Do You Draw With Your Hand Resting On Paper Or Off Paper?

Of all parts of the body, the hand is by many considered to be the hardest to draw. We all accept stories of how, early on, we would keep our characters' hands behind their backs or in their pockets, fugitive as much as possible the task of tackling hands. Yet paradoxically, they are our most readily available reference, existence in our field of vision every moment of our lives. With just one extra accessory, a small mirror, we can reference hands from all angles. The simply real challenge, so, is the complexity of this remarkably articulated organ: information technology's almost like drawing a pocket-size figure onto a larger one, one doesn't know where to first.

In this tutorial we volition deconstruct the hand'southward own anatomy and indeed demystify it, and so that when y'all look at a hand for reference, yous can brand sense of it as a group of simple forms, easy to put together.

I use the following abbreviations for the fingers:

Th = pollex
FF = forefinger
MF = heart finger
RF = ring finger
LF = little finger

Basics of the Hand

Hither's a quick expect at the bone construction of the hand (left). In blue, the eight carpal basic, in purple, the five metacarpal basic, and in pinkish, the fourteen phalanges.

As many of these bones cannot motility at all, we tin can simplify the bones structure of the manus: the diagram on the correct is all you really need to recall.

Notation that the actual base of the fingers, the joint that corresponds to the knuckles, is much lower than the apparent base formed by flaps of peel. This volition exist important to describe angle fingers equally we volition run into later.

Based on the above, a unproblematic way of sketching the hand is to showtime with the basic form of the palm, a apartment shape (very much like a steak, but roundish, squarish, or trapezoidal) with rounded angles, then attach the fingers :

If you take a difficult time drawing fingers, information technology'due south very helpful to think of them, and draw them, as stacks of 3 cylinders. Cylinders are like shooting fish in a barrel to describe nether any angle, taking away much of the headache of cartoon fingers in perspective. Discover how the bases of the cylinders are exactly the folds you lot need to draw when the finger bends.

This is important: The joints of the fingers are not aligned on straight lines, but fall onto concentric arches:

In add-on, fingers are not straight, but curve slightly towards the infinite between MF and RF. Showing this fifty-fifty subtly gives life to a cartoon:

Permit usa not forget the fingernails. There is no demand to ever draw them, indeed they are a degree of detail that merely looks right when the hands are seen sufficiently close upwards, but nosotros are non usually taught how they should look, and because of this, I for one couldn't brand them expect right for a long time. Here are some notes on the fingernail:

The fingernail starts halfway up the top articulation of the finger.
The point where fingernail detaches from flesh varies: some people have it all the fashion at the border of the finger, others take it very depression (dotted line), so in their case the fingernails are wider than they are long.
Fingernails are non flat, but shaped much like roof tiles, with a curvature ranging from farthermost to very slight. Observe your hand and you may notice that this curvature is different for each finger – but this level of realism is unnecessary in drawing, fortunately.

Proportions

Now, taking the (credible) length of FF equally our base unit, nosotros can roughly put down the following proportions:

The maximum opening betwixt Th and FF opening = one.five
The maximum opening between FF and RF = ane. The MF can be closer to either without affecting the total distance.
The maximum opening between RF and LF opening = 1
The maximum angle between Th and LF is 90º, taken from the very base of the Th'south articulation: the fully extended LF is aligned with it.

I said "roughly" because these practice vary with people, sometimes a lot, merely call back that deviating from the norm on paper can await wrong. If in doubt, these measurements will always wait right.

Details

The basic shape is simply one challenging aspect of the hand; the other may be the detailing of folds and lines. Who hasn't been frustrated by drawing a paw and not being able to get all these lines to look correct? Allow'due south await at fold lines and some measurement details:

The virtual extension of the inner line of the wrist separates the thumb from the fingers. A small tendon line may mark the junction of wrist and paw.
When fingers are close together as above, the pollex tucks a scrap under the palm and is partially subconscious.
The FF or RF as sometimes almost as long as the MF.
The folds that marker the knuckles are elliptical or like parenthesis, but when the mitt is apartment as higher up they are not pronounced (unless someone has protruding duke, which happens on much-labored hands) and tin can be drawn as mere dimples.
The folds of the finger joints evidence elliptically on the dorsum side, but they fade when the fingers are bent. They show as parallel lines on the palm side, merely they are more pronounced at the lower joint – typically yous wouldn't utilize two lines for the upper joints.
From the back, the lines of the fingers extend down to the limit of the palm, which makes the fingers wait longer from the back.
From the inside, the lines are shorter because the top of the palm is padded, so the fingers look shorter on the palm side.
The lines of the fingers cease in are drag lines (these short horizontal dashes) on both sides, and on both sides these drag lines all point away from the MF.

Note besides, in the diagram above, how the fingernails are non fatigued fully simply indicated in a subtle way appropriate to the overall level of detailing (which is rather higher than necessary, for purposes of showing all the lines). The smaller the paw you're drawing, the less particular you want in information technology, unless you want it to wait old.

I didn't mention the lines of the hand above, so let's have a look at them closely here:

The most visible lines in the palm: the so-called eye, caput and life lines, are where the skin folds when the palm is cupped. Unless your mode is very realistic, at that place's no demand to describe others, it will await excessive.
Don't confuse the life line with the contour of the thumb, which becomes visible under sure angles such as the one on the right. The life line is almost concentric with the contour of the thumb, but see how much higher on the palm it originates – the (true) base of the FF, in fact.
From the side, the padding at the base of each finger appears every bit a series of curved, parallel bulges.
These fold lines wrap halfway around the fingers. They are accentuated every bit the finger bends.
There is a small bump hither on the extended finger due to skin bunching upwards. The bump disappears when the finger bends.

Now, what do we see when the hand is extended and seen sideways?

Outside, the wrist line curves out into palm base, then the transition between the two is marked past a gentle crash-land.
The bottom of the hand looks flatter from the exterior than it does from the inside, although the thumb base may still exist visible.
From the exterior, the RF's terminal joint is fully exposed because the LF is prepare well back.
From the within, a footling or none of the MF tin can be visible, depending on the FF's length.
Inside, the wrist line is covered by thumb base, so the transition is more than abrupt and the bump more of import.

Note also that when seen from the outside, the palms shows another, new contour line. It starts at the wrist and, equally the hand turns more than, joins upwards with the LF line, until it covers upwardly the Thursday base of operations:

Range of Move

Detailed articulation implies movement, and the hands motility constantly. Not just for functional uses (property a mug, typing) but too expressively, accompanying our words or reacting to our emotions. It'south therefore no surprise that cartoon hands well requires understanding how the fingers motion.

The Thumb and Fingers

Let'south start with the thumb, which works alone. Its existent base, and centre of movement, is very depression on the manus, where it meets the wrist.

The natural relaxed position leaves a space betwixt the Th and the rest of the hand.
The Thursday can fold in as far equally touching the root of LF, but this requires much tension and chop-chop becomes painful.
The Th tin extend as far every bit the width of the palm, but this also implies tension and gets painful.

The other four fingers have petty sideways movement and mainly bend frontwards, parallel to each other. They can practise this with a certain degree of autonomy, but never without some effect on the nearest fingers; effort for case to bend your MF alone, and see what happens to the residual. The Th alone is completely independent.

When the mitt closes into a fist and the fingers all curl together, the whole of the hand maintains a cupped shape, as if information technology was placed against a large ball. It's merely that the brawl (here in cerise) gets smaller and the curvature stronger:

When the mitt is fully extended (on the correct), the fingers are either straight or bend slightly backwards, depending on flexibility. Some people's fingers can curve back 90º if pressure is applied confronting them.

The fully airtight fist is worth a detailed look:

The 1st and third fold of the fully bent finger encounter, creating a cross.
The 2nd fold appears to be an extension of the line of the finger.
Part of the finger is covered by the flap of skin and the thumb, a reminder that the whole thumb structure is outermost. You can make your FF slip outside and cover the flap of skin, it's anatomically possible, but it is not a natural way to form a fist.
The MF's knuckle protrudes most and the other duke autumn away from it, so that from the angle shown here, the parallel fingers are visible from the outer side, not from the inner side.
The 1st and 3rd fold come across and create a cross again.
The pollex bends and then that its last section is foreshortened.
The skin fold hither sticks out.
When the manus makes a fist, the knuckles protrude and the "parenthesis" are visible.

The Hand as a Whole

When the hand is relaxed, the fingers curl slightly – more and then when the hand is pointing upwardly and gravity forces them bent. In both cases, the FF remains straightest and the balance fall abroad gradually, with the LF being the most bent. From the side, The gradation in the fingers makes the outer two or 3 peek out between FF and Th.

LF frequently "runs away" and stands isolated from the other fingers – another way of making hands expect more natural. On the other mitt, the FF and MF, or MF and RF, will oft pair up, "sticking" together while the other 2 remain loose. This makes the mitt await more lively. RF-LF pairings besides occur, when the fingers are loosely bent.

Since the fingers are not the same length, they always present a gradation. When grasping something, like the cup below, the MF (1) wraps the most visibly around the object while the LF (2) barely shows.

When holding a pen or the similar, MF, RF and LF whorl dorsum towards the palm if the object is held only between Th and FF (pick up a pencil lightly and discover this). If more pressure is applied, MF participates and straightens upward as it presses against the object. Full force per unit area results in all the fingers pointing abroad as shown here.

As nosotros have seen, the hand and wrist are remarkably articulated, each finger almost having a life of its own, which is why hands tend to stump the outset illustrator. Even so when the manus starts to brand sense, we tend to fall into the reverse trap, which is to draw hands too rationally – fingers carefully taking their places, parallel lines, careful alignments. The issue is strong and simply too tame for a part of the body that tin speak as expressively as the eyes. It can piece of work for certain types of characters (such as those whose personality shows stiffness or insensitivity) but by and large, yous'll want to draw lively, expressive hands. For this you lot can become 1 of two ways: add together mental attitude (i.east. add drama to the gesture, resulting in a dynamic hand position that would probably never exist used in real life) or add together natural-ness (notice the hands of people who aren't thinking nearly them to see the casualness I'm referring to). I can't peradventure show every hand position in that location is, but I give below examples of constrained vs. natural/dynamic hand:

*Note in this particular example – trained fighters volition always hold their fingers parallel while punching (as in the forced position), otherwise they may suspension their knuckles.

Diverseness

Hands vary individually only equally much as facial features. Males'south hands differ from female's, young from sometime, and then on. Beneath are some existing classifications, just they don't cover the whole range of characters a manus tin accept. Character is a expert word considering it'southward near useful to describe hands equally if they were characters with their own personality: delicate, soft, dry, callous, uncouth so on. (See Practice Time)

Paw Shapes

This is actually nigh the proportion of fingers to hand:

Finger Shapes

Fifty-fifty fingernails are not notwithstanding! Well, Mother Nature gives us flat or round nail bases, really, and the different ways of styling the nail are man-made.

Practice time

Discover people'due south easily. First, for anatomy: how the fingers look in various positions, how lines show and change, how certain details are dependent on tension, etc. Second, for diversity: how practise male hands differ from female hands? How exercise they change with age? With body weight? Could you recognize someone past their hands?
Make quick energy sketches of hands, from whatsoever source – yours, other people's, photos. You can discover some stock photos of easily on Envato Market. Don't worry about your sketches having right proportions or even looking similar much; this is about capturing expression.

Draw your own easily in various positions and, using a mirror, from various angles, making sure to deconstruct them into the simplest possible forms (the equivalent of cartoon a stick effigy and then fleshing information technology out). Y'all can too start with the free energy sketch and build on that (as nosotros accept done with the full figure) before finally refining the details. In the sketches below the under-sketch is very low-cal but in some you can just see the broad simple shapes used.