either. I tried Patricia on a couple of my paintings lately. My friends noticed and asked," who in the world is this Patricia? They all know me as Patt some pronounce it Patti -----not meant to be.

Hey Patt

Was cruising this old thread too because I'm in the process of a portrait of a little boy (12 months) and having a real hard time with his left hand. Would really appreciate any any references of a hand hanging down from his side because my reference is horrible. I printed out Tim's girl holding the apple and Terri's, both of which are terrific by the way.

Struggling with that name thing too for years. Just now found a creative way for my signature that I'm satisfied with and trying to decide if I want to add my long last name. I think it's very unique you sign yours with two ts.

I love painting hands. They can be some of the most expressive things about a person.

Some hands from my portraits...

I want to play also. Some of these are still in progress. I added a couple feet also to mix it up some.

Kim - when do you sleep? Great hands and feet - I think they are sooooo hard to do.

Michael - thanks so much for your posting. I mistakingly said I needed an example of left hand and your posting of that adorable right hand of the child will help me tremendously. If I get the nerve up, I'll post my finished portrait.

Here is the hand of Nova, oil on paper. This is about as stylized as I have ever done. And one more in black pastel.

Here are my favorite hands, arthritic and gnarled but so beautiful.

Jean