painted hands

I was spontaneously inspired to paint hands this weekend (???) so I went with it. Literally like a lightning strike, I was “told” to paint hands. I taped down red paper to protect my dining table from splatters. I ran to the closet and took my paints off the shelf. I grabbed a pile of white card stock and set my timer for 21 minutes (all the time I had left in the afternoon before I needed to get ready for work).

These pages are what resulted in those 21 minutes of ferocious painting. I got better with each new piece of cardstock I worked on. The first few hands looked more like plants, with no shape or differentiation between fingers (and using teal didn’t help either). I realized I liked the skin tones better…and that lavender paint. I realized that starting the shape of the palm first, and extending the the fingers after, made more real-looking hands. // I was not quite sure what I was on to, but I liked it.

The next morning, I decided to digitize my favorites of the bunch into an 8 x 10 inch printable that calls for you to ‘paint the nails.’ I ended up drawing nail polish on them with Tombow Dual Brush Pens, and with that this creative little project felt completed.

I tend to use paper to convey things I can’t actually have or do. In the past, I’ve used paper to problem solve, soothe, and express excitement.  I used to color in Christmas coloring books all December long because Christmas was too long to wait for! I used to sketch myself having fun at my elementary school’s parking lot bazaar the week the carnival crew started constructing the rides. // These hands & this printable seem to be grown up examples of the kind of paper art I used to make when I was young…and I think only positive things come from tapping back into to something you loved to do when you were young. Do you agree?

I need to paint my own nails. I think that would make me feel better. xoxo

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