Trustworthy

I just noticed something really amazing today.

I was watching one of my favorite shows of all time, which is Columbo, and I was thinking afterwards about drawing my detective guy using some of the same body language as Columbo uses--he seems so trustworthy and nice, I just wanted desperately to steal from him. And as I was mentally processing this, here's what I realized:

Columbo always, always, always...

...has his hands open.

And I had never thought of that before.
I mean, I had seen other artists talk about it and recommend it, but I realized I was seeing it in action there.

When Columbo gestures, his hands are pretty much always open, and they are very often pointed outward and/or upward. He will also use his hands to touch his face and head, etc., but even when he pats down his own pockets to see if he can find his notepad, his hands are flat and open--nothing to hide. Doing some drawing later, I realized it makes his hands feel kind of awkward and bumbling at he same time that they're really sweet and kind, ready to open out and serve.
Which, of course, is perfect for the character.
And since my detective is so similar, especially in his desire to protect, I'm going to overachieve like a bandit on stealing this.

Thanks, Lieutenant.