Henna for the Back of the Hand from

It's always wonderful to henna the hands. This is a photo of a design from Saturday henna in Five Points. Once again, the "Sangeet" pattern book proves popular, and this pattern is a reduction of a more complex design.

I started working farthest from the tips of the fingers, and drew the defining lines for the cuff portion of the pattern first. I then drew the little leaf jewel at the top of the the cuff before filling in the band. To do this, I first made the bold semi-circles that define the look of the inner band, then went back to fill them in.

I finished filling in the band, went back & did the embellishments on the leaf, and then moved to draw the pattern on the back of the hand. I drew the spiral portion of the tattoo (farthest from the thumb)filled that is, and finally drew and finished the larger paisley.

My paste for the day was a bit wet, so very easy to work with, but slow to dry. This year, perhaps because of the addition of a bit more pomegranate concentrate when making the paste, the paste is very easy to work with, but will run if not completely dry before going out into the sun... particularly if the lines are bold, or if you choose to have several applications of the lemon sugar glaze.