Introduction

(Please note, all illustrations and photographic reference pictures used in the tutorial are property of the artist)

 

Today we'll be taking a look at how to use the 3D models for expressive hand gestures and anatomy reference and some of the features of the program especially for the beginners.

For anyone who can't view the video, below I'll be summarizing the contents of the video.

Importance of using hands for expression

A character's body language doesn't only involve their facial expression and hands play a major part in a character's expression. Sometimes without even looking at the face, the body pose and hands can establish the mood of a scene, show a character's emotion and at times their personalities. That's why it's so important to always consider what the hands will be doing if they're going to be seen.

 

In these three panels, we see three different where hands play a major role, on the right General Aizen's hands show his personality, he is somewhat dramatic with an attitude, in the middle Scarlet is trying to make a point and on the left, a fist is shown usually meaning a character is tense or withholding anger.

So it's okay to add a bit of flair to the hand gestures in order to get a point across.

 

The importance of Learning Basic Anatomy

I'll be 3D models for the hand gestures in this tutorial but I also want to highlight the importance of knowing basic anatomy. There are many in depth tutorials and resources for learning anatomy. Always practicing can even help with even being to break down the anatomy on the 3D models and use them while drawing.

It's also important to know basic anatomy and how to break it down in order to manipulate it and get the body to do some amazing things in illustrations and animations.

Loading and Posing the model

Loading the 3D models is easy as you would go into the 3D tab and choose model after which you'd drag it onto the canvas.

 

In order to move around the joints and body parts, we click on the body part and it will be highlighted and depedning on what body part it is, a few axis should appear allowing you to rotate and move the parts as you would on a human body.

 

After finding reference and loading it into the subview window (Window - Subview), I find it important to find a a base pose. So this pose will be something as close as possible to what I have in my reference. It makes the posing easier whether it's for the whole body or just the hand.

 

It's only a matter of dragging the pose from the defaults onto the model. Below are the base pose and pose that I had in my reference.

Then it's a matter of posing the model according to the reference by using the axis to rotate and move the joints. At this point, it's just a matter of adapting the hand to the character or your style by drawing over the model. An alternative to tracing and just wanting to get the pose is to simplify the form by breaking it down.

Using 3D models as anatomy breakdown practice

The models can also help with practicing simplifying the anatomy, it's great to use especially considering that you can get one pose in more than one angle. This of course doesn't replace good old reference in fact we need the photo reference to pose the 3D models in the first place.

Manipulating Size and Perspective

It's great understanding the anatomy because once you know it, it's much easier to manipulate it in order to make illustrations and animation more interesting which is where aspects like foreshortening come in. There are two great tools to achieve the effect of the hand popping out of the page. Manga Perspective and the Perspective.

Below is a model using the edited Perspective which is found in the options of the 3D model

This one uses the manga perspective and shows the difference it makes in the impact of the illustration.

Other than the perspective tools, we can also change things like the length and width of the hand and fingers to help emphasize hand gestures.

The small button on the right hand side brings up the menu to change the proportions of a figure. The hand gesture would not have seemed as if it's from a monster if the proportions were natural.

Annnnd CUT!

We've come to end of these tips :D

 

Please watch the video as it's a much more comprehensive discussion of the points that I've brought up above. I hope this helps someone and if there are suggestions you can find me on Instagram as @chiharu_studio or on Twitter as @loli_studio

 

Always happy to help o(〃＾▽＾〃)o

Chiharu_J