Project - Mannequin Hands

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

inDrawing Basics

1.3K

Assignments 370

Downloads 8

Project - Mannequin Hands

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

in Drawing Basics

1.3K

Assignments 370

Downloads 8

Drawing boxes can get repetitive, so let's try to make this one engaging and practical. In this project you'll be drawing mannequin hands. Hands are an excellent subject for practicing drawing boxes because fingers can bend in various directions, allowing for up to 16 different boxes in a single drawing.

Level 1

Download Photos: Download the 3 photos in the downloads tab.
Gesture: Before drawing the boxes, identify the big shapes and the gesture of the hand. Lightly sketch in the simple shapes to ensure the boxes are in the correct location and proportion. Avoid drawing any anatomy, skin details or nails.
Construct Boxes: Constructing boxes in three-point perspective to represent the segments of the hand and fingers.

The aim is to practice drawing boxes in perspective using hands as a subject. Don't get distracted by trying to draw a perfect hand with anatomical detail.

Level 2

After drawing each hand from the photo, draw the same pose from a different angle. This will require you to imagine the pose and draw from imagination.
Don't Strive for Perfection. It's okay if the pose isn't exactly the same from the new angle. The objective is to practice drawing boxes in various configurations.

Extra Credit: Drawing hands from imagination is pretty hard. If you want to do some extra homework, you can review these free hand lessons from my Anatomy course:

How to Draw Hand Bones – Anatomy for Artists

How to Draw Hands – Muscle Anatomy of the Hand

How to Draw HANDS – Details for Realistic Hands!

How to Draw Hands from IMAGINATION – Step-by-Step

Deadline: Submit by 02/22/2024 for a chance to be in the critique video!

Naomi

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Melanie Scearce

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Great job with this assignment. The only thing I would adjust is to move the index finger over so that it is originating out of that side plane of the cube of the palm. These hands have great gesture!

@gwendolynjules

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This was really hard for me but also kinda fun! (Sorry if the pictures are low quality)

Gilles Dubuis

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A tedious attempt at level 2

@hjalmarhoeg

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11d

Tried hand nr. 2 from a different angle. Soo difficult!

Gilles Dubuis

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12d

Level one; there is a lot to think about so the drawing are a bit messy, but, so far, it's a very satisfying exercise.

Yevhen Syrchin

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12d

love these perspective excersises. very interesting!!

Stefan Sharkov

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14d

Here are my first attempts for the level 2 assignment. I struggled a lot with this exercise, so I'm excited to delve into Stan's demo for some insight.

@solobo

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24d

Melanie Scearce

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21d

Nice job!

@dollydigital

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25d

hand 1 in original orientation and an attempt at rotating it

@dollydigital

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25d

should do the others i suppose but having too much fun with this

Chauncey Holder

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28d

This really challenged me but it was very fun

J. Menriv

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1mo

Project - Mannequin Hands - Level 1 (Round 2)

Antonio Santiago

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1mo

Very fun assignment, it made drawing boxes so much more fun by actually trying to represent something with them and made me better at drawing specific boxes not random boxes with no meaning. Definitely felt myself being able to visualize them and drawing the exact boxes I wanted as I did more hands. I feel like my first ones ended up being too thin but was able to fix that somewhat later on. I think it also helped my observation skills since I had to learn how to simplify which required an understanding of what I'm looking at. Any critique is highly appreciated.

Rachel Dawn Owens

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1mo

Sounds like you did exactly what you needed to for this project. Learning to simplify complex subject down to simple structures is foundational for drawing. You will learn to see boxes, tubes, and spheres in everything. Your hand drawings are looking great. Particularly the one on the top of the second image. The perspective and proportion look solid. The hand with the foreshortened fingers on the first image is extra difficult, so I made this demo to help students. It may not be how Stan does it, but I find it really helpful to start loose before building structures on top. Especially when drawing foreshortened forms. Hope this helps. Keep it up!

Michael Longhurst

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1mo

Great assignment. Really tough, but really made me think about the orientation of each box and how to draw it. I struggled a lot with the proportions and getting the fingers to point in just the right position, but feels like it’s getting easier.

@al_ic_ja

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2mo

@al_ic_ja

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1mo

Carlo Julian

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2mo

This was harder than I thought it would be. I think a lot of boxes ended up wedge shaped.

Gannon Beck

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2mo

Well done!

J. Menriv

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2mo

Hand 3

Melanie Scearce

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2mo

Nice work! The curve that the knuckles follow looks awesome. Only thing is make sure to separate the thumb from the plane where the fingers attach.

J. Menriv

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2mo

Hand 1

Jenna

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3mo

I had a fun time doing this assignment! It felt cool to take boxes and apply them to creating 3D body parts. The first three are done before watching the demo. 4th is after watching. Critiques welcome!

Evan Wray

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3mo

First two. First one is much cleaner than the second one. I feel like I'm starting to understand the perspective of each individual box better and better, but the proportions are all messed up so they don't look very good overall. Oh well I suppose that'll come with time.

ken Carlos

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3mo

Bravo 🫶

Luke

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3mo

It took awhile to see the boxes in the hand. I found it really helped starting with a single plane, then figure out the angle needed to project it into a cube.

Evan Wray

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3mo

Really love the shifted perspective on #1, cool choice and great execution!

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Stan Prokopenko

Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.