Hand Studies
3yr
@quizzy
Hello,
I have been learning to draw hands,and beyond the basic structure, I have no really detailed knowledge of how it works. Paired with my knowledge of how to draw structure, shading and making images look good, I have picked out my three best hand studies, which I hope to get a critique on. Where do I go next with them? They are done in mechanical pencil and ballpoint on office paper - just everyday practice work.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
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3yr
Hey, @quizzy! These are really nice quick sketches indeed, and, to my eye, there’s nothing in them that seems to need corrections or adjustments except maybe for the perspective of the middle finger’s nail in the second one. Other than that, I think they all look pretty good! In fact, I love the linework in the first and last ones.
What I honestly believe could help you hop onto a next level would be to take some time to learn the hand’s anatomy. Drawing from reference and thinking of structural planes to design your drawings of hands is always helpful, of course, but learning about the bones, tendons and muscles is what will truly give you enough confidence and understanding to figure out most problems when drawing hands whether realistically or in “realism-based” styles.
Now I’ve studied from different resources before and I gotta say that Proko’s Anatomy course is certainly what I find to be the best one in terms of clear explanations, concentrated details and thoroughly varied examples. Here is the first of Stan’s videos on drawing hands straight from the Anatomy course:
How to Draw Hands – Muscle Anatomy of the Hand
From it, I’d suggest viewing the further lessons by following them in the course’s designed order (you can visualize a playlist menu under the video on the lesson’s page in this link) - take your time and try to be patient, it’s a lot of stuff! :)
Ideally, you could consider starting the whole Anatomy course from its very beginning, since previous lessons on the arms can help with learning the hands, and earlier lessons on the torso should help understand the arms. But if you want a more specific crop on hands, following just this set of lessons should be helpful already.
Hope this is useful!
Keep it up and best of luck in your journey.
Hello Squizzy,these are pretty good!I'm quite fond of the hand in the midddle,I think you really nailed the anatomy and structure of it.The biggest problem I see is that while you give nice structure and design the back hand with interesting shapes,I don't think you did the same with the other two.
When I draw hands,I ussually break it down into simple blocky shapes,that way I can see the light hitting on the form more clearly.Here is an overdrawing I did where I drew the planes of the hand,Please try to think of these simple form when shading the hand.(Here is also a page from the bridgman book,showing how he break down the fist if that helps)
I would advise trying to get more familliar with these forms by drawing the hands in different angle and turning them into blocks.(here is an exmaple by bridgman on the top right)I would also advise watching these 3 videos for more information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBMQ-H-qUVk&t=367s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzl3eaxAJpo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXiUlO4dxZY
But other than that,pretty good,please keep going.