Hands #22 - #30

YAY! I finished 30 hands in 30 days! This past week I honestly didn't think I would be able to make it, I'm packing our apartment and preparing our new house (remodeling the kitchen, bathroom and painting), I had my cousin  from out of town over for the weekend and the beach vacation I had  been putting off sense January started yesterday. With so little time I did more hands per drawing/painting, and some aren't done yet, but I have #30 and that's all I set out to do this month.

Over the past 30 days I defiantly can see my strengths and weaknesses. I look forward to taking the next month off before starting a new challenge. I think I read something about 'Guys" in June... Anyway here are the hands...

#22 I sketched this of my own hand, it was inspired by Neil Gaiman's February tale in The Calendar of Tales  and I entered it in the contest.

#23 & #24 Holding hands. Not a lot of time was spent on this one, I was feeling the deadline, the shadowing could use more work.

#25 & #26 Mans best friend. (After we move I'm getting a puppy so I have a bit of puppy fever :) )

 Hands #27, #28, #29, & #30. It's from the color festival in India.

Here is the unfinished watercolor. This is about half way through painting it. I need to add color and more depth/shading, but my time was short so the finished product wont be until next week (or after we move!)

See you in June for 'Guys'! 

Hands #17, #18, #19, #20, and #21

Ugh, I'm falling behind.... I can see the end in sight, I just need to get there! 

When I post hands  (like the clasping or praying) I count it one hand as long as both hands are from a single person. So if I draw two people holding hands I count it two hands because it's from two different people. Hand #17 and #18 are one drawing they are holding hands.  #19, #20, and #21 is a  stacked view of an adult, child, and baby hands. 

Hand #17 and #18, it needs a little more work to get that pointer finger to look more bent but otherwise I'm happy with it.

Hands #19, #20, and #21. This is still a work in progress. The shading and details just aren't right, I've been playing with it for two days and I think I need to put it away for a while and come back to it. Fresh eyes will be able to work their magic and get it finished. 

Hands #14, #15, and #16

I got three more done in the past two days. I'm still hoping in getting a few done ahead of schedule so I have a buffer but so far that plan hasn't worked, and today the sun is out and I'm going outside to enjoy it. Procrastination at it's finest....

Hand #14, Clasping in Prayer, I'm beginning to see a theme in April (other than hands), and its that lots of prayers are needed, regardless of what you believe in. This one was done for my mother.

Hand #15, Prayer bead hands. This one was done for all the people in the Boston bombing, my thoughts are with all of you and your family's.

Hand #16, Dirt filled hands. Because even in all this sadness, we need to look at the good and beautiful things in life.

Hands #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, and #13

 I am so happy that its finally the weekend! In an hour I leave for the cat show but I wanted to upload the hands that I have done. My last post was an understatement for how stressful this week was and in the end it didn't turn out well either. 

I was stuck in court for three days, my focus was on supporting my family but during some down time I roughly drew some hands in pen to occupy myself. Then when I was home last night, I poured myself a cocktail and got out my charcoals and tag-teamed drawing and watching MadMen on netflix. 

I am happy to say, somehow, I am caught up, day 13 and drawling #13.

Hands #8 and #9, I was happy with, even though I lost my model that was clasping their hands.

Hand #10, the proportions are off, but it is what it is.

Hand #11 is my left hand on the arm of the bench in the courtroom. 

Hand # 12, the fist, focusing on shading and form.

Hand #13, I finished it this morning. Hands holding prayer beads, I loved these hands. 

I should have more time this week and am hoping to get out my water colors and do a few hands in that medium :)

Hands #4, #5, #6 and #7

This week is going to be busy and stressful, at least the first half of it anyway. I keep thinking about the last half of next week, I get to help a friend prepare for a Cat show and then on the weekend  go to the Cat show and meet a bunch of breeders. 

One reason last month was to horrible is because my cat passed away, slowly. He just had a kitty cold at first, then stopped eating, and then couldn't use his right side limbs. After he went to a specialist for a spinal tap and treatment, he started to improve a little, we had to do psychical therapy with him multiple times a day, lay him in the litter box and syringe him water. A day after his check up he declined and he went back to the vet. He passed away later that night from respiratory failure. 

It was hard to watch him waste away, he was turning 6 this year, far to young for a cat to go. He was my muse and buddy, always near me or on me. I miss him very much. While he was sick, deep down I knew he wasn't going to make it and my thought process went from never wanting another cat, to not wanting that horrible void of his companionship.

The past few weeks have been for grieving, my boyfriend was hit pretty hard by it, he's never had to deal with close death before (pet or otherwise)  I know there are people out there that will roll there eyes 'its just a cat' and I feel bad for them because they obviously have never had that special bond before, it's a beautiful feeling.

So next weekend I'm going to a Cat show and taking with breeders, making friends, and hopefully by the end of the month, have a new kitty to spoil and love. With this thought I am plowing through the next 3 nerve wracking day, because whats more exciting and soothing than kitten shopping?

Now that I've shared, onto the hands!

The praying hands. the face should have more wrinkles and details but it's about the hands right? I could of done more work on them but I did the details  at 1 AM after 3 Arnold Palmers and was feeling a bit tipsy to say the least.

Working hand.  I liked the angles of the fingers when they curl, it's defiantly something I want to work on more.

Clasping hands. After I got the shading done for the back of the hands they actually looked like hands and not a blob with finger nails.

Old love.   I loved this as photograph and I'm really happy with how it turned out, It took my a while to get everything just right and I redid some of the fingers several times because there placement just wasn't working.

Hopefully I'll have more before the end of the week, or I'm going to have another day like yesterday where I marathon and see how many hands I can do till bed.

Hands in April! hands #1 #2 & #3

March Madness is over! hurrah for April! My March was full of stress, sadness, and craziness, I am glad to see it over with. April (in my area) brings more rain, I look forward to it washing away and creating new things. Everything is starting to grown and bloom, I love it, I even have empty egg cartons with seedlings starting on my craft table. I'm dreaming of the full garden we will have in the summer, yum!

Back in February I didn't know if I would be able to finish 29 faces on time, it seemed easy at first, then got harder as the month went on. I loved the experience and got excited when I read about Hands in April. I've always loved hands, they can be so expressive and intricate.  I honestly don't think I will be able to finish on time but I'm going to try. I started late and did three hands today, so anything is possible. I'll try and get a few done a head of time so I have a little cushion on those busy days. For all those participating with me, I cannot wait to see how we do and how well we improve!

This one was inspired by the color festival in India, I really want to re-do this one in watercolor so the colors POP.

 One of my favorite Photos of me as a child is me holding my dads hand like this one. There is something so special about a child holding your hand like this.

I loved the photo I based this one off of, old wrinkled hands inspire me, each crease is a story.