Drawing Hands

Many people have problems drawing hands.  There are no real quick fixes to drawing hands.  Like playing the piano or writing poetry, you just have to practice as much and as often as you can to improve. 

I have noticed that my hand drawings are sometimes good and sometimes abominable.  I just can’t stand it.  So to finally improve overall, I have challenged myself to draw one hand a day from photographs. 

The first thing I noticed is that a good photograph makes all the difference.  You can’t get good core shadows and cast shadows if the lighting in the photograph is directly in front.  When this happens, you get flat lifeless hands no matter what you do.  So I went looking for hands with good shadows and light from above or to the side with one light source.  Having several light sources messes up the shadows and makes for a difficult drawing too.

The second think I have noticed is that the bones in the hand are becoming more like second nature to me.  I’m seeing them better now where before I was struggling to see where the knuckles fell and drawing the fingers like sausages.  They really are more like long thin rectangles with the corners rounded a bit.  Also women’s fingertips tend to be a bit more pointed and rounded while the fingertips on a man are more squared.  

Practice certainly makes a difference.  So far I have made it 20 days in my journey and I plan to continue for 3 months.  I should be a hand expert by June.  I may even continue the experiment for as long as a year.  Who knows?

Fine Art Photography

In the past year I have discovered the joys of manipulating photography into fine art.  I’ve made several mistakes, including not taking enough photos of my model while I could and not being careful with the shaky camera.  I should always use my tripod when I’m at a photo shoot because I can get very excited, giddy even, and suffer from the shaky hands.

While taking photos of this little girl I did just that, laughed often at the sweetness of her face and eagerness to give me the shots I wanted.  Only later did I discover I had blurred several of the best shots.  Ah well, we live and learn.

I also learned to use a generic background so that cutting out my pieces won’t be as difficult.  I have so many lovely photos of flowers and pieces I want to use later but didn’t photograph them against a mono-colored background.  This didn’t make things impossible but just added to my work.

Here I have the elements of the Fairy Princess for you to see.  Her feet one at a time, naturally so she won’t fall down.  I wish I had taken a better photo of her arms but I made these work.  Then the flower I used multiple times and put a Gaussian blur on the ones in the background.  Finally I had to manipulate the hair and the wings so that they would appear to float better.

I’m actually happy with the final outcome but I worked a long time to get it, smoothing the dress and liquefying the hair.

Using Flat Tone

Flat Tone isn’t an area of shading but rather an area of single color, almost like a cutout shape of black, grey, red, white, or any color.  The interesting thing is that it creates the illusion of light and shadow.  Our minds somehow replace the missing information.  The shape must be precisely and accurately drawn to pull off the illusion convincingly but when it is done well, it is fascinating.  A subtly drawn silhouette can communicate a lot!  It's an optical illusion we are creating.  Even the fingers have details that aren't really there.  I see fingers where none are drawn in or defined.  As Mr Spock would say: fascinating.

I love the way this method is used in fashion design especially with striped fabrics or sold, classic black.  But that doesn’t mean it can’t be of great use in children’s illustration.  One of my favorite stories is Harold and the Purple Crayon.  It is Harold who is wearing a singularly flat outfit but it doesn’t distract from his character at all. 

Weaknesses to work on

In terms of personal difficulties, know I have many things I need to work through.  I have to strengthen my knowledge and skill drawing hands and intend to spend a good deal of time on that next year.  I have a problem giving up outlines in my illustrations.  I have clung to them because they are familiar in children’s illustration but I am somewhat afraid of what it will mean if I eliminate them. Yet they are becoming a crutch and are limiting.   Some of my work is beginning to look like a coloring book with the coloring already done.  I don’t want that look.  I want the outlines to look like they are part of the illustration and work to unite the image overall.

I tend to rely on just one or two brushes in Photoshop and have been told that a variety of brushes and textures would help my work but when I use a variety of brushes I’m not as happy with the outcome.  I need to experiment more and that takes time.  I figure I will eventually find the textures and brushes that work best for me but until then I am using an abundance of experimentation.

These are things I know I will be working on in the coming year.

Why look at other artist's art?

Alice in Wonderland, Collage by Denise McGill

I think that looking at the artwork of other professionals in the business does sway my work slightly for several reasons.

One is that I keep up with what is actually popular in my field right now.  Not that I want to cater only to what sells, but I do want to know what children are seeing, what parents are currently buying for their children and what direction the medium is taking.  It makes a difference in the way I approach publishers and the way I execute my own illustrations.

Red Riding Hood, Collage by Denise McGill

Second is that I want to be challenged by what the professionals are doing.  Looking at the work of artists I admire keeps me striving to get better at my own craft.  It causes me to not be satisfied with what I’m doing now.  I like to think that I have to be better tomorrow than I am today and to do that, I have to keep reaching for a higher goal.  I have to keep studying, watching tutorials, and looking for new ways to approach my work.

Old Boots, Collage by Denise McGill

Third is just the enjoyment of others work: the colors other artists are choosing as opposed to mine; the lines they use or don’t use; the perspective and the point of view they use.  I never look at another artist’s work without thinking somewhere in the back of my mind, “how can I do that with my work?”  It’s just fun to look at what is out there as opposed to my style and my work.  I enjoy it.

Keep growing, keep improving, keep learning.