More on the portraiture of Hands

More on the portraiture of Hands

Saturday, April 4, 2026

Emily Dickinson starts a poem

I felt my life with both my hands

To see if it was there—

It is so interesting.....during this past month of focussing on hands as our artistic subject matter, I have come to have insights that paintings/drawings of hands are truly portraits. The hands hold so much character....even the age spots and wrinkles, the way the knuckles swell and enlarge over time. And young hands hold such innocence in their blemish free and smooth texture. And the way hands MOVE, the way they DO so many things......Consider the hands of a carpenter, a ballerina, your mother's hands, your father's, your children, your best friends. Yep, I stand firm: Hands are portraits. 

Here are a few of my hands experiments from this past month....

and i do mean experiments. Every month i do so many demo paintings, and i consider them painting sketches most of the time. They are done quickly, with abandonment to all rules, and with a medium that is within arms reach. It's so fun and liberating to work this way. And as you see below I often work with short little spurts of time....such as 2 minute sketching, often contour drawing where you don't lift the pen off the paper. 

As i do check-ins with my students I am exhilarated when i hear something like

Oh, I am just playing...
I am experimenting...
I am giving myself permission to play...
I don't know what I am doing but it feels good...

Those are all brilliant responses.

Who says we must be painting "serious" paintings each and every time we sit down at our easel or art table!!?? Of course there's a time for that....absolutely. But how about playing around first to see where you truly want to go with your "serious" painting....what you want to say about the subject, what narrative and expression you are bringing to your painting....

THEN you might just be ready to Get Serious!  😁

two minute quick draws against a field of gouache. i did sheet after sheet of these which led to a surprising mixed media experiment below.

a simple charcoal sketch with freestyle gouache leaves

This was fun!  Let's see, I channeled my inner kindergartener and filled a watercolor paper with all sorts of oil pastel scribbles in different colors. Over that I painted acrylic paint, WHAT, YOU SAY???  Then i scratched back to discover these two hands and a daisy. Now don't you think that's some colorful fun?  If I had gotten serious about the above painting, I am sure it would have not been half this celebratory.

And a few more, beginning with a ripped up magazine page collage. 

Birds came in and told a story with hands.

and what I would call a fun little painting sketch with gouache and a sharpie. How to add more than one bird to a hand painting.

So, we will continue a few more weeks with hands, as I am just getting ready for my "serious" (ha ha) painting of hands myself. All my play has led me to the story I wish to express with hands, my own hands holding my mala beads. How I SEE them each morning during my quiet practices as I look down at them against the backdrop of a floral blanket. To Be Revealed!

And as I said, hands have gotten me really excited. How about you? Ready to join the fun? Remember, in my classes, whether via Zoom or in-person, it's not about painting seriously, its about seriously pursuing your passion. Draw, sketch, collage, mixed media experimentations, and full permission to play play play! Each subject and each iteration of play will lead you to the next inspiration. Hands can take up 10% of your painting, so don't think they must be the central enlarged feature. Trust your Muse!

....

I love textiles.....i started with textiles back in my teens.  I am experiencing a personal renaissance in this medium - threads as paint!  Here are a few embroideries I created from my drawings, and, apologies, i did not iron them first.

And here's how an idea bursts forth - from a fountain pen sketch, to a printout sized down to fit a piece of fabric, and a drawing with heat erasable pen on fabric, and then a selection of some embroidery floss to tickle my imagination. Freya approved!

Blessings to each and every one of you reading this. Be happy!

Ready to join us?

There's plenty of creativity, inspiration and fun to go around.
→  MORE INFO on my classes here.

If you wish to join us for a month or more of classes,
GET IN TOUCH and see if you don't get inspired, too! 🎨

Blessings, Joanie

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By JoanieART / April 04, 2026