Drawing Palm-up Hand

One day, I guided a Dutch girl, Aafke, on a hiking and birdwatching tour in Arfak mountains. We spent a few days watching Magnificent Birds of Paradise, Vogelkop Bowerbird and Western Parotia. We also visited a nearby village to talk to villagers. On the way back to main road, we saw a moth lying on the footpath. So, I picked up the moth and put it on her palm.

Charcoal Drawing of Palm -up Hand

Here is the charcoal pencil drawing of Aafke's palm with the moth on it. I made the drawing as part of my figure drawing exercises to increase my understanding of the proportions of human hand and fingers. You could see that I made a lot of thin lines on the palm up hand to make it more natural. I also draw feet, and toes of female figures which readers can see in my other post.
The Wrist Watch Strap and the Moth
If we type such keywords as palm up hand sketch or drawings, we will see thousands of sketches or drawings that look similar. The addition of a moth and wrist watch strap in my drawing is my way of creating artwork that looks different and unique.
It is not only human figure that I draw. I draw butterflies, flowers, fish and birds. You could see them in my other blog wildlife-drawing.blogspot.com. I hope that you enjoy the artworks that I present in this and that blog.

Palm Sugar Industry in Rambunan Village

Rambunan is famous for its traditional palm sugar production. The village can be reached by motorized vehicle in one and a half hours ride from Manado, the capital city of the province North Sulawesi.

It is under the administration of Kecamatan (District) Sonder. This village is famous for its palm sugar production. The palm sugar that the villagers produce is of very high quality. It can be considered as an organic farming produce. Farmers in Rambunan do not use chemicals both in the plants and the production process of palm sugar.

In Minahasa, palm sugar is called gula batu (stone sugar) or gula merah (red sugar). In other parts of Indonesia, people call it gula Aren.

Rambunan Village in Minahasa regency

One or two kilometers before entering the village, we will see rows of Saguer trees. From these trees, farmers tap the sap out of palm blossoms. The sap has to be sweet. Usually it is collected in a bamboo tube. To make it sweet, farmers wash the tube until it is clean, free from the previous sap. If it is not washed, its tastes will be sour and contained alcohol. Minahasan like to drink it as palm wine.  After the sap has been collected, it will be "cooked" in small fire until it is boiling. Water will evaporate leaving thick and hot liquid sugar. Farmer will pour it into half-cut coconut shells. As the liquid sugar settle in the shells, it will become cooler. The liquid sugar will crystalize and becomes hard. Farmers will take them out of the coconut shells and put each of them into plastic packaging ready to be sent to traditional market or supermarkets.

Saguer Palm Tree (Arenga pinnata)

Palm sugar is one of the main ingredients in many of Minahasan (and Indonesian) food and cookies, for instance, dodol. Its color is like chocolate. It is made of glutinous rice, coconut milk and palm sugar. People like to eat it because it is healthy and delicious.

Palm Sugar made of the sap of Saguer tree

The palm sugar home industry in Rambunan has been run by the villagers for generations. Now their number is getting fewer. Youth in Rambunan village prefers to find other jobs leaving their village for big cities in Indonesia or even abroad.

Also read:

• Lake Tondano of Minahasa regency
• Traveling around the farmland of Minahasa