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:
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! 
Topics: Drawing tutorials | 84 Comments »
84 Responses to “How to Draw Hands”
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The Weatherly Guide to Drawing Animals |
 
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Cartoon Animation |
 
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The Art of Animal Drawing |
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July 5th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I like the tutorial with the anthro/furry hands it helped me out.
June 20th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I love those figure drawing thanks
June 16th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I Googled how to draw hands and this site was about the third listed. I couldn’t believe it, because I just happened to be drawing a furry character! This tutorial was a big help. I have bookmarked your site and will be returning soon.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Thankyou thankyou thankyou THANKYOU!
I really needed this! I’ve been meaning to learn how to draw hands properly for AGES!! Their so awkward to do xD but thankies! This helped tons!!
May 25th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
I went to have a look at your comic, but it wasn’t there. D: I so wanted to look at how you’ve done your hands in there!
May 9th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
hands are the hardest part for any artist no matter what your drawing so this really help me (^0^)
May 9th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
i think this webbi is great it has some good idea’s and it made me win a comp at school so who ever made this website thak you sooo much xxxxx
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:35 am
Whoa. You have no idea how big of a help this is for me and a friend of mine. Major props!
April 16th, 2008 at 1:08 am
This little drawing lesson seriously redefined the look of my characters’ hands, although it would be really neat to toss in a few examples of different hands holding stuff.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:34 am
Thank you very much for this tutorial, I’ve drawn a believable hand for the first time in my life using one of these techniques (a wolf’s hand with three fingers plus a thumb).