Editing Drawing Hands (section)

{{short description|Lithograph by Dutch artist M. C. Escher}}
{{Infobox artwork
| title = Drawing Hands
| wikidata = Q2390890
| image = DrawingHands.jpg
| alt = Scan of Drawing Hands lithograph
| caption = [[Image scanner|Scanned]] from ''The Magic of M. C. Escher''
| artist = [[M. C. Escher]]
| year = {{start date|1948}}
| medium = [[Lithograph]]
| height_metric = 28.2
| width_metric = 33.2
| metric_unit = cm
| imperial_unit = in
| preceded_by = ''[[Up and Down (M. C. Escher)|Up and Down]]'' (1947)
| followed_by = ''[[Dewdrop (M. C. Escher)|Dewdrop]]'' (1948)
| website = {{URL|https://mcescher.com/gallery/back-in-holland/#iLightbox%5Bgallery_image_1%5D/32|Official website}}
}}
'''''Drawing Hands''''' is a [[lithograph]] by the  [[Netherlands|Dutch]]  artist [[M. C. Escher]] first printed in January 1948. It depicts a sheet of paper, out of which two hands rise, in the  [[Paradox|paradoxical]] act of drawing one another into existence. This is one of the most obvious examples of Escher's common use of paradox.

It is referenced in the book ''[[Gödel, Escher, Bach]]'', by [[Douglas Hofstadter]], who calls it an example of a [[strange loop]]. It is used in ''[[Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs]]'' by [[Harold Abelson]] and [[Gerald Jay Sussman]] as an allegory for the [[eval]] and [[apply]] functions of programming language interpreters in [[computer science]], which feed each other.

''Drawing Hands'' has been referenced and copied many times by artists in different ways. In tech culture, robot hands draw or build each other,<ref>{{Cite AV media|author=hygglobert<!--No name listed, only this username, and not on this page.-->|date=21 June 2011<!--Calculated from today by subtracting "2,533 days ago" value.-->|title=Escher Robot Hands|type=[[Digital illustration]]|url=http://www.freakingnews.com/Escher-Robot-Hands-Pics-97368.asp|department=Escher Remastered|website=[[FreakingNews]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528165712/http://www.freakingnews.com/Escher-Robot-Hands-Pics-97368.asp|archive-date=28 May 2018|url-status=dead|access-date=28 May 2018}}</ref> or a human hand and robot hand draw each other.<ref>{{Cite AV media|last=Rockhill|first=W. Morgan|date=<!--No date listed.-->|title=Digital Photographic recreation of M. C. Escher drawing, robotic hands|type=Photograph|url=http://www.morganrockhill.com/Concept/ConceptM03.html|department=Concept Photography|publisher=Morgan Rockhill PhotoDigital|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528165556/http://www.morganrockhill.com/Concept/ConceptM03.html|archive-date=28 May 2018|url-status=dead|access-date=28 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media|last=Willis|first=Shane|date=12 October 2007|title=Hand Fixing Hand|type=Photograph|url=http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6522423&size=lg|website=Photo.net|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114054611/http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6522423&size=lg|archive-date=14 November 2016|url-status=dead|access-date=28 May 2018}}{{pb}}{{Cite web|url=https://geekologie.com/2012/11/hand-fixing-hand-a-futuristic-take-on-mc.php|title='Hand Fixing Hand', A Futuristic Take On M.C. Escher's Iconic 'Drawing Hands'|author=<!--None listed.-->|date=1 November 2012|website=Geekologie|publisher=Anticlown Media|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528171810/https://geekologie.com/2012/11/hand-fixing-hand-a-futuristic-take-on-mc.php|archive-date=28 May 2018|url-status=live|access-date=28 May 2018}}</ref>