Sketch of a hand in pencil. How to draw hands? Anatomy for the artist. Small details matter

Next up is the study of arms and hands. Today we will look at the basic structure of the hand, and where to start hand drawing practice.

Structure of the arms and hands

The bone in the upper arm is called humerus. Bones forearms consist of the ulna and radius. The bones of the upper arm and forearm are connected by the elbow joint as a hinge.

Both ends of the ulna are directly visible under the skin at the elbow and at the outer edge of the wrist. The radius, which connects to the humerus also at the elbow joint, can rotate around the ulna almost 360 degrees. This rotation does not depend on the elbow joint or wrist, but occurs within the forearm itself.

Major muscles of the shoulder are biceps on the front and triceps on the back. They control the bend of the arm at the elbow.

Wrist controls all movements except rotation - that is, back and forth and side to side. It consists of eight small bones, known as the carpal bones, arranged in two transverse rows.

Brushes consist of metacarpal bones and phalanges. On the back of the hand there is bone and muscle structure located just under the skin. And on the palm there is a thick layer of protective fabric that acts as an addition.

How to draw hands?

There are entire books devoted to the topic hand drawing. Despite the fact that the hands consist of large number small bones with accompanying muscles, ligaments and tendons, human hands are amazingly flexible and versatile.

The best way to start learning is make drawings of your hands using a mirror. To learn how to draw hands well, you will have to do a lot of research from life.

Imagine palm like a flat square shape with a curved outer edge from which four fingers emerge, and the thumb is formed from a flexible wedge shape extending from one side of the palm.

Practical task

Hands are quite difficult to draw. Start your practice of drawing hands by redrawing sketches of arms and hands in different positions, and then move on to drawing from life. Make sketches of men's, women's, children's and old people's hands. The more sketches, the better.

The article used materials from the books:
— Ron Tiner “Figure Drawing without a model”;
— Loomis E. Nude. Drawing Guide.

How to draw hands with a pencil?

Hands are a personal and unique part of the body. They can often tell a story about a person's life through their shape and size. Long years people study their lines and structure, trying to read the future from the lines. Today we will learn draw hands with a simple pencil by using step by step lesson. We will pay special attention to their construction and the application of shadows so that the drawing comes out as realistic as possible.

Tools and materials:

1. White sheet of paper;
2. Eraser;
3. Hard simple pencil;
4. Two soft simple pencils.

Stages of work:

Photo 1. The picture will show two hands. One lies on top of the other. Let's start with the hand that will be on top. For construction we use a hard pencil. Let us denote the shape of the first hand with simple lines:

Photo 2. Place the second hand on the bottom left. She will be turned sideways. We are in no hurry to draw the fingers. Let’s just outline the wrist and hand:

Photo 3. On the left hand we will draw the fingers and folds on the bends. We don’t put pressure on the pencil in a stylish way; the pressure should be weak at the first stage. Otherwise, later the contours will not stand out naturally. The fingers are spaced slightly unevenly so that they peek out from behind each other. The small finger has the most folds because it is the most bent:

Photo 4. Now let's move on to the right hand. She lies on the top left. Let's add fingers and two parallel lines at the level of the bones, at the level of the bends. Thanks to this, it will be easier to navigate when building:

Photo 6. We continue to shade gradually adding more volume. Let's outline the outline a little and work it out right hand. The little finger and ring finger are on the curve, so we add more shadow to them than to the others:

Photo 8. Let's add more shadow, but try not to over-dark it. The strokes are applied gradually. This trick helps make hands look realistic:

Photo 9. Let's add more contrast. We continue adding shadow:

Photo 10. Let's refine the outline again, it will highlight the foreground. We leave the remaining places untouched.

What You'll Be Creating

Many people think that out of all the body parts, the hands are the most difficult to draw. We all have stories about how early stages When drawing, we hid the hands of our heroes behind their backs or in their pockets, avoiding drawing them whenever possible. And paradoxically, they are our most accessible part, visible every minute of our lives. With just one additional accessory - a small mirror - we can view our hands from all angles. So the only real problem is the complexity of this amazing composite organ. It's almost like drawing a small figure on a larger one - it's hard to know where to start.

In this guide, we'll break down the anatomy of the hand and make it easier to understand so that when you look at the hand, you can understand it as a group simple shapes, which are easy to put together.

Use the following finger abbreviations:

• BP - Thumb
• UE - index finger
• SP - middle finger
• BezP - Ring finger
• M - little finger

Brush Basics

Here short review structure of the bones of the hand (left). Blue The 8 carpal bones are marked, the 5 metacarpal bones are purple, and the 14 phalanges are pink.

Since not all of these bones are movable, we can simplify the basic structure of the hand. On the right is a diagram - everything you need to remember.

Note that the actual base of the fingers (the joint that corresponds to the knuckles) is much lower than the visible base formed by the adjacent skin. This must be taken into account when drawing bent fingers.

Based on the above, a simple way to draw a hand is to start with a basic palm shape - a flat (much like a steak, but more rounded, square or trapezoidal) with rounded corners, and then attach the fingers:

If you have trouble drawing fingers, draw them as a stack of three cylinders. Cylinders are easy to draw from any angle, eliminating the need to draw fingers in perspective. Please note that the bases of the cylinders are exactly the folds that need to be drawn in the bent fingers.

This is important: finger joints not aligned in a straight line, and fall on concentric arches:

Also, fingers are not straight, but slightly bent towards the space between SP and BezP. Showing this even slightly in the drawing will make it more realistic.

Don't forget about your nails. You don't have to draw them all the time. They actually show up at a certain degree of detail that only looks right when the hands are seen close enough, but we're not usually taught how they should look, and because of this I, for one, for a long time couldn't make them look normal. A few notes for painting nails:

1. The nail begins in the middle of the first phalanx.
2. The line where the nail separates from the flesh varies: for some people it is completely at the edge of the finger, for others it is very low (a dotted line), so in their case the nails are wider.
3. The nails are not flat, they are more tile-shaped with varying degrees of curvature - from strong to very weak. Study your hand and you'll find that this curvature is different for each finger, but fortunately we don't need that level of realism in painting.

Proportions

Now, taking the (apparent) length of the UE as a structural unit, we can roughly outline the following proportions:

1. Maximum opening between BP and UP = 1.5
2. Maximum opening between FP and BezP = 1. SP can be closer to any adjacent finger, this does not affect the overall distance.
3. Maximum opening between NoP and M = 1
4. The maximum angle between the BP and M is 90º, taken from the very base of the BP joint: the fully extended M is aligned with it.

I wrote “approximately” because... It's different for everyone, but remember that deviation from the norm may not look right on paper. When in doubt, these settings will always look correct.

Details

The basic shape is only one complex aspect of the hand; the next one is detailing the folds and lines. Who hasn't been frustrated while painting with a brush when it's difficult to get all those lines right? Let's look at the fold lines and some measurement details:

1. The intended continuation of the inner wrist line separates the thumb from the rest. A small tendon line may mark the junction of the wrist and hand.
2. When the fingers are closed as shown above, the BP is slightly hidden under the palm.
3. UE or BezP are often as long as SP.
4. The folds representing the joints are elliptical or parentheses-like, but when the hand is spread out as shown above, they are not pronounced (unless one has prominent knuckles, which is often the case on overworked hands) and can be drawn as simple dimples.
5. The folds on the knuckles show an elliptical shape, but they disappear when the fingers are bent. They are shown by parallel lines on the side of the palm, but are more pronounced on the lower knuckle - usually the upper knuckles are not indicated by two lines.
6. WITH reverse side the lines of the fingers continue to the beginning of the palm, so they look longer on the back of the hand.
   On the inside the lines are shorter, because The upper part of the palm is voluminous, so the fingers look shorter.
7. The lines where the fingers end are tension lines (short horizontal strokes) on both sides, and on both sides these tension lines point away from the SP.

Also note that in the diagram above the nails are not fully drawn, but only lightly outlined, which is consistent with the overall level of detail (which is much higher than necessary to show all the lines). The smaller the brush, the less detail you need to specify unless you want to make it look old.

I didn't mention the hand lines above, so I'll go over them in detail here:

1. The most visible lines on the palm - the so-called heart, head and life lines - are the folds of skin where the palm curves. As long as you are not drawing in a realistic style, there is no need to draw other lines - it will be redundant.
2. Don't confuse the life line with the thumb outline, which becomes visible at certain angles, as shown on the right. The life line is almost concentric with the outline of the thumb, but notice how much higher it starts on the palm - in fact the (true) base of the UP.
3. From the outside, the pad at the base of each finger looks like a series of curved, parallel bumps.
4. These fold lines are partially wrapped around the fingers. They are emphasized when the fingers bend.
5. On the extended finger there is a small bulge formed by folds of skin. It disappears when the finger is bent.

So what do we see from the side when the arm is extended?

1. From the outside, the line of the wrist curves into the base of the palm, so the transition between them forms a gentle convexity.
2. The bottom of the hand appears flatter from the outside than from the inside, although the base of the thumb may still be visible.
3. From the outside, the last joint of the BezP is completely visible, because M is shifted towards the hand.
4. From the inside, little or no SP is visible, depending on the length of the SP.
5. On the inside, the line of the wrist is blocked by the base of the thumb, so the transition is sharper and it is important to show the convexity.

Note also that when viewed from the outside, another new one is shown on the palms. contour line. It comes from the wrist and, with a turn of the hand, connects to line M until it covers the base of the BP:

Range of motion

Detailed articulation implies movement, and the arms are constantly moving. We use our hands not only for practical purposes (holding a mug, typing), but also to convey our words expressively or respond to emotions. Therefore, it is not surprising that for correct drawing Hands require an understanding of how the fingers move.

Five fingers

Let's start with the thumb, which moves independently. Its real base and center of movement is located very low on the hand, where the hand meets the wrist.

1. With a natural relaxed position, there is space between the BP and the rest of the arm.
2. The BP can fold in such a way that it touches the base of the M, but this causes tension and leads to pain.
3. The BP can stretch to the width of your palm, but this also leads to tension and pain.

The other four fingers move slightly laterally and mostly bend forward, parallel to each other. They bend at a certain autonomous angle, but not without influencing neighboring fingers; try, for example, bend one joint venture and see what happens to the rest. Only the power supply is completely independent.

When the hand is clenched into a fist and all the fingers are curled, the hand takes on a dome shape, as if it were resting on a large ball. The ball (shown in red) becomes smaller and the curvature increases.

When the hand is fully extended (right), the fingers are either straight or slightly bent back, depending on their flexibility. Some people's fingers bend at a 90º angle when pressure is applied to them.

Let's take a closer look at a fully clenched fist:

1. The first and third folds of a fully bent finger touch, forming a cross.
2. The second fold is a continuation of the finger line.
3. Part of the finger is covered with a flap of skin and thumb, recalling that the entire structure of the thumb is closest to the outer edge. You can move the fist outward and cover a flap of skin with it, this is anatomically possible, but this is not a natural way to form a fist.
4. The joint knuckle protrudes the most, and the other knuckles gradually descend from the level of the joint, so that at the angle shown here the parallel fingers are seen on the outside rather than on the inside.
5. The first and third folds touch and form a cross again.
6. The BP is bent in such a way that its last phalanx is shortened in perspective.
7. The skin fold protrudes here.
8. When the hand is clenched into a fist, the knuckles protrude and “brackets” are visible.

Brush as a whole

When the hand is relaxed, the fingers are slightly bent, and when the hand is pointing upward, they are bent more due to gravity. In both cases, the UP remains extended, while the others gradually curl up, and M is the most bent of them. From the side, the sequence of finger placement makes the 2 or 3 outermost fingers visible between the UP and BP.

The M often "runs away" and is placed slightly away from the other fingers - another way to make the hands more realistic. On the other hand, UP and SP or SP and BezP will often go in pairs, sticking together while the other 2 remain free. This will make the brush look more alive. The BezP-M pair appears when the fingers are slightly bent.

Since the fingers are not the same length, they always represent a sequential transition. When the fingers are squeezing something, such as a glass, the SP (1) is visible most of all, while the M (2) is only slightly visible.

Holding a pen or something like that, SP, BezP and M bend back relative to the palm if the object is held between the BP and UP (take a pencil and watch). If you press harder, the joint venture is connected and straightened, because presses on the object. Maximum pressure causes all fingers to point outward, as shown here.

As we can see, the hand and wrist are exceptionally clear, each finger almost has a life of its own, so drawing hands usually baffles the novice illustrator. But when the brushes start to turn out well, we tend to fall into the opposite trap - we start drawing brushes too rationally: fingers carefully taking their places, parallel lines, careful alignments. The result is stiff and simply too dull for a part of the body that can speak as expressively as the eyes. This will work for certain types of characters (for example, those whose personality expresses rigidity or insensitivity), but most often I would like to draw lively, expressive hands. To do this, you can go one of two ways: add attitude (i.e. add drama to the gesture, resulting in a moving hand position that is probably never used in real life) or add naturalness (watch the hands of people who don't watch their gestures to see the accidents I mean). I can't show every hand position, but below you can see examples of restrained and natural/dynamic hand:

*Note for specific case - trained fighters Always will keep their fingers parallel during impact (as shown in the restrained position), otherwise they may break their knuckles.

Differences

Each person’s hands are individual, as are their facial features. Men are different from women, young are different from old, etc. Below are some existing classifications, but they do not cover the full range of characteristic features that a hand can have. Characteristic sign- the right word, because brushes should be drawn as if they were characters with their own own character: thin, soft, dry, calloused, rough, etc. (See Practice Time)

Brush shapes

The proportions of the fingers in relation to the hand matter:

Finger shapes

Even not everyone’s nails are the same! By nature we are given flat or round nail bases, but people artificially give their nails different shapes.

Practice time

• Watch your hands different people. Firstly, in order to understand anatomical structure: how the fingers look in different positions how lines appear and change, how certain details depend on voltage, etc. Secondly, in order to understand the differences: how man's hands different from women's. How do they change with age? What do they look like depending on a person’s weight? Can you recognize someone by their hands?
• Make some energetic sketches of any hands - yours, other people's, from photographs. Don't worry about getting the proportions right, don't even look at them too much - we just want to capture the expression.
  

  Joumana Medlej is a Lebanese calligraphy artist, trained by a master in Beirut and now living in England. Her body of work encompasses drawing tutorials, graphic design, illustration, comic books, digital games and children's literature.

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 the best source of information available at all times. Perhaps you have never thought of them in this sense. The hand drawing should be based largely on yourself. After all, any teacher cannot explain to you more than you can learn by carefully studying your own hands.
The study of the hands, besides studying their anatomical structure, consists mainly of considering the sizes of the various parts in comparison. The fingers have a certain length relative to the palm; The junctions 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 also poses a challenge for the artist, because the whole hand can take different positions. 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 your fingers work, 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 and cultural level developed. 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 the thumb is a connecting joint, adapted to move the thumb inward towards the palm or pull it back 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 of the midline of 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 attached to the knuckles and aligned correctly quite simply. 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 opportunity to make a very strong grip, capable of holding even 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 reaches 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 the back of the hand, the bones and tendons are located close to 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 outer surface of the little finger is well protected by the muscle, 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. Inner part of the palm (fossa)


In the picture above, notice how carefully the turnout is marked in the middle of the palm. Also mark the curve that goes around the inside of the palm. 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. Study a lot different poses hands


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 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.

Not everyone can paint like great artists. But you can learn to draw if you put in the effort.

His hands can tell a lot about a person. It is very difficult to depict them on paper. But the problem of how to draw a hand can be solved with work and diligence.

Anatomy to help

A complex system is the human body. The hands alone consist of several dozen elements. And in order to draw them correctly, you need to know the structure of the hands. Conventionally, hands can be divided into three main parts: wrist, metacarpus and fingers.

• The wrist is the part closest to the forearm. It is responsible for the movement of the hand, but all its elements work as a single whole.
• The metacarpus is the widest part of the hand - the palm.
• The fingers are mobile due to the phalanges. Four fingers (index, middle, ring and little fingers) have 3 phalanges, but the thumb consists of only two phalanges.

Knowledge of the basics of anatomy will allow you to correctly draw the hands step by step so that they turn out to be “talking”.

It will be easier to draw if, while sketching a sketch, you decide what the subject of the image looks like - something simple, even primitive. Do you agree that the human hand is similar to a shovel not only in appearance, but also in functionality? You can start a sketch with this - draw a contour similar to a shovel: the wrist is the handle of the shovel, and the contour of the palm with fingers is its canvas. It’s difficult to immediately decide how to draw a hand with a pencil step by step, which is why it’s worth starting with a basic sketch.

The main thing is proportions

To draw any object or detail correctly and beautifully, you must maintain proportions - ratio different parts together. This rule also applies to the image of a person.

So, how to draw a hand? We start by determining the correct proportions. The ratio of the length of the metacarpus and fingers is on average 1:1. Naturally, this ratio will vary slightly among different people, because some have long fingers and others do not. But on average the proportions will be equal.

Depending on the length of the fingers, the outline of the palm will be either more elongated or square. Using thin lines (even before drawing the hand), draw the outline of the hand according to the proportions. The thumb does not fit into the overall silhouette; it is always somewhat apart from the other four “brothers”.

Drawing fingers

The fingers are mobile and flexible due to their articular structure, each of three or two phalanges, if we're talking about about the thumb, attached to each other using joints and tendons. The bones of the phalanges, located one after the other, become shorter and thinner, so the fingers gradually become thinner.

Ideally, each phalanx is 2/3 the length of the previous one. These proportions are called the golden ratio - it is perceived by the eye as the most perfect.

Again, when drawing details, you need to make allowances for individual characteristics- not every person’s hands have harmonious proportions. It should also be remembered that the fingers are not the same in length: the most long finger- middle, index and approximately the same and shorter than the middle finger, the smallest are the little finger and thumb. Although the big one is rather the thickest. Its length corresponds to the length of the little finger.

Lines are the basis of authenticity

Before drawing a human hand, analyze again what parts the hand consists of. Remember that the contours of the palm and fingers, taking on specific shapes in the drawing, become more and more rounded. For example, the line connecting the fingers and palm is shaped like an arc, as is the outline of the hand itself - different lengths of the fingers allow you to create a semicircle when drawing fingers pressed together. The thumb is slightly turned in relation to the rest of the palm; its contour will not be straight, but somewhat rounded.

Small details matter

We have sketched out the outline of the palm, then we begin to work on the details. So, how to draw a hand authentically? This is impossible without drawing small details - folds, thickenings, fold lines, the contour of the nail plate on each finger. These seemingly insignificant touches will make the drawing more realistic.

Let's start with the fold lines on the fingers. As already mentioned, the wrist, palm and fingers are made up of many elements. They allow the fingers to perform the functionality for which they are given to a person. How to draw a hand so that it looks as natural as possible? By drawing all the nuances. In places where the bones are connected by joints, there will definitely be folds on both the inside and outside of the palm. If the hand is drawn from the inside, it is necessary to draw the so-called “life lines” - fairly deep grooves in the places where the joints of the palm work.

Each finger at the end is protected by a nail - a hard plate that must be drawn for a realistic image. The nail plate is another important element in solving the problem of how to draw a hand. Nails can have different shapes - from elongated almond-shaped to almost square.

Fingers indicate a person's age. Children's fingers are rounded, with uniform thinning along the entire length. How older man becomes, the more clearly the traces of time appear on the hands. For example, in older people, the thickness of the fingers will be uneven - the joints become increasingly swollen with age, which is affected by many years of work and illness. Also, joints are very visible in thin people.

How to draw a hand in different positions?

Hands not only gradually participate in the conversation, but also often serve as a “language” themselves, for example, when communicating in sign language. Palms and fingers will clearly tell what a person is thinking about this moment time, what his mood is, what he does. How to draw a hand so that it truthfully reveals all the secrets?

When depicting the human body, it is always necessary to rely on the basics of anatomy. Hands are no exception. The size of the fist, for example, is determined by the length of the fingers. And the rule of the golden ratio will be important in any position of the fingers, even clenched into a fist. When drawing an open palm, you need to pay special attention to drawing the lines of the metacarpus and slightly bent fingers.

How to draw a hand from the side? In this case, it will be important to draw the viewer’s attention to the fact that on the back side the palm and fingers will be drawn in almost straight lines, but on the inside, both the fingers and the palm itself have pads, which must be drawn with rounded, smooth lines.

Step-by-step drawing of human hands, with a systematic transition from a sketch to drawing small details, however, like any other object, will allow you to get a realistic drawing.