Hands

Hands covered in what looks like soot, but with much more of a gleam. Everything touched is left with faint fingerprints; miniature, ash-like, contour maps. The skin beneath the ash is smooth and fleshy, but the back of the hands are not the same; the skin is dry and creased every so often. Aggressive wrinkles characterize the skin and yet, there is youth within these hands. Youth of a young artist, living a life through graphite and paper: making marks, making mistakes, making beauty.

Every mark on my drawings is a moment in someone's life, be it of joy or sorrow.

I try to draw with feeling, capturing more than the shapes, values, and colors.

I draw and paint like I write: descriptive and tonal. The latter is key. And life is the lock; indecipherable.