Wednesday, October 1, 2008

HANDS: Batman SNOW #192, pages 11 & 12




Seth said,
"Spend time now perfecting your hands and you will thank yourself for it later. Just keep a mirror handy and spend as long as it takes to get the hands right.... When you feel really comfortable with them your life will be so much easier. They can convey so much expression."
He was writing this advice to someone who asked him for help drawing a comic book. At the time he wrote it, he was working on this series. If you look at the hands in these two pages, in nearly every frame they are full of expression.
On the left page, Dr Fries argues with the person at the desk, gesturing with his left fist and his right two fingers, not just one, as I might have been tempted to draw. In the next frame he says, "I can't believe you're even considering this," and shows with his hands his exasperation.
In the page on the right:
Upper left frame: the gunman adjusts his glasses with his free hand. A small, incidental gesture that gives this whole page the feel of reality.
The girl crying on the right covers her face with her hands. The man lying in the middle covers his head with one hand while the other curves toward the package he was holding.
Bottom right, our friend the police detective holds his glasses away from his face while he ponders his options.

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