Look at my paintings and you will see that I have a healthy obsession with painting hands. The reason? To be honest, it’s difficult to explain, because I don’t fully understand why I started adding them in my portraits and why they have become such a dominate force in my work.
Why?
Artists are asked to explain why they paint or draw what they do. My artist statement for example, describes pretty well, my thoughts about my current body of work. But it does not really go into why I paint hands. So here goes. I will attempt to explain.
We use our hands to interact and communicate with the world around us, be it to create, or destroy. In that way, our hands are a direct link between our mind and our environment. In addition, hands imbue emotion, and depending on the pose, they can bring meaning to the work. Fingers are not unlike keys on a piano. As they articulate and move in space, light and colors bounce from the surface of each finger at a different rate, creating a rhythmic and dynamic pattern. In short, painting hands brings meaning, movement, pattern and “soul” into my portraits.
Painting Hands Project
As of May 2020, I am in the process of designing a new piece I am calling the Painting Hands Project. I intend to create a wall of paintings of hands. Similar to my wall of mouths back in 2002. Each painting will be an exploration of movement, color, meaning and medium. The project is meant to encourage creativity and experimentation by allowing me to try new colors, compositions and mediums. It’s important that I foster, within me, the artist’s mindset for play and exploration.
In the video below, I discuss why I paint hands, and explain my thoughts on how I continue to paint and work through the corona-19 stay home order. I conclude with the informal introduction to the Painting Hands Project, which arose from the difficulty in finding quality time to paint, and the mental bandwidth to really delve into a difficult work of art.
Hi Scott Hutchinson, I’ve only just become aware of your site and vlog and am most impressed by your insightful, even soulful, approach to dealing with the enormous changes affecting us all in lockdown. As a long retired behavioural( English!) ecologist I absolutely sympathise(sic!) with your approach to painting and involving hands in portraiture and as an ex teacher I totally agree that when concentration, time or motivation are in short supply then small achievable tasks are the best way to get back in.However, since you are the professional, I would add that what you can achieve in a couple of hours is several thousand per cent more than I could possibly achieve as an amateur in a week or so! Thanks for your comments and I look forward to exploring your work in much more detail. Stay safe and all power to your elbow – if that isn’t too anatomical! Best wishes, Jim Berreen(UK).
Hello Jim,
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I appreciate your thoughts. Coming from an “Ex teacher”, that means a lot. You mention two hours, but your right, you can’t discount the years of work that lead to those two ours. Time has allowed me distill down the process for quicker results. You stay safe as well, and thanks again! – Scott