Drawing: Hands; Tips to Drawing Them

Hands are one of the three expressive body parts that are key in depicting a subjects mood. In other words you should spend almost as much time drawing a persons hands as you do on there face. Don't hesitate to draw them, most beginning artists tend to hide them in pockets or behind things. It takes study, a good eye, and practice, but you can learn to construct a fairly convincing hand if you understand there basic form and underlining anatomy. Understanding the components of the hand; bones, muscles, and tendons, will also help you to draw believable hands.

If you find it hard to draw human hands, don't despair. Not many people find it easy. They always seem to come out looking cartoonish or misproportioned, usually both. Like everything else, it helps to first break them down into simple shapes, again whatever shapes suit you best. Fingers can be broken down into rectangular sections, palms into squares, and so on. Some people prefer other methods, such as simple line drawings to start. I like to think of the hand as three big pieces- the palm, the thumb, and the fingers. Imagining the hand as a mitten, with the fingers grouped as one. Then in your mind convert the mitten into a more 3-D form. The hand is long and generally flat, only the folds of the palm and joints of the fingers make it seem so complex. The fingers have three joints, the knuckles, the middle and the tip.

Here are a few tips to always remember when you are drawing the human hand:

There is a space between fingers. There should be a kind of webbing or 'U' like shape between them.

All hands have three meaty parts. The row or as I call it 'pad' below the knuckles, one right below the thumb and the third is right across from it. Think about which one of these will take up space in any particular hand pose.

Always remember that fingers do not relax into straight lines. They will always have a curve to them no matter how gravity is pulling.

Not every bit of each finger will or should show.The trick is to use your eyes and figure out which fingers stick out and which are covered by part of the hand and other fingers.

And another common misconception, your knuckles do not line up. When you clench your hand together your fingers wrap around the meatier parts. This will make the index and middle finger stick out further then the other two.