Friday Lates focused drawing: Hands

Hands can play a central role in a painting’s composition and its historical interpretation. Hands hold each other, while fingers point and touch, to help convey the story or scene depicted.

From the elongated, pale hands of the Sienese School, to the vibrantly stylised gestures of the German Expressionists, join artist and gallery educator William Goldsmith for an in-depth drawing session focusing on hands in the National Gallery.

Spend time in the Gallery exploring paintings in the collection before returning to the studio for a step-by-step practical drawing session to create your own dramatic compositions. We explore examples such as the graphically rendered knuckles of Crivelli and the weathered, gnarled fists of Rembrandt, in order to discover the different poses that hands are painted in.

We will also learn how to break down the hand’s complex anatomy into simple shapes, managing values from dark to light and focus on overall gesture rather than tiny details.