With this delightful little book George Bridgman has handed the world's artists a remarkable educational resource. The Book of a Hundred Hands is exactly what it sounds like. Packed to the gills with page after page of Mr. Bridgman's instructive anatomical sketches of hands, this book offers astounding insights into the depth and variety of expression lurking within the human hand.Among the more frustrating aspects of the body to capture, hands are nevertheless of the utmost importance when drawing or painting a human figure. As Bridgman points out, the human hand has a tremendous capacity for expression, and the attentive artist takes advantage of this potential to imbue their work with detail and meaning. After all, we can tell a lot about a person from their hands: everything from a subject's age and gender, to their psychological and emotional states, and even occupation. The broad, calloused fingers of the mechanic are seldom mistaken for the soft delicate knuckles of the concert violinist.

Why are that girl's fingernails bitten and ragged? Perhaps she is anxious. Knuckles, cuticles, hair, scars, nails, rings, polish callouses, dirt, the list of potential details goes on and on.With 100 carefully-selected illustrations that clearly identify the regions of the hand in a variety of positions, The Book of a Hundred Hands is the perfect workbook and reference for any artist, beginning or experienced. Whether you read it as a textbook or pull it from your shelf for inspiration when you're stumped on a particular hand-rendering problem, this book is a worthy addition to any artist's library. The skills it contains are sure to elevate your human figures to new levels of expression and detail.