A lesson on anatomy is also one on perspective. What is closest to the viewer appears larger. While body parts may get exaggerated, it sure beats having tiny hands. ;-)
The hand connects us to the physical and the spiritual. Extending it is a symbol of friendship; tight-fisted, the hand conveys power; and with a third eye, it is the all-knowing. While in class, we relegate the hand to its less formal sense of touch, in the sketchbook, shine a light and the stage is set.
A fingered extremity with a noteworthy voice; it points, claps, grips, clings, claws, slaps and caresses. And so articulate that it can get us into a host of trouble - with just one finger.
In the "hands" of these designers, this assignment brings out their creative voices.
Here I have the chance to be excessive with my metaphors...
The sketchbook is a dance floor - its pages celebrate movement and spirit. The sketchbook is a travel journal - for life's momentary fascinations. The sketchbook is a playroom - with doodles, both spontaneous and goofy. The sketchbook is a closet - overflowingwith inspiration and miscellaneous junk. The sketchbook is a modernist home - a neatly stacked archive of ones design aesthetic. The sketchbook is a lab - for the repeated failures, and those explosive moments of creativity...I could go on.
Instead, the following students show it more eloquently - that the sketchbook is about process and not about finished work.
Brigitte wants her work to tell a story. Her beautiful and expressive hands are doing just that with their action, as in the work of Kollwitz, Kokoshka, and Escher.