100 hands studies challenge

Challenge of 100 hands studies I made recently on art streams. Took me a while but was a really fun thing to try!

Usually, I’m not a big fan of art challenges, as sure they can be motivating and fun but also can be overwhelming and impose pressure that doesn’t necessarily make you a better artist. For me, the best way to improve has always been through actual illustration/artwork practice, and even though sometimes I participated in Inktober or PleinAirpril it wasn't a big part of my artistic journey.

But one day we were discussing this on stream, and I decided to give it a try and experiment a little. I often struggle with drawing and rendering hands - construction is complex, detailed and feels like a never-ending study. So I wanted to follow closely if any quick progress can happen after repeatedly drawing one body part step by step.

Aaand it actually worked! Not only did my construction improve, but switching to color studies towards the end of the challenge really boosted my render and overall understanding of color. I think you can even notice some improvement while comparing first hands I made to the last ones.

Even though it definitely won't become a daily routine, it was a cool experiment, and I might try it again with other subjects in the future.

P.S. During the stream, we thought of something meaningful for my 100th hand study, so I ended up doing a whole study of Leonardo DiCaprio meme because why not, haha