Hand position for drawing. How to draw hands

The hand is probably one of the most difficult parts of the body to draw and causes a lot of trouble for illustrators. Let me remember again the book, where she admits that many artists spend half the time allotted for creating a sketch drawing hands. The artist Gustavo Fernandez once said that you can make a good career only through the ability to draw your hands well and expressively.

To build a model of a hand, you can use the same principle: first the frame, then the flesh.

Four bones radiate from the wrist, the continuation of which are the fingers, divided into three phalanges. The middle finger is the longest, the index and ring fingers are approximately the same length. The thumb is attached to the hand at the wrist:

One of the most difficult aspects in constructing a palm is where the fingers are attached to it. The most convenient technique was given to me by Natasha Ratkowski: you need to designate your palm in the form of a segment of a coconut shell, immediately determining its volume.

You also need to draw balls in place of all the joints. The fingers are marked with cylinders of suitable thickness:

The conditional model obtained in this way is outlined, the phalanges of the fingers and protruding knuckles are indicated in the right places:

Using this principle, you can build a hand in any position. When tracing the base, you should try to give your fingertips and nails a beautiful natural shape. If the palm is clenched, you should draw folds that form in the middle. Around thumb There is a muscle that does not contract and is always indicated by an arc.

Cartoon hands are still easier to implement because they do not require such realism in the image, but there are still rules that will make them the most attractive. This collection contains all kinds of examples of drawing hands + drawing recommendations from various sources.

Christopher Hart "How to Draw Everything You've Learned About Cartoons":

Hands of the main characters of the animated series Homer, Bart and others.

Apart from the face, hands are the main transmitter of people's emotions. Human hands are flexible, so they can convey emotional condition better than many other body parts. If you have a desire to learn how to draw brushes correctly and naturally, then this lesson will teach you how to draw human hand step by step. The lesson will go from simple elements to complex ones. To be able to depict people's hands, their portraits, figures correctly and realistically, knowledge of how to correctly depict a hand is required. And in order to learn this, you need to know some rules and practice a lot.

Proportions

To be able to draw hands correctly, you first need to know the proportions and apply this knowledge in your work. It's not as difficult as it might seem. By learning a few rules, you can improve your drawing skills. The drawn hands will look natural, giving away emotions. To draw a brush correctly, you need to know a little anatomy, or more precisely, the structure of the hands.

General Similarities

Fun fact - the hands are similar to a scapula, consisting of the metacarpus and fingers. The length of the fingers coincides with the length of the metacarpus. This ratio must be remembered and be sure to be able to apply it in practice. You can start your drawing with a schematic symbol. Draw the diagram in the form of a hand and divide it into two identical parts.

The length of the hand can be depicted in different ways, since people have both long and short fingers; both square and oblong in shape.

Fingers

The fingers are long and flexible due to the joints. The bones of the metacarpus are longer and larger, and the finger joints are attached to them. Each subsequent phalanx is built more finely. The proportions of the phalanges in the image should be 2/3 the length of the previous one.

In the image, the first phalanx is marked in red, the second in red, and the third in yellow.

The four fingers (thumb excluded) consist of four joints. The thumb is placed to the side in relation to the remaining fingers. The length of the finger, as a rule, reaches the first phalanx of the next finger. The length of the little finger reaches the length of the last phalanx of the previous finger.

Directions

If you make observations on different people, you can notice an additional feature that must be used when drawing. If you draw a line over your fingers, you will end up with a semicircle. The vertex of this semicircle is middle finger.

It is also worth paying attention to the inner and outer sides of the palms. If you draw a comparative line at the tips of your fingers, you will get an arc that starts at the index finger and ends at the little finger.

In the image below, all marks are highlighted in red. You can start the image with a diagram in the form of a mitten. Gradually you need to mark the necessary directions. Over time you can add additional details, turning the diagram into a drawing.

The protrusions on the inside have one direction, namely, they go down from the index finger to the little finger.

Fist

A little more information on how to draw brushes correctly and naturally. For example, the image should show a clenched fist. Equally bent fingers should also form a semicircle.

Look at the smallest hand in the image. In the diagram you can see that the width of each subsequent phalanx narrows. It is worth taking this into account and remembering to apply it in your work.

In the clenched fist, under the little finger on the outside, there is a fold, which is emphasized by the green line in the image above. By adding this fold to the drawing, you can more accurately convey the image of a hand squeezing something.

Important Additional Details

The figure below shows an image of a skeleton hand. At the junction, the joints are thicker. You need to know this in order to be able to convey the image more realistically. This particularly applies to thin or elderly people. At the bend, the finger should always be slightly thicker than along the length of the flank.

Notice how the curved brush is shown in profile. The instructions above show in red how the first phalanx is attached to the metacarpus. Green The membranes that are located between are designated; they are usually considered the beginning of the first phalanx.

If you pay attention to the hand in profile, you will notice that the outer side is flat, only the knuckles protrude. The inner one, on the contrary, is soft, the protrusions are evenly distributed.

Step by step drawing of a hand

Before you start drawing, decide on the location of the wrist and forearm. To practice, it is advisable to start with your hand. Try redrawing it.

1. First you need to lightly outline the outline of the brush. Then you need to highlight the shape of the thumb without adding details. Lines should depict the position of the remaining fingers.
2. First draw the index finger, then indicate the shape of the rest.
3. Now you can add details: knuckles, pads, nails, etc.
4. By applying strokes, the drawing can be made three-dimensional.
5. If desired, you can add colors and shadows under the brush.

Drawing with brushes constantly requires improvement and development. Due to the fact that the hands are quite flexible, positions and angles can be completely different.

Angles

If the brush is in a difficult angle (unusual location), it is much more difficult to depict it. There are ways to help get rid of possible errors.

The most popular and effective option for creating a brush in its original position is to mark the lines of each finger separately.

There are times when using lines alone is not enough. A solution to the problem may be additional shapes, such as a cylinder or parallelepiped. Using auxiliary objects you can designate the phalanges.

If you decide to create an original hand position, then first you should test this position on yourself. Place your hand and place your fingers as they should be in the drawing. If the brush looks natural, you can paint on it. The hand and fingers are interconnected, so it is worth considering that by changing the position of the fingers, you may have to completely change the position of the hands.

For example, you can try to bend your little finger while trying to keep your hand straight. Is there a result? Hardly. There are a lot of similar examples, so before you start drawing, you need to think carefully and draw up a preliminary image in your head.

Perhaps no aspect of the drawing is accompanied by greater disorder and presents less adequate material for study than the drawing of the hands. Much of this trouble is caused by running around looking for material instead of looking at your own hands. You have best source information is always available. Perhaps you have never thought of them in this sense. The hand drawing should be based largely on itself. After all, any teacher cannot explain to you more than you can learn by carefully studying your own hands.
The study of the hands, in addition to studying their anatomical structure, consists mainly of examining the dimensions various parts compared. The fingers have a certain length relative to the palm; The joints of the fingers are in a certain proportion in relation to the whole finger. The palm has width and length. The distances between the joints on the outside of the fingers are greater than those between the folds on the inside. The length of the longest finger from its base to the third knuckle at the back is actually half the length of the back of the hand from the tip of the finger to the wrist. The tip of the thumb reaches almost to the second joint of the index finger. The length of the palm is equal to the length of the face from the chin to the hairline. You can take these comparison measurements on yourself or someone else.
The hand is the most flexible and adaptable part of the anatomy of the body; it can grasp an object of any shape and comparable size. This flexibility is also a difficulty for the artist, because the whole hand can take various provisions. But still, the mechanical principle of the hands remains constant. The palm opens and closes and the fingers curl inward toward the middle of the palm. Nails are a very convenient exercise for learning how to work your fingers, as they need to be grasped accurately and firmly; you take the pin with your fingertips; take the hammer with your fingers and palm. The back of the hand is more or less resistant to the back pressure of the fingers, and is used in pushing (it is quite difficult to bend the fingers back). The hand is the most perfect mechanism we know for achieving a wide variety of goals. In addition to its perfection, the hand is more closely and precisely coordinated with the brain than any other part of the body. Many of her movements are controlled by subconscious reflexes; for example, typing and playing the piano.
Man began to use his hands before his brain developed and cultural level. An infant can use his hands effectively before he can think. The history of human advancement since ancient times is closely related to the adaptability of the human hand.
It is a fact that the hands and their movements require so little conscious impulse that it is surprising to realize from the outside. Now look at your own hands; You will see in the illustration how the hand automatically takes a shape convenient for grasping the object.
To draw a hand while constructing an object, you must first study the outline of the object, then observe how the automatic adjustment of the hand follows that outline. Watch your fingers before you grab and squeeze a peach or apple. The principle of the grasping mechanism is very important in hand drawing. Only by knowing this, how it actually works, can the hand be drawn convincingly. To draw a hand as you sketch a person, you must first study the outline of the object, then note how the position of the hand matches that outline. First, before taking and squeezing a peach or apple in your fist, you need to observe your fingers to notice how they behave before grasping. The reflex principle is very important in drawing a hand. Only by knowing how the hand actually works can you draw it convincingly. The back of the hand can be drawn in three planes - the first for the section of the thumb up to the base of the index joint, and the other two along the palm, tapering towards the wrist. The back of the hand bends during most activities. Typically, the palm is made up of three blocks surrounding the inside of the palm - the base of the palm, the thick base of the thumb, and the base of the remaining fingers. The joint between the fingers and thumb– connecting, adapted to move the thumb inward towards the palm or pull it at an angle of 900 to the palm. We must also carefully align the nails so that they lie on the same plane as the outer surface of the fingers and are an extension midline each finger. Otherwise, the nail will be crooked, and you will not understand why.
Keep studying your own hands to learn about hands in general. The internal muscles are located so deep that they are not as important as the external forms. The only bones we see are the knuckles of the outer knuckles and the wrists. If you are drawing the palm in action, the fingers can be quite simply attached to the knuckles and aligned correctly. Study comparative finger lengths; remember that the thumb works primarily at right angles to the other fingers. Get rid of the idea that drawing hands is difficult. It's just very easy to get confused if you don't know how they work. Everything becomes much easier once you get the hang of it.
The most important thing to remember about the hand is that it is concave on the inside and curved on the outside. The fingers grow so tightly that even liquid can be held in the palm. The hand served to primitive man With a cup and spoon, he scooped up a handful of things that he couldn’t take with his fingers alone.
The thumb muscle is perhaps the most important muscle in the hand. This muscle, supporting or opposing the rest of the fingers, gave a person the ability to make a very strong grip, capable of supporting even the human body. This muscle helped a person hold a spear and club. Just as animals often depend on the strength of their jaws, so man depended on the strength of his hands.
Once you become familiar with the structure and proportions of the hand (Fig. 77 - 85), it will be easier and more convenient for you to depict the features of women's hands, the hands of babies, children, and the elderly.

Figure 77. Anatomy of the hand.


Note the tendons located on the back
side of the palm that extends towards the fingers. They perform
huge function: with their help you can compress and unclench
palm, and also move each finger individually.
The muscles that control these tendons are located
in the forearm. Fortunately for artists, most
tendons are hidden under the skin and muscles, and are unnoticeable.
In children and adolescents, the tendons of the hands are not noticeable; they
appear in old age.

Figure 78. Blocks forming an arm


On back side palm bones and tendons are located close under the skin; those on the sides and on the inside of the palm are additional. I have outlined these surfaces in such a way that it will be easier for you to become familiar with them. Note the thick fleshy “pads” in
the base of the thumb and the base of the palm. A pad is present at the base of each finger, and together they encircle the top of the palm. The muscles of the fingers protect the bones. Due to their elasticity, they
provide good coordination of movements, just as good tires provide grip on the road. There are no muscle pads on the outer side of the palm,
but the muscle protects the outer surface of the little finger well, so much so that it can withstand a fairly strong blow, especially when the fist is clenched.

Figure 79. Hand proportions


The next important thing is the curved lines that can be drawn through the fingertips and knuckles. If you divide your palm in half along an imaginary line, you will have two fingers on each side. The tendon of the middle finger roughly bisects the outer side of the palm. Note also that the thumb grows almost at right angles to the other fingers. They can be moved perpendicularly from and to the palm, while the remaining fingers are compressed and unclenched parallel to the palm. The knuckles of the fingers are located slightly above the folds on the inside of the fingers. Draw imaginary curved lines: the curve crossing the base of the fingers will be gentle, those crossing the joints will be steeper, and the steepest line will be the line crossing the tips of the fingers.
The middle finger is the key finger by which we determine the length of the arm. The ratio of the length of this finger to its joint at the back is slightly more than half the length of the arm.
The width of the palm is slightly more than half the length of the inner side of the palm. Forefinger reaches approximately the length of the nail of the middle finger, the ring finger is approximately equal to the index finger. The little finger only reaches the top joint of the ring finger.

Figure 80. Building a hand

Figure 81. Interior palms (fossa)


In the picture above, notice how carefully the turnout is marked in the middle of the palm. Also note the curve encircling inner side palms. Hands never look natural and capable of grasping until artists understand this feature. All these hands look like they are holding or grabbing something. The loud flapping sound is produced by the sudden compression of air between these two pits in the palms. A hand that doesn't look capable of grasping or clapping is poorly drawn. Examine your own hands to be sure.

Figure 82. Constructing hands in perspective

Figure 83. Hand in action

Figure 84. Joints

Figure 85. Drawing your own hand

Figure 86. Woman's hand


Women's hands, like their faces, differ from men's mainly in smaller bones and more delicate muscles, and generally more rounded surfaces. For greater grace of the hand, the middle finger should be about half the length of the palm; oval nails also add grace. Even though female hands thin, they can shrink a lot and be tenacious.

Figure 87. Fingers tapering towards the ends in motion.

Figure 88. Learn many different hand poses.


There's only one the right way learning to draw hands means doing many, many sketches. When drawing hands, more than anywhere else, their position is important. Straighten your fingers along your palm before examining them in detail. The arms are almost never completely straight and flat. Carefully examine the space between your knuckles. Most of the time we see them not in direct projection, but in perspective, as shown in chapters 82-85.

Figure 89. Baby's hand


Babies' hands are studied separately. Their main difference from the hands of adults is that the palm is thicker in relation to the smaller fingers. The muscles of the base of the thumb and the base of the palm in young children are relatively very powerful. Babies can pinch and grasp something equal to their weight. The joints on the outside of the arm are completely hidden by muscles and are marked by dimples. The base of the palm is often surrounded by a thick crease. The base of the palm is much wider than its width at the base of the fingers.

Figure 90. Study of baby's hands

Figure 91. Children's hands


A child's hands are intermediate between those of an infant and a teenager. This means that the thumb muscle and base of the palm are thicker than in an adult hand, but not as thick as in a child's hand. The fingers grow relative to the palm in the same way as in adults. The whole hand is smaller, a little thicker, and more dimpled, and the joints are certainly not as prominent as in adults.

Figure 92. The proportions remain more or less constant.

In junior school age the difference between a boy's and a girl's hand is small, but great changes appear in adolescence. The boy's hand is much larger, stronger, with more developed bones and muscles. The base of the palm and the joints of the fingers are more developed in a boy, while a girl’s hand is thinner and more delicate, with fewer bones. On the boy's hand, the nails, like the fingers, are slightly wider.

Figure 93. Hand of an elderly man

If you have mastered the construction of a hand, drawing the hands of old people will be a pleasure for you. In fact, they are easier to draw than young hands, since the structure and anatomy are more clearly visible there. Main features: thicker fingers, protruding knuckles. The skin becomes wrinkled, but this should only be depicted in close-up.

When drawing a person, Special attention should be given to both the face and hands. Firstly, besides the head, the hands are the most open areas bodies. Secondly, they are also expressive and mobile. Along with this, due to the complexity of the connecting joints, the convex and flat parts of the hand, the hands can, and usually do, become the most the hard part when studying the structure of the human body.

The first mistake when drawing is having too small hands. And here the ability to draw a head comes to the rescue. If you know how to correctly build the proportions of your head, then you can assume that you already have correct proportions for drawing a hand. If you put your hand to your face, the tip of your middle finger will be at the hairline, and the hand will end at chin level. Here's your main way to measure brush parameters.

I hope you now understand the importance of knowing how to draw the human body. If you can draw a human body, you can draw anything for two reasons: 1) you now know enough about the three-dimensional shape of the human body; and 2) if you place this body in a room with various items, you can easily determine the dimensions of these objects in relation to the body. And you will also already know that all these objects have their own volume and shape.

The area of ​​the thumb is significantly larger than the area at the base of the little finger. The hand is wider at the base of the fingers than at the junction with the wrist: however, closer to the wrist it is higher. Now pay attention to your hand: the palm is longer than its back. The thumb is attached to the palm by an independent and highly mobile ball-and-socket joint, which allows it to actively move independently of the rest of the hand. The palm consists of elastic and soft areas - pillows. The surface of the fingers and the entire palm are covered with many pads. The fingertips are pointed, the middle finger - the longest - is the highest point of the hand. The pads on the fingertips are pointed so that they are directed towards the middle - towards the middle finger. If you measure the length of your thumb from the top side, it will be equal to the length of your middle finger. The thumb is more powerful than the rest. The components of the fingers have a more square shape than it might seem at first glance; on the last square is the nail, almost triangular shape, with bulges on both sides, forming a place for nail growth. You will better remember the structure of your hand if you study the structure of the skeleton of the hand, after which problems with drawing your hand will never arise again.

2. Then highlight the volumetric areas - divide the brush into parts, this will help you determine where the convex and where the flat areas are.

4. Add shadows at the end.

I hope you find this tutorial helpful.
Happy work!

Artists are entitled to many benefits that will never exist. For example, coupons for free food, separate transport so as not to blend in with the gray mass in the minibus, or a personal butler. I’m not an artist myself, but I’m already starting to feel all the delights permanent job hands (in my case left hand). After drawing for a long time, not only the hands begin to hurt, but also the back, tailbone and other parts of the body subject to creative pressure. In this lesson you will learn how to draw a brush. And two at once: human and artistic. A brush is a means of transferring paint to paper, oil to bread and powder to the brain. This is exactly what the magic wand looked like when he went to study at a magic school for treatment. With the help of a brush, such weapons of mass destruction as Malevich's Black Square were created, which shows the ratio of the black population and the rest of the inhabitants of the Earth. Over time, the brush multiplied by spores among people and began to appear at social parties and in laboratories for the creation of chemical weapons.

After the invention of the automatic pen and hydrogen bomb the brush lost its position and moved itself exclusively into the artistic sphere, where it suddenly became a means of creating masterpieces. Being an artist, of course, does not promise great success, but sometimes there is money. What you can do with a brush:

• Chewing on it gives an influx of new brilliant ideas and also relaxes the nervous system;
• Draw the most famous painting in the world, or not to draw;
• Make a cache out of it and hide your stash;
• Use as a murder weapon;
• Poking it at someone (just not too much);

Let's try to draw it all.

How to draw a brush with a pencil step by step

Step one. I won’t comment, because there’s not much to say here. From the pictures everything is visible and clear.
Step two.
Step three.
Step four.
I hope you enjoyed the lesson. See more similar ones