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Drawing Hands from IMAGINATION
In this lesson I’ll show the process that has helped me to draw hands accurately from imagination. It’s also a great process if you’re drawing from reference.
The Idea
The first step is to get a clear idea of the hand you’re gonna draw. Don’t jump in blindly and start drawing. Figure out the angle we’re looking at the hand from. Imagine this clearly in your mind before you make a mark. And you always have your own hand that you can use to figure it out.
Once the idea is clear, we’ll start constructing the hands using simple forms.
The Palm
The palm areas can be simplified to a boxy form with equal height and width. That’s a good place to start, but if you want to be a little more precise, it’s good to start thinking about the nuances.
We’re looking at this box from the top. We can see the right side and the front plane of the knuckles. Before we add the fingers, let’s split the front plane into 4 parts. That way we know where each finger extrudes from. Don’t forget about the foreshortening!
If you can do that, you have a really good starting point and you’re on your way to drawing an awesome hand.
The Fingers
At this point you can start extruding the finger segments, but it helps me to start with some kind of gestural or wireframe guideline. I’m gonna give you 3 options that you can choose from. Everyone has their preferences and different poses might call for different approaches.
1. Mitten - If the fingers are grouped together, you can try to imagine a mitten shape for all of them. If one or more of the fingers is separate from the group, draw it separate. Group the ones that you can and decide if they’re bending.
2. Dots ‘n Lines - Another way is to throw down some lines and dots for the knuckles. This can help figure out the position and length of each segment with minimal lines that are easy to adjust.
3. Gesture - The third option is to draw the gesture of each finger. Don’t worry about separating each phalanx. Ignore the joints and just identify the motion of each finger. Do this very lightly.
Different poses will call for different approaches or combination of them. And, everyone has their preferences. Try them out and see what you like.
Now let’s add some structure to the fingers. Usually I like to use cylinders for each segment. Cylinder because they’re easier and quicker than boxes. And it’s pretty easy to turn a cylinder into a box later, if I want to indicate the rotation of that cylinder. An indication of the box at the joint is enough.
There’s 12 segments in the fingers, and that doesn’t even include the thumb. That’s a lot of cylinders and boxes to think about. It’s tempting to rush through them, but fight the feeling of urgency. Get them in the right spot, with the right proportions and perspective. Do your best to keep your lines light and clean throughout the construction process. Don’t scribble and create a mess. Think through the drawing.
The Thumb
In the hand bones lesson we learned about the triangular box for the base of the thumb. This triangular box can be stretched, squished, and rotated depending on the position of the thumb’s metacarpal. Look at your thumb and see all the different ways it can move. Sometimes I imagine the metacarpal bone to make sure it’s position is believable and the length relates correctly with the others.
The Wrist
On the surface, the wrist curves to fill the gap between the palm and forearm. So, a good place to start is the 2×4 form of the forearm bones. The wrist would be a transitional plane when there’s a bend. Look at Bridgman for inspiration when designing the wrist. Here’s a few different poses so you can see how the wrist behaves. Notice how he puts a little step down from the forearm to the hand. It’s a nice design that can make your drawing more interesting and dynamic.
Muscles
Learn about them in Part 1.
Shading and Details
Learn how to shade and add details from imagination in the premium anatomy drawing course.
