Art Criticism of Drawing Hands Averi Childress

Drawing Hands By M.C. Escher

Description The artwork Drawing Hands is exactly what it sounds like: hands that are drawing. Ironically, the title could also be referring to what M.C. Escher was doing while creating the piece: drawing hands. The artwork was created in all pencil; showing two hands that ‘come alive’, and each one is drawing the other. It’s a continuous loop. Given that it was done in pencil; the color scheme of the artwork is primarily the grayscale. The background of Drawing Hands is a textured surface, and both space and value can be found within the many shadows placed throughout the piece. The two-dimensional sleeves add line and shape to the drawing, and form is developed as the hands ‘come alive’, or become three- dimensional. All of these elements work together to make Drawing Hands the somewhat illusiony piece of artwork that it is.

Analysis Drawing Hands is a really cool looking, sort of complex piece of artwork. The never- ending loop that exists within the drawing, alongside the crooked paper, balances out the entire piece. The endless drawing circle, which consists of a continuous pattern between 2-D and 3-D sections, also helps to unify and create movement within the artwork. Although more emphasis is placed on the right hand, the differences between the two hands gives the drawing much needed variety. The many shadows combined with all of the shading throughout the piece adds contrast to the drawing. All of these principals are what makes M.C. Escher’s Drawing Hands such a recognizable piece of artwork.

Interpretation I don’t know what M.C. Escher was trying to convey when he created Drawing Hands, or if there was even something that he was trying to convey. He could’ve just wanted to create a cool looking optical illusion type drawing. After looking at the piece for a while, I came up with my own meaning for it: dreams or thoughts becoming reality. The artwork starts off as 2-dimensional, which represents a dream or a goal within somebody. Then the dream becomes 3-demensional, the hands are representative of a dream becoming reality. That reality molds another dream, which also becomes reality, and so on. My interpretation might not be anywhere close to M.C. Escher’s, but it’s what his artwork made me think of.

Evaluation Drawing Hands is a very well thought out piece of artwork. It creates a sense of mystery. It draws you to it and once you reach it you’re left to wonder what it means. The concept, the illusion, everything about the piece just works. The drawing caught my eye, and is one of my favorite pieces of artwork now. M.C. Escher did a wonderful job with it.