Hands of prayer...can you see the hands of prayer?

A few weeks ago, I was invigilating the O Level examinations at a secondary school. Before each examination began, all the students would say a prayer, cupping their hands. One day I was struck by a boy's hands as he prayed. He had long slender fingers and his right and left hands touched each other lightly at the finger tips, creating a graceful concave form.  At home looking over my wax studies, I suddenly saw a pair of praying hands in this work below. Can you see the hands of prayer?

Inspired, I began to make more drawings of these hands. Here they are. Can you see the hands of prayer?

Wax and Chinese ink on paper

Wax, pastel and Chinese ink on paper

Wax, pastel and Chinese ink on paper

Wax, water colour and Chinese ink on canvas board

Wax, water colour  and Chinese ink on paper

FANTASTIC MIRROR IMAGES from wax studies

The 'mirror' image (Right) was made by putting paper over the original work (Left) and placing a hot iron on it.

Melted wax from the original work (Left)  is transferred to the paper.

Interesting and unexpected effects are obtained in both the original and mirror images!

The mirror images work well on their own.

I love the speckled texture that resulted from the interaction of watercolour and wax.

Thanks again to Mr Tagusari who shared this technique of waxworks on paper with me. 

2 wax studies on canvas frame

The frame (20 x 20 cm) makes it easier to apply wax evenly and more thickly...

Wax was painted over the canvas and the surface was incised.

DETAIL of the above: I would like to retain the delicate scrapings of the wax

Watercolour was lightly brushed over the surface.

Watercolour marks add another element but some of the wax scraping marks fell off as the surface was handled.  

Second study - thicker wax and incised lines were deeper.

After brushing over with Chines ink.

I will slowly increase the size of the frames and make the wax thicker so that the incised lines will be more pronounced.

wax studies with watercolour

Watercolour was applied to the wax studies that were made earlier.  Some pleasing results below.
Thanks to digital editing, I could crop the studies to my liking.

Wax studies using Mikio Tagusari's work process

I am grateful to artist Mikio Tagusari for sharing his method of using wax on paper and to my friend Asako Tomonaga for translating Mr Tagusari's notes to English.  Lots of learning and discovery for me - wax is a exciting medium!

Chinese ink is applied to a waxed surface that has been incised with lines.

Another study- a blank piece of paper is placed over it and  a hot iron is applied.
The mirror image on the right can be developed.

Bees wax  and Chinese ink on paper 'sealed' with watercolour

Bees wax and Chinese ink on paper 'sealed' with watercolour

Bees wax and Chinese ink on paper 'sealed' with acrylic

Bees wax with damar, Chinese ink on paper 'sealed' with gouache

Paraffin wax (right) produces a warm grey.

Will do more studies like this.

Detail of the above.

painting in progress

acrylic and graphite on canvas, 40 x 40cm

practising for a book illustration project

All studies A5 size done with acrylic on paper

Encaustic!

Encaustic paint Starter's kit ordered from Zairah Art Supplies arrived from US last week. Excited to start work.

Studies done with hot iron and wax crayons while waiting for my encaustic paint to arrive.  Each A5 size

Each  A6 size

A6 size