So, I thought I'd draw a hand from reference, using the tips I learned from a teacher and a very good artist.
Before we start, some general things:
- Any tip I use here can be used to draw anything else, including a full human figure.
- Avoid concave lines (lines that curve towards the inside of the object). Any part of the human body that occasionally appears concave is actually made of smaller convex lines (lines that curve towards the outside of the object). Concave lines on a human body look unnatural and should only be done in really cartoony drawings. Even slim people should be drawn with convex lines.
- No limb on the human body looks exactly the same on both sides. This includes arms, legs, and fingers. Otherwise we'd look like weird balloon people.
[Image: http://puu.sh/1173K]
Enough of that!
I'll be using the following image as reference.
[Image: http://puu.sh/11683]
This won't be incredibly thorough or amazing, because as it happens, I have as much of a hard time as other people when it comes to drawing hands. This is more like...tips that help me get better. You don't even want to see the hands I used to draw, and I don't either...
The way I'm doing this is I've literally just hit the "new thread" button on Nation and I'll post each step and type as I go, so I don' t have to do all the organization and stuff all at the end.
Here goes.
The first thing to keep in mind when drawing the hand is the wrist. Both the angle and size are important.
The second thing I'm going to say is never draw the curves first. Start with lines so that you can judge angles much better. The human body, despite being squishy, can be easily interpreted and drawn in straight lines.
What you want to do first is take a really light pencil or digital brush and draw the "envelope" shape of the hand. Keep the angles and proportion of things in mind. you can even use the wrist to visually measure out how long something is compared to it. You want to check for things that line up as well. For example, if you draw a line straight down from the left side of the middle finger, it lines up with the right side of the wrist. It also looks like the flat side of the thumb lines up with the knuckles pretty well.
[Image: http://puu.sh/116q1]
Next, we'll outline the individual fingers. Use negative shapes (shapes created by the absence of the object) to your advantage. They're great for judging distances between things, and can help with corrections. (On a non-hand related note, negative shapes are great for judging how well you've drawn arms and legs as well).
[Image: http://puu.sh/116xM]
If you feel like your envelope shape is wrong, don't be afraid to draw out of it, or pull it in a bit more. These are all just guidelines.
Once you think you've got a good basic shape, it's time to segment the fingers, and start rounding things off. Finger segment shapes are actually kind of funny and distinguished, but getting the proportions right first is what's important.
[Image: http://puu.sh/116Dv]
After this step, it's all about finding all the smaller angles. No matter how small a detail looks, finding the angle should be fairly easy. If you have trouble, hold your pen/pencil up to the reference and line it up with the part you're trying to draw. The angle should be easier to see.
[Image: http://puu.sh/116KU]
Even at this stage, don't be afraind to change the angles of things if it doesn't feel right.
I made a few changes myself.
[Image: http://puu.sh/116Tw]
And I think you guys get the idea. I HOPE. WAS THIS EVEN HELPFUL LOL ;;*runs*