Index:
1. Hand anatomy.
2. How to start drawing.
3. Drawing process: Sketch, definition and inking.
4. How we draw hands in various poses.
5. Types of hands (examples)
Hello, we are Katami Studio, we are dedicated to drawing and creating manga. We have recently discovered ClipStudio Paint and we are delighted with the application.
One of the biggest challenges of a cartoonist is to draw hands well, everyone knows how difficult it is to draw human hands correctly, that's why we thought it was interesting to try to explain how we do it and how we like to draw them.
The tutorial will follow the following steps:
1. Hand anatomy.
2. How to start drawing.
3. Drawing process: Sketch, definition and inking.
4. How we draw hands in various poses.
5. Types of hands (Examples).
As one practices it seems easier to draw but for those of you who are starting, first of all, we are going to remember a little bit of anatomy.
Go for it!
- 1. Hand anatomy.
In this illustration we can see the different parts of a human hand. Basically we have decided to put the different parts that have to be drawn, we could have started to explain the bones and muscles, but since what we really want is to draw hands we have ignored that explanation...
So, we will focus mainly on these parts: wrist, palm, and fingers (with their respective joints and nails).
Hands really tell us a lot about our characters, that's why we think it's very important to know how to draw them well.
It is necessary and basic before starting to draw to also know how the proportions of the parts of a hand and the functionality of its movements are.
When drawing our hands, special care must be taken with their proportion, since we cannot draw a hand with fingers that are much longer than the palm or much shorter. As you can see in the illustration, the proportion between the size of the fingers and that of the palm must be more or less the same.
As for the arrangement of the fingers, if we look at our hand we can verify that they are not located in a straight line, but that the base of the fingers is slightly curved. We can also verify that the thumb should not be longer than the first (proximal) phalanx of the index finger, that the middle finger is the longest finger or that the little finger is the smallest finger.
Very important, the movements of the hand are extension and flexion, as well as the movement of the wrist and finger joints.
The joints of the knuckles and fingers are always flexed towards the palm of the hand, so we can make a fist or do the pincer flexion.
We believe that no further explanation is needed, let's see how we begin to draw by understanding the anatomy and movements of the hands.
- 2. How to start drawing.
Once we are clear about the anatomy we can start drawing hands.
One of the tricks that we recommend is that to start drawing hands correctly it is very good to visualize geometric figures, in the following image we explain how to start.
We will draw the cylinder of the wrist first, with a sphere that symbolizes the joint of the wrist.
The palm of the hand is represented by a rectangle with a narrower base, since the knuckle area is wider than the wrist. The distal part of the figure of the palm has to be arched to be able to arrange the fingers.
In the inner part, where the thumb would go, we will place a triangle.
Then we would draw five spheres corresponding to the knuckles, this will also help us place the fingers.
Finally it is time to draw the fingers, we always start with the thumb. It consists of two phalanges and a joint, therefore we will draw 2 cylinders taking into account that it will be the shortest finger.
Next, we will draw the rest of the fingers, made up of 3 "cylinders" and two joints each. We must take into account the range of extension of the hand in the form of a fan, and the proportion and size of the fingers, we will never draw the fingers as long or as long as the thumb.
The hands really tell us many things about our characters, the indicated proportions serve as a guide, but when it comes to characterizing and creating our characters, small variations can be made.
- 3. drawing process.
Next we will show you the process of drawing and final inking of the hands, you will also see what we mean when we say that the hands tell us things about the characters.
The initial step would be to draw the hand in geometric shapes.
Once we know how we want to draw the hand, whether it is the hand that you have seen in a photo or taking a photo of your own hand, using the geometric figures you will be able to better locate the different parts.
When you have drawn all the parts and joints, you can proceed to make the sketch on top but in another layer.
In the sketch it is about drawing the hand schematically, without drawing the details. We start by drawing the thumb, followed by the palm of the hand and finally the rest of the fingers, as we have commented in the previous section.
If after making the sketch we are not convinced we can modify some part, either by bending the wrist more or stretching a finger, etc.
Once we find the hand we want, we proceed to define the sketch a little more, you can do it in another layer or in the layer of the pencil sketch.
It is in this step when we give more "personality" to the drawing and add details according to the character we are drawing.
We have put several examples so you can see what we mean. We can draw long or short nails, thinner or thicker fingers, more pronounced knuckles, etc.
Looking at these examples, how could you tell us which hand belongs to a delicate character and which one belongs to a strong one? Maybe there is a hand of a villain...
In this step we have a cleaner and more defined line, we can vary the thickness of the ink depending on what we want to convey.
You can also add more details or accessories.
It's very entertaining, try it!
Once we have the defined sketch, we proceed to the "inking" with the Clip Studio Pen tool. It is about making the drawing even more defined and adding more details, if necessary, as you can see in the image.
As you can see, we have added veins, beads of sweat, small lines of dirt or bumps, some more folds, lines of movement, etc.
When inking we have also changed the thickness of the line; In the drawing of the fist we have done a more careless inking, with more strokes, to give the sensation of movement, however in the drawing of the upper hand, we have opted for a finer line to create the sensation of delicacy in its gesture.
This step will always be done on a different layer than the previous ones, since it will be the line that we can see in the finished drawing.
We added this example image, in which we see the parts that we had commented on in the anatomy point. It is interesting because as we draw the hand there are parts that will not be clearly seen, for example, in the case of the open hand, the nails or the knuckles will never be seen, it would be very strange, right?
That's why it's important to look at your hands when drawing and make sure it looks natural.
- 4. How we draw hands in various poses.
We have seen very detailed hands but sometimes in manga you have to draw them in a simpler way, many times the bullets are small or the characters are far away or in perspective.
We show you an example of 3 varied postures of three characters so that you can see how we do it.
In these sketches you can see three different types of characters, a character with a fighting stance, another a bit surprised and another more relaxed.
In the event that there were 3 cartoons of a manga, the hands would look small so it is not necessary to do many details when inking so that the drawing does not look too overloaded. That is why we do not usually draw the folds of the joints of the fingers in open hands, however in the case of fists we do draw them, as seen in the following image. We believe that the drawing is much better understood, apart from giving more strength to the character's posture.
5. Types of hands
As you can see it is very important to draw the hands according to the character, in the image below we show you several types of hands, do you dare to say who they belong to?
We explain what we take into account when drawing the different types of hands:
Male Hand: We like to draw guys bigger hands, they look more manly and sexy, with thicker fingers and short nails, except for some villains with long nails (of course, they're sexy too! For guys we draw the most pronounced knuckles and creases, as well as wider and stronger wrists. It depends on the type of guy, of course.
Female Hand: We love to draw the hands of delicate girls, with the nails slightly longer than the fingers, they are very beautiful. The fingers could be thinner but if they are a little chubby they are also very cute. We do not make the knuckles very marked so that they do not look too masculine.
Children's Hand: A child's hand must always be beautiful, with a more rounded palm, as well as short and chubby fingers. We usually draw the knuckles in children very slightly, like a small dot and the nails are very short. Slightly arched fingers and chubby wrists give a feeling of cuteness!
Elder Hand: They're cute too! You have to draw wrinkles and more lines in the folds. If he is very old, he can draw spots on the skin or very pronounced knuckles with a little arthritis. In the case of the nails, if some lines are added vertically, they will give the impression of being damaged by age.
Monster Hand: We really like to draw monster hands, with arched fingers and many lines that give it strength. They must be big and if they have claws they will be more monstrous if possible. If veins or hair are added, all the better!
Alien Hand: Umm...didn't we say they were human hands? this hand doesn't look like a human hand at all, I don't know what it's doing here… what I do know is that these kind of hands are the easiest to draw, because it doesn't matter if they look ugly on you!
So far the tutorial on how to draw Katami Studio hands with Clip Studio Paint, we hope you liked it and it could help you.
We encourage you to keep practicing and draw all the hands you see, if you practice a lot you will end up drawing perfect hands!
All the best!
Users who liked this post
Comment