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How to Draw Hands

By Kelly | June 3, 2007

The three most expressive body parts, those that are key in depicting a character’s mood, are the face, hands, and feet respectively. In other words, you should spend almost as much energy on a figure’s hand as you would the face! Don’t hesitate to draw hands- many anxious young artists hide them in pockets or behind the back. It takes study and practice, but you can learn to construct a pretty convincing hand if you understand the basic forms and underlying anatomy.

This tutorial makes frequent use of Constructive Anatomy by George Bridgeman, a work in the public domain hosted by the Internet Archive.

I also recommend the following:

	An Atlas of Anatomy for Artists, Plates 49-68		Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair, pg 28-31
	How to Draw the Human Figure: An Anatomical Approach, pg 88-93		Drawing the Head and Figure, pg 82-90
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Check the Recommended Reading Booklist for more reference books, and tips on getting them cheap.

1. Basic Hand Anatomy

Anatomy studies by George Bridgeman



Understanding the components of the hand – bone, muscle, and tendon- will help you draw believable hands. Draw studies of your own hands, paying particular attention to silhouette and form, and with particular empahsis on change of direction in the lines of the silhouette.

Exaggerate plane changes and overlapping forms to make more dynamic hands

Do many studies of your own hands for practice. After studying, try drawing some new poses using your memory!

2. Simplified Forms

I like to think of the hand as three big pieces- the palm, thumb, and fingers. Imagine the hand as a mitten, with the fingers as one mass. Then, in your mind convert that mitten into a more three-dimensional form. The hand is long and relatively flat, it’s just the folds of the palm and joints of the fingers that make it seem complex.

The fingers have three joints- the knuckle, where it attaches to the palm, a smaller middle joint, and an even smaller joint near the tip. The natural movement of the finger’s bend goes from knuckle, to middle, to tip. In other words, the tip joint only bends in the most extreme poses, and it only bends alone if there’s pressure on the finger tip (such as poking an object).

Don’t forget which side the thumb is on! A simple ‘rule of thumb’ – palms out, thumbs in. Palms in, thumbs out. Check your pose with a mirror or get a buddy to model if you aren’t sure.

Here are some of Bridgeman’s hand studies, showing how he simplifies the form, including some very geometric plane studies-

3. Animals and Anthro Hands

Here are a couple of techniques for making anthro/furry hands:

Cartoony paws use simple, rounded forms to convey the structure of the hand. Detail is minimal, since with animated characters every line must be re-drawn thousands of times. These animated characters typically have 3 fingers and a thumb, and lack extraneous details like furry accents and paw pads.

Mid-way between animal and human, this style of hand has stubbier fingers and bigger joints, plus the animal characteristics of fur and paw pads. This kind of hand is better for more beast-like or masculine anthros.

These examples are how I’d draw hands for my Good Cheese characters. The female hand is slender and elegant, with only pointed nails (and perhaps a pink palm) to lend it some animal flavor. The male hand is more beast-like, with stubby fingers and hints of fur at the knuckles.

Feel free to experiment with different styles, and draw the hands that best fit your character’s design.
Happy drawing!

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Topics: Drawing tutorials | 80 Comments »

80 Responses to “How to Draw Hands”

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1. 80
   Phlea Says:
   June 14th, 2010 at 3:48 pm

   I can do ears,eyes,torsos,breasts,legs…My Achilles heel is getting hands,feet and accurate noses.Thanks for the article!

2. 79
   vampire-wolf-girl Says:
   June 1st, 2010 at 9:50 am

   this has been a lot of help. Do you think that you could possibly do some hooved habds causse they are really hard and i cant find any thing that can help me…any ideas?

3. 78
   Lyxolf Says:
   May 31st, 2010 at 12:29 pm

   Have the hands down on my reference page for later.. Thanks.. Hands and feet are the only things I cannot draw..

4. 77
   zoey Says:
   May 29th, 2010 at 3:31 am

   Thanks a lot.I loved drawing but hands and feet were the only parts pausing problem.
   But now with your help it’s no more a problem.Thenks a lot.

5. 76
   JohnLBA Says:
   May 24th, 2010 at 8:31 pm

   It’s very good article.

6. 75
   Jess Says:
   May 13th, 2010 at 7:42 pm

   thanks for this ‘lil tutorial. it’s going to help me in the future!=^.^=

7. 74
   doodlecookie Says:
   May 7th, 2010 at 8:51 am

   WOW. This is awesome. It’s too bad I’m in school right now, otherwise I’d be drawing away! XD

8. 73
   Arindam Tosh Says:
   May 2nd, 2010 at 7:56 am

   Excellent tutorial.Helped me a lot.Awesome.

   Thanks

9. 72
   OutRawrGeousFurry Says:
   April 21st, 2010 at 5:12 pm

   You don’t know how much THIS helped! Now I have the shape of the hands! Griping/Spreaded! Thanks a TON! You should really try to draw more body positions, & lay out more of a description.

10. 71
    punk dingo Says:
    February 19th, 2010 at 1:04 am

    all i need now is how to make a hand griping something, such as a bottle or can

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