How to Draw Hands

The reason that drawing hands is so challenging is because there are so many forms that have to be drawn in perspective. Every finger is made up of multiple cylinders and the box of the central form also needs to be drawn in perspective.

The most effective way of learning how to draw hands is to take it in incremental stages that will allow you the room to focus on one element at a time. This method of practice is perfect for people that want the ability to draw from imagination. Below I have created a free worksheet that can help you practice.

4 Stages

I recommend practicing each of these stages until you are comfortable before moving forward. When you are starting out, try to practice more simple hand gestures before trying the more complex ones, we want to avoid unnecessary frustration as we practice. 

Stage 1. Central Box

Draw a bent box for the central part of the hand, draw in the cushions of the palm if they are visible at this angle. Pay attention to how the hand is fairly thin, the depth of the hand is much smaller than the overall surface area.

If you want help with drawing boxes that have dimension, you can check out my Basic Forms tutorial here (Opens in a new tab)

Stage 2. Thumb

Now start adding in the thumb which connects to the box through a triangular box, followed by a cylinder and a tapered cylinder. Pay attention to how the thumb connects to the cushion of the palm (look at your own hand to develop an understanding of this).

Stage 3. Mitten

At this stage, we try to simplify the fingers by grouping the ones that are closer together. I would recommend practicing individual fingers at this point because of some of the gestures will require individual fingers. Getting comfortable with this stage will help us during quick block-ins once we start to apply this to illustrations and figure drawing sessions.

Stage 4. Full Hand

Drawing the full hand will feel a lot easier once we have gotten comfortable with the mitten because we can use the simplified form as a guideline for the individual fingers.

If you want further help with learning to draw hands, which I know can be very frustrating at times, check out the Workbook below. I design these workbooks as a way to give us a clear way to practice drawing that isn’t overwhelming. Drawing is a skill that requires hands-on practice, unfortunately watching video tutorials isn’t enough which is why I create printable workbooks.

Thank you for letting me be part of your drawing journey, I have tons more tutorials on the site you can check out :D