Raise your hands!
If there is one thing I’ve learned in my art modeling is not to neglect- or overlook- the significance of arms and hands in a pose. For a while I was always thinking torso, torso, torso. (Not completely my fault, by the way, since instructors are constantly referencing the torso when they teach. And I pay attention!) But I know now that arms and hands express gracefulness, elegance, emotion, and purpose more than any other parts of the body. What I mistakenly treated as mere utilitarian limbs, have now become major players in some of my best poses. And my private work with Dan Gheno has taught me a great deal about the expressiveness of hands.
This drawing by Fred Hatt features a model with unusual and interesting hand/arm placement. The model is not me (if only I were that curvaceous!), and her pose is memorable. No wonder Fred was inspired by it.
