Hand Drawing

A simple approach to drawing hands

Posted by Jake Spicer

About

Hands often seem to be an intimidating subject, but they needn't be. Sometimes all you need to do is spend some time really looking at your subject, and to have an order to work through. Try this with your own hand, either drawing it as you see it infront of you, or looking at it in the mirror.

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You Will Need (4 things)

  • Pencil
  • Eraser
  • Pencil Sharpener
  • Paper

Steps (4 steps, 15 minutes)

  1. 1

    Firstly start with a quick loose sketch of your whole hand. Simply look and draw, very lightly but confidently. This gestural sketch helps you look at your subject.

  2. 2

    Over the top of your drawing, construct some simple shapes. Look for a circle in the wrist the block of the back of the hand and the mitten shape filled by the fingers. Don't worry about individual fingers right now.

  3. 3

    Draw the shapes between the fingers, whether they are lines or wedges; by drawing these negative spaces you will be drawing the fingers between them.

  4. 4

    Lightly erase your drawing; this is the scaffolding that you can now build your observation. Look carefully at your hand, notice the edges of your fingers, the shapes of shadow either side of your knuckles. Vary your line as you draw, using a heavy or light line, as is appropriate.