Do gestures convey meaning?

Looking at Art:

Gesture drawing challenges an artist to quickly capture form with implied action. When someone is actually doing something, even if it is a mundane task, a story may evolve. Is there a benefit to capturing implied action in painting? Can an artist make body language meaningful? I have always admired Käthe Kollwitz who often included hands in her work making the pieces dynamic and expressive.

Work in the Studio:

I have been working on compositions that include hands. Hands in combination with faces in my painting, I hope will imply motion and introduce feeling into the work. The painting shown here, of a chef tasting his gravy, is designed to focus attention on the tasting and invite you to speculate about the figure.

Taste Test, watercolor, 14” x 11”