Not only have I always struggled to draw hands but I also challenged myself to use hard edged brushes only & no eraser tool.

It was an interesting exercise and made me really appreciate form rather than detail.

Reference images

2B & 6B pencil on sketch paper

Full view is twice as big, just FYI. :)

Feel free to leave critiques, please.

my left hand was posing, and the right one sketching :)

The paper's yellow oxidation and the ink's sepia patina are artificial, created by lowering the brightness 10~20%, then using Image-Adjust-ColorBalance to pump up the reds and yellows. Line strength was lightly enhanced using the burn-brush and the paintbrush set on "multiply 14% opacity".

Hands are always a challenge, so this contest was a welcome reason to put this series together. :)

pencil on paper (around A4 size)

Mouths. Several of them in fact. Created with hard-edged brushes & a limited palette.


*thanks to the many stock photo creators at deviantART

My left hand (x5) drawn with 5H, 2H, and HB lead.
Original is 8"x23", 1:1 scale.
No access to a good quality scanner, so I had to take a photo.

pencil on paper