all hands

I have a hand fetish. I admit it. My heroes, though all different men, have certain things in comon, and one of those things is that they all have fabulous hands.

My love of hands has been a along-time affair. One of the first ever movie ideas I came up with, many many moons ago when I wanted to be a movie director when I grew up, began with Christian Bale's hands lifted to the sun, water dripping off them, beams of hot sunlight shooting through his fingers, making them look almost like frog's feet (it was symbolic okay!). This image was so strong for me I managed to build an entire story of post-apocolyptic life around it.

Further down the track, when originally coming up with the little icons we use for each day on the Pink Heart Society, this was the one I wanted. We eventually went with the statue of David - which don't get me wrong is fabulous! - but it's indicative that this was my orignal favourite.

Now as a writer, I get to focus on my addiction on a daily basis. When meeting someone new, apart from their face the first thing that we use to take their impression is their handshake. Is it hard and calloused? Bony and firm? Soft and moist ;). So much of a character's personality can be highlighted in their hands. Luca was a piano player, Flynn runs his hands over his stubbled chin as he thinks, James (here, to the left) does the same over his short hair. My current heroine has quite a thing for my hero's hands and wonders: "Was staring at his dimple, being reassured by his dimple, getting prickly feelings skittering across the back of her neck at the sight of his dimple any better than feeling the same way about his large sure hands? Or worse?"

And it turns out I'm not the only one. Many painters find that the hands are the hardest thing to get right. But they are also one of the most evocative - the shape, length,colour, sinew, scars, nails, knobbles - hence so many portraits go from the top of the head to the lap where the hands are positioned just so. Ditto photographers.

Also, the fabulous Hero Inspiration mecca website provocateuse.com has a whole section dedicated to pictures of actors in which you can see their hands. There are 23 pictures of Christian Bale in which his hands are featured, more than any other actor.

I knew I was onto something special all those years ago ;).