Lesson: How To Draw Hands

Drawing hands will vary greatly depending on the age of the person and the way the hands are being held.

But here we will look at simplified methods for drawing an adult hand seen from two angles. 

Begin by drawing the largest shapes. Guidelines will help to indicate the angle of the hand as well as where fingers will go.

Lightly sketch lines to divide fingers into their simplest form. An arc drawn across the halfway line will determine the knuckle line.

All of the fingers are approximately equal thickness at this point, though the length varies with the middle finger being longest. 

From the side, divide the trapezoid in half to find where the thumbnail begins and sketch in the finger and wrist shapes from there.

Erase the guidelines and begin sketching in lines to indicate knuckle placement and fingernails.

If lines on the palm are visible, sketch those in lightly too. You will also begin to reshape the individual fingers slightly where necessary.

Begin shading the hand by sketching in the shapes of the largest shadows. When you're satisfied that the shadows are in the correct place, blend the graphite to smooth the tones, being careful to follow the shape of the fingers and hand with your strokes.

To finish, pick out highlights on fingernails, knuckles, and other protuberant parts with the kneaded eraser.

You may also need to darken areas of high contrast as you go. Hands are extremely difficult to draw, so don't be discouraged -- just keep practicing!

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Warm Regards

Chris Elmore
Drawing Made Easy