Moses Botkin July Painting Challenge: Hands

(left)
"Blue Egg"
Original unframed oil painting
on hardboard 6"x6"
©2012 Diana Moses Botkin

This month it was my turn to decide what the group would paint for our Challenge. I chose hands as the subject, because they are always so interesting to me and can indeed be a challenge.

I debated with myself about what to paint with hands or a hand. I actually started a previous piece but it wasn't going like I had envisioned so I abandoned it.

Sometimes that is just the way it goes. I may get back to it later.
 
For now, however, my little painting above illustrates the hand Challenge idea. I especially liked the contrasts of the smooth egg texture with the wrinkled hand and simple shape of the egg with the more complicated gesture of the hand.

Every month when the group does these Challenges I look forward to seeing how the others interpret our subject. We don't see what each other is painting until our deadline, right before our blog post day. It is always a bit magical to see what each member thinks up to paint and often there are ideas painted that some of the rest of us have considered for the particular Challenge. Other times they are each so unique I cannot say that any of the same ideas came into my own mind. But this month I actually considered very similar ideas to the ones that Mark and Vicki painted. It is a lot of fun to see that.

(left below) "Hand and breast" Oil on panel 8"x8", ©2012 Mark Adams
(bottom right) "'lil Mama-San" Oil on Linen, 6"x6" ©2012 V.N.Ross