How to Draw Hands
Drawing hands is one of the most difficult topics of life drawing. Every figurative artist comes up with a question about how to draw hands. Hands are often present in portraits, and knowing how to draw them realistically is very important for an artist. There is only one way to achieve good results in drawing hands—by knowing the hand's construction. Otherwise, you would have to draw what you see, and this easily results in mistakes. Drawing hands requires a lot of patience. There are many small details that require an artist's attention. The lower end of the elbow bone is not connected to the wrist. There is a flexible cartilage between it and the bones of the hand. Such construction allows us to flex the hand sideways in the direction of the little finger. The cartilage next to the elbow bone has a triangular shape, but for drawing, all we need to know is its location and the fact that the edge of the elbow bone has a spherical shape. This cartilage is a good landmark to indicate where the hand begins at the little finger side. Its geometry influences tonal values as well. Now, we can examine the model's hand and discuss some dimensions and proportions. You need to know that the nail of the little finger ends at the place where the third phalange of the ring finger begins. Also, the end of the index finger coincides with the level where the nail of the middle finger begins. This alignment is very common for most people. So, the middle finger is longer than the index finger by one nail. And the little finger is shorter than the index finger by the length of the third phalange. The index finger and the ring finger often have the same length, but this proportion is individual and may vary from person to person. You can check this alignment on your hand. The line between the beginning of the index finger and the little finger is tilted. You may also notice that the line between the index and the middle fingers' knuckles has one angle, and the line between the middle and the little fingers' knuckles has another tilt.
