For the Love of Hands

My fifth graders never cease to amaze me! I decided to attempt this project on a whim- and they excelled my expectations.  Don't underestimate the ability level of your kids! 


This project will be my introductory lesson to observational drawings from now on! They loved looking at their hands and making fun poses with them. They got really creative too- on child made a star out of the "peace sign" much like this child made the heart out of her hands. 

Heart Hands- Fifth Grade Student

We held our hands near where we could see them and I taught them tricks to blocking in our hands and fingers, how to use negative space to help block in the right angles, and to observe the contour line of hands for realistic wrinkles. 

The first step- observation!

When we finished observing our details it was time for color-here we got creative! Any color for the hand was fine, as long as we added in shading.  I showed them how to make their hands pop with shadows and outlining the wrinkles with a marker of the same color. The only stipulation they had was with their background colors. One choice had to be its compliment- the other had to be the same color scheme as as the hand; a warm color if it was a warm colored hand, and cool if it was a cool color hand. We then made a fun design in the background using those color choices.

Still in progress- but looking fabulous!

Peace out!