Hand anatomy

[platonicheart]

Okay, as the subject title proposes, I'm having difficulties drawing hands. Of course, an art isn't complete without the hands.

I really need some help here.

Thanks in advance

[Camille]

A friend of mine wrote a pretty good hand-drawing tutorial. You can check it out here. Hope it helps!

[Auro-Cyanide]

@Camille, that was good, I have book marked it for future reference.

Hands are something I always struggle with. I do enjoy drawing them though because they do make everything more complete. They are super important for body language as well, second only to the face.

Here are some tutorials that I really like:
http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&secti ... l#/d1dvt5y
http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&secti ... l#/d33lcb1

Things that I do/try to do/ have noticed:
-Always draw the hands. While it easier to hide them behind a back or head, you will need practice to get better. Even if they don't look great, still do it. I actually feel guilty now if you can't see the hands in an image, even if you are not meant to D:
-Notice the different knuckles in the fingers, drawing the right hard edges and pudgy bits.
-The main knuckles and the tendons over them are really important, especially when drawing male hands.
-Use references! Find a photo or use a mirror. I hate using my hands though, I have very small hands with wide palms and short fingers. And my finger knuckles bend inwards -.- I used them once and now my mum calls that picture 'club hand'. Thanks mum.

[MaiMai]

Things that I do/try to do/ have noticed:
-Always draw the hands. While it easier to hide them behind a back or head, you will need practice to get better. Even if they don't look great, still do it. I actually feel guilty now if you can't see the hands in an image, even if you are not meant to D:
-Notice the different knuckles in the fingers, drawing the right hard edges and pudgy bits.
-The main knuckles and the tendons over them are really important, especially when drawing male hands.
-Use references! Find a photo or use a mirror. I hate using my hands though, I have very small hands with wide palms and short fingers. And my finger knuckles bend inwards -.- I used them once and now my mum calls that picture 'club hand'. Thanks mum.

I need to put the first two points in practice, especially the first one. You're never gonna get good at hands if you keep hiding them in your image :/

and I hate using my hands too, I'm double jointed so my fingers... Do weird things.

[Auro-Cyanide]

Things that I do/try to do/ have noticed:
-Always draw the hands. While it easier to hide them behind a back or head, you will need practice to get better. Even if they don't look great, still do it. I actually feel guilty now if you can't see the hands in an image, even if you are not meant to D:
-Notice the different knuckles in the fingers, drawing the right hard edges and pudgy bits.
-The main knuckles and the tendons over them are really important, especially when drawing male hands.
-Use references! Find a photo or use a mirror. I hate using my hands though, I have very small hands with wide palms and short fingers. And my finger knuckles bend inwards -.- I used them once and now my mum calls that picture 'club hand'. Thanks mum.

I need to put the first two points in practice, especially the first one. You're never gonna get good at hands if you keep hiding them in your image :/

and I hate using my hands too, I'm double jointed so my fingers... Do weird things.

*nod* Me too. I struggle daily with hands, feet and hair. And shirt collars, I hate shirt collars.

[Tachyglossus]

My gosh, I hate shirt collars too!

While I am still a far reach from drawing hands well, something I found helpful is just noticing other people's hands and how they hold them. Part of drawing hands well is drawing people holding their hands in natural poses. I see some people draw characters doing some weird (but possible) things with their hands, and unless it is for some sort of spell that is dependant on hand gestures, it just.... seems awkward to me.

Sometimes drawing hands well is also knowing what lines NOT to draw and only hint at with a bit of shading or even a highlight.

And, of course, as said before, your own hands can be of some help. I'm fine with using my own hands as a model. I pose them and then make changes based on what sort of hands I'm going for. Since my hands are petit girly hands, obviously I make them bigger for men, and if it's someone who works with their hands a lot, I make the knuckles more prominent and emphasize the joints where the fingers bend. I noticed from my mother's hands (she's a cable splicer) that her where her fingers bend it gets thicker, while with my own hands my fingers are skinnier at the joints.

[Aozora210]

Crappy error erases my post....

So anyway... if you want to draw a good hand, then you ought to practice. A LOT.

I'm also having problems regarding drawing hand (just look at that terrible hand in my avatar), and that is caused due to lack of practice in the past. When I was drawing, I tend to skip the hands, and it didn't make a nice result now. So yeah, again, practice is important.

And, one good way of drawing hand is of course, by looking! Look at references, look at pictures of beautiful hands, look at people's (or your) hand for variations! Then draw them. As simple as that, though it's an ordeal itself in practice. Hand is quite tricky since it has lots of joints and small parts that can cause troubles if you draw them slightly wrong. The link given by Camille and Auro gives you a great basic and also references of drawing hand XD

Oh yeah, while we are on it. Don't forget to train draw feet, too! They are as tricky as the hand, especially the toes.

@Camille and Auro: thank you for the links! m(_ _)m

[platonicheart]

Thank you everyone for your help! Especially for the helpful link.

Now, all I need is to practice!

[SusanTheCat]

For drawing practice:
http://www.posemaniacs.com has a section called "Hands for Drawing"
WARNING! Not work safe site.
The first pose that came up in the hand section WAS NOT A HAND AT ALL.

Susan