Hand 1

I am attempting a painting of my left hand.   Knuckles are getting swollen and nobby with arthritis.  Not as bad as my aunt's whose hand were nearly useless in her late 80s.    One hand had frozen almost shut and fingers could not open.    

I had not really paid much attention to my own hands until our senior art group leader asked us to draw a hand.     I dug out a drawing i did in 1984 from a college course assignment and compared them.   

Now i can clearly see the gnarls and nobby knuckles.      Im going to do a lot of hand exercises - squeezing a rubber ball and such to help keep them more limber.   Id hate to lose their usefulness.    

This is charcoal sketch with beginning of  background.