This video tutorial demonstrates the art of drawing manga and anime hands in different positions.
Although it’s hard to find an exact guideline on drawing hands because they bend in numerous ways, this guide gives some basics and examples.
For hands in anime holding various types of objects, check out 6 ways to draw Animation Hands Holding Things.
Hands are a challenging body part to draw, and the best method to master is through lots of practice.
Drawing hands in anime is slightly easier than drawing real hands since lots of detail is cut out. However, the overall structure and proportions are mostly identical.
For drawing arms, refer to:
How to Draw Anime & Manga Arms Tutorial
Drawing Anime Hands With an Open Palm
If you’re a beginner, then it is recommended to begin by drawing your hand with your palm open and fingers extended to gain an understanding of the hand’s proportions. You may also take an examination of other images or look at your own hand to help you with your practice.
Step 1 – Drawing the Palm & Thumb Base
Draw a rough outline that is the shape of your palm. Then, draw the rough contour of the thumb’s base to determine its proportions towards the palm.
Step 2 – Analyzing the Proportions of the Hand
Take note of the proportions of your fingers.
Fingers (fully extended), as well as the palm, must be approximately the same size. The thumb’s point when drawn at a 45-degree angle towards the hand should extend to just barely below the knuckle bone on your index finger.
The fingers comprise 3 parts, with the distance from the finger’s tip up to their top joints being the shortest. Then there is the distance between the knuckles down to the bottom joint is the longest.
Step 3 – Drawing the Fingers
Draw the outline of your fingers as well as the thumb.
Step 4 – Cleaning Up & Finalizing the Drawing
Clean up the drawing, and include the details like the lines and wrinkles on the palm and fingers. These are generally placed on the thumb and finger joints. Draw a more pronounced line for the overall hand’s shape and thinner lines for the smaller details.
Drawing Anime Hands Side View
Step 1 – Drawing Side View Palm & Thumb Base
This is a challenging perspective to draw, but it is a common position for the hand.
Draw the overall outline of the hand, minus fingers or thumbs, and draw the outline of the thumb’s base following.
Step 2 – Drawing Thumb & Fingers
In the course of this tutorial, I will draw out the anatomy of all fingers (even those parts that will not be seen when drawing the finished sketch) to serve as an example. It is not necessary to draw these (especially in the case of sketching on paper) however you must consider the placement of the invisibly visible parts of fingers in order to avoid making mistakes when drawing those areas of the fingers that can be seen. For instance, if you only observe the tip of your pinky but do not consider how long the remainder of the finger is, you may draw the tip way too high up or down too far hand.
Step 3 – Drawing Other & Fingers
Similar to step two.
Step 4 – Cleaning Up & Finalizing the Side View Drawing
Make the drawing tidier and add more details like the tiny wrinkles in the joints of the thumb and fingers and the fingernails.
For more information about drawing fingernails check out:
How to Draw Fingernails 6 Different Ways
Drawing Anime Hands Closed Palm Side View
This hand position can be used for things such as holding a shopping bag. It’s similar to a fist, but not exactly identical.
Step 1 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Basic Shape
Draw the overall form of the entire hand while in this position. Then, draw the form from the view to the sides of your palm.
Step 2 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Finger Proportions
Draw the overall outline of your fingers, and then calculate the proportions of the pinky.
Step 3 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Fingers
If you require a better comprehension of drawing the other of your fingers (following the pink) in this perspective, you can apply the same technique as Steps 2 to 3 of the side-view example.
Step 4 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Thumb
Find the proportions and draw the thumb.
Step 4 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Details
Clean your drawing and complete the drawing with the appropriate details.
Drawing an Anime Fist
Step 1 – Drawing Anime First Basic Shapes
Draw an approximate overall shape of the fist. Then sketch out the overall form of the fingers.
Step 1 – Drawing Anime Fist Thumb Proportions
Draw the outline of the thumb’s base and calculate the proportions of the remainder of the thumb.
Step 1 – Drawing Anime Fist Thumb & Finger Proportions
Draw the thumb out. Draw your fingers slightly larger than usual (squeezed) to indicate that the fist is locked. Remember that in a fist that is clenched, the fingers are splayed out away from the thumb’s base.
Step 1 – Drawing Anime Fist Details
Make sure you clean up your drawing before you complete the drawing with the appropriate details.
Drawing Anime Male and Female Hands
Male and female hands in anime are typically drawn essentially similar. But when drawing close-ups of the hands, there are some distinctions.
Female hands tend to be slimmer and curvier and have long fingers. Male hands tend to be larger by comparison.
Simplified Anime Hands
If you are making drawings of hands to illustrate something similar to manga, you don’t necessarily require a detailed drawing. Sometimes, a simple outline of the primary characteristic of the hand is sufficient. If, for instance, you are drawing a figure that is located in the background, you do not need to draw the fingernails of their hands.
Conclusion
It requires a lot of training to draw properly organized hands in various views. It is contingent on the level of your proficiency as an artist, your drawing might not be drawn as you would like them to initially but don’t get discouraged. Hands aren’t easy to draw. If you draw regularly, you can get better.
Hope you find this tutorial useful since it was a long and tedious process to write. Be sure to look through others of our tutorials on the website.
For more information about drawing hands, see:
- How to Draw Hand Poses Step by Step
- How to Draw a Handshake Step by Step
This tutorial illustrates how to draw anime and manga hands in various positions. While It’s difficult to have one clear guideline for how to draw hands as they can bend in so many different ways this tutorial provides some basic tips and examples.
For anime hands holding different kinds of objects, you can see 6 Ways to Draw Anime Hands Holding Something.
Drawing anime hands
Hands are a difficult body part to draw and the best way to learn is through a lot of practice.
Drawing anime hands can be a little easier than drawing realistic hands as a lot of the details are left out. But the overall structure and proportions are basically the same.
For drawing arms see:
How to Draw Anime & Manga Arms Tutorial
Drawing Anime Hands With an Open Palm
If you are a beginner then you should practice by first drawing the hand with the palm open and fingers extended to get an idea of the proportions. You can also look at photographs other drawings or at your own hands for reference.
Step 1 – Drawing the Palm & Thumb Base
Draw a rough shape of the palm. Next, draw the rough shape of the base of the thumb to get its proportions in relation to the palm.
Step 2 – Analyzing the Proportions of the Hand
Study the proportions of the fingers.
The fingers (fully extended) and the palm of the hand should be roughly the same length. The tip of the thumb if drawn at a 45-degree angle to the hand should reach just slightly below the knuckle bone of the index finger.
The fingers consist of 3 parts with the distance from the tip of the fingers to the top joint being the shortest and the distance from the knuckles to the bottom joint being the longest.
Step 3 – Drawing the Fingers
Draw the outer shapes of the fingers and the thumb.
Step 4 – Cleaning Up & Finalizing the Drawing
Clean up the drawing and add the details such as the lines and small wrinkles along the palm and the fingers. These will generally be positioned around the finger/thumb joints. Draw a thicker line for the overall shape of the hand and a thinner one for the details.
Drawing Anime Hands Side View
Step 1 – Drawing Side View Palm & Thumb Base
This is a difficult view to draw but a very common position of the hand.
Draw the overall shape of the hand without the thumb or fingers and draw the shape of the base of the thumb after.
Step 2 – Drawing Thumb & Fingers
For the purpose of the tutorial, I will fully draw out the structure of all the fingers (even the parts that won’t be visible in the final drawing) for you to use as a reference. You do not need to do this (especially if you are drawing on paper) but you should be aware of the positioning of the invisible parts of the fingers to avoid mistakes when drawing the parts that are visible. For example, if you can only see the tip of the pinky but you don’t consider the length of the rest of the finger you can end up drawing the tip too far up or too far down the hand.
Step 3 – Drawing Other & Fingers
Same as step two.
Step 4 – Cleaning Up & Finalizing the Side View Drawing
Clean up the drawing and add the details such as the small wrinkles around the joints of the fingers and thumb as well as the fingernails.
For more on drawing fingernails see:
How to Draw Fingernails 6 Different Ways
Drawing Anime Hands Closed Palm Side View
This position of the hand would be used for something like holding a grocery bag. It’s close to a fist but not quite the same.
Step 1 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Basic Shape
Draw the overall shape of the whole hand in this position. Next, draw the shape of the side view of the palm.
Step 2 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Finger Proportions
Draw the overall shape of the fingers and get the proportions for the pinky.
Step 3 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Fingers
If you need a better understanding of how to draw the rest of the fingers (following the pink) in this view you can use the same method as in Steps 2 – 3 of the side view example.
Step 4 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Thumb
Get the proportions for and draw out the thumb.
Step 4 – Drawing Closed Palm Side View Details
Clean up your drawing and add the details.
Drawing an Anime Fist
Step 1 – Drawing Anime First Basic Shapes
Draw a rough overall shape of the fist and afterward draw the overall shape of the combined fingers.
Step 1 – Drawing Anime Fist Thumb Proportions
Draw the shape of the base of the thumb and get the proportions for the rest of it.
Step 1 – Drawing Anime Fist Thumb & Finger Proportions
Draw out the thumb. Draw the fingers slightly thicker than normal (squeezed) to show that the fist is clenched. Also, be aware that in a clenched fist the fingers fan out slightly in a direction away from the base of the thumb.
Step 1 – Drawing Anime Fist Details
Clean up your drawing and add the details.
Drawing Anime Male and Female Hands
Anime male and female hands are often drawn in basically the same. However, when drawing close-ups of the hands there are a few differences.
Female hands are usually more slender and curvy with long fingernails. Male hands are usually bigger in comparison.
Simplified Anime Hands
When drawing hands for something like a manga you don’t always need to make a detailed drawing. Sometimes a basic outline of the main feature of the hand is enough. For example, if you are drawing a character that is in the background you don’t need to draw the fingernails on their hand.
Conclusion
It takes a lot of practice to be able to draw properly structured hands in different views. Depending on your skill level as an artist your drawings may not come out the way you like at first but don’t get discouraged, hands are difficult to draw. If you draw on a regular basis you can improve.
Hopefully, you found this tutorial helpful as it was very time-consuming to create. Don’t forget to check out some of the other Tutorials on the site.
For more on drawing hands see:
-
- How to Draw Hand Poses Step by Step
- How to Draw a Handshake Step by Step
- How to Draw Anime and Manga Male Head and Face