In this video tutorial, we’re going to teach you how to draw an anime hand. It’s anime. It’s hands, and they are difficult to draw. There’s little else to say. Let’s take a look at hand drawings from anime and fight the battle of hand drawing in anime and discover methods to help make these easier to draw.

Drawing an anime hand is dependent on your ability to simplify hand anatomy, as well as your capacity to change the perspective of your hand. Drawing hands from anime also relies on your visual knowledge. To draw anime hands well, we will go over the structure of the hand along with the basic proportions and shapes. Then, we will go over two methods of making hand drawings for anime, the glove/mitten technique along with the simple Form method of construction.

Tutorial Video Anime Hand Drawing

For a straightforward solution on drawing hands for anime:

Make use of your understanding of anatomy and the ability to break down complex shapes into basic shapes, and draw a hand sketch using an image language that is similar to Anime as well as Manga. You can use either the glove/mitten method or the fundamental technique of construction of forms to finish your drawing.

It is important to note that Anime refers to moving images displayed on screens whereas Manga typically refers to drawing still images like comic strips. For ease of use in this article, both terms are used interchangeably.

Let’s start. Creating a mitten or a glove shape and drawing over it can help you get proportions right.

Knowing the anatomy of the hand is essential to draw anime hands

I wrote a thorough tutorial that covers hand anatomy.

Let’s go over the basics we need to know about the anatomy of the hand that is used in manga and anime drawing.

The metacarpals are the basis for the hand’s palm. Fingers are derived from these bones. Phalanges circled. Gvaat’s study.

Phalanges comprise the bones that make up fingers. Notice the three joints on each finger: one at the knuckle, one in the middle and the third nearer towards the tip.

It is also important to note that the thumb is only equipped with two phalanges. The third joint is located on the metacarpals, at the wrist. This joint will be crucial when drawing the thumb as there are only two joints visible compared to the three joints on the fingers.

Drawing Anime Hands – begin with a general form and work from there to more specific

In both methods we will go over below for drawing anime hands, the glove/mitten method as well as the simple method of form construction, starting with the simplest form for the hand’s palm.

It’s a boxy and concave shape. Take a look at the image above, and then perform different hand gestures, and look at your hands too and note how the shape alters between each gesture to the next.

Drawing Anime Hand – Proportions

If you’ve been following my tutorials, you’ll know that I’m not one of those who believes in studying exact proportions for anything. Proportions change based on the subject you wish to draw. The proportions will change based on the perspective and foreshortening of the subject. In time, you’ll be able to judge proportions and then correct them based on what you’re drawing. There are however some guidelines which can help you when drawing the hand, and they can be utilized to draw anime hands.

1 – Hand length and finger length proportions

The length of your middle finger from the end to just before the knuckle equals the length of the hand.

2 – Finger joint proportions

The first joint on each finger is the same as the last two joints of the finger’s length.

Drawing Anime Hand Joint divisions

We examined the phalanges that make up the hand’s skeletal system in the first part of this lesson. The phalanges are the boundaries or joints between the different finger parts.

It is important to note that each finger is composed of three joints: one beginning at the knuckles, and two others along the entire length. The marking of these joints correctly will give a solid foundation for drawing hands from anime.

Drawing Hands Animation – Shapes of fingers

The joints are formed by the skeletal structure of the phalanges. Every finger appears a little like a bean when in perspective. Profile view of a finger. It is easier to draw anime fingers when each section is broken up as if a bean.

Drawing Anime Hand, a Step-by-Step method 1 – the glove or mitten technique

Creating a mitten or a glove shape and drawing over it can help you get proportions right.

The idea of a glove/mitten is derived because the majority of people are more able to visualize or draw an image of a glove or mitten than an intricate hand drawn in anime.

There is no need to fret about drawing using fingers. This method lets you just have to think about your general shape. Controlling the general shape is the foundation of any good drawing. In other words, every successful drawing starts by allowing the artist complete control over the general form of what they’re drawing.

Draw your first anime hand using simple shapes like gloves or mittens. The simplified fingers are drawn with a rectangular shape. After that, the simplified shape is drawn over with greater detail, and also by creating divisions for fingers. Glove/mitten approach to drawing anime hands from left to right. Study by Gvaat. Glove/mitten sketch simplification on the left, drawing over it on the right. Gvaat’s study of anime hands.

The above is an excellent illustration of how the glove/mitten technique is effective.

When drawing the simplified model, take a moment to think about how the hands will look in general and its proportions. Think about the overall gesture. Be concerned about the particulars when you do the second time.

Glove/mitten sketch simplification on the left, drawing over it on the right. Gvaat’s study of anime hands.

Here is an example of an extremely simplified drawing in the form of a fist. Notice that, even though fingers are twisted downwards, I was able to draw the twist later.

It was simpler to draw since it was a general form and shape of the drawing was reflected by the boxy and simplified drawing on the left. Palm shape outlined on the left, then details and fingers drawn on top.

Take note that all the illustrations of hands drawn by anime that I created for the tutorial begin with the basic shape that the hand has. Anime hand. Gvaa’t study.

Here’s another illustration of the glove/mitten method. Begin with simple designs. A palm shape, one for fingers, another for the palm and a third for the thumb. Continue to work on the details of your drawing over the structure you’ve already constructed.

It may seem like an easy trick, however, it actually works. It’s particularly useful when drawing hands from anime. Through simplifying the drawing, you break down the work of the whole drawing into phases. By breaking down the workload and drawing, it makes it more manageable.

Then draw the boxy glove or mitten form, then draw the details. When you attempt to draw everything in one go, the drawing can become too excessive. It is necessary to consider the shape, proportions, and the details so drawing becomes more difficult to finish efficiently. When you divide the process, you can define the shape and proportions first, then the details are drawn over them next.

Check Out : Anime Hair Drawing : How To Draw Anime Hair Step By Step

Drawing Anime Hand, a step-by-step approach 2 – the most basic form structure

If the glove/mitten technique doesn’t seem to work for you, you might prefer the simpler method of form construction. This technique can be utilized to create more complex hands and poses.

The second method of easing drawing anime with hands is to draw the most basic shapes first. Consider cylinders and boxes.

Utilizing this method to draw hands from anime, I’m going to draw a curved shape for the hand, and indicate the dip in the hand in the palm. Next, I’ll find the joint of each finger, and I’ll draw circles for fingers that extend out beyond the hand. The results are as follows:

Check Out : Drawing Anime Girl Body : How to Draw Anime Girl Body

Conclusion Drawing Anime Hand the final thoughts

Creating a mitten or a glove shape and drawing over it can help you get proportions right.

Drawing hands in anime isn’t an easy endeavor. There’s a lot of complicated work to create stylized drawings that are fully grounded in the real world.

Hands appear different from different angles, and there’s plenty of motion in hands. But, this is the reason that hands are extremely expressive and an ideal tool for a mangaka to communicate with viewers.

Consider what you would like to convey with a particular posture, (what says it about the character in the anime you’re drawing?) Then, find the appropriate gesture to use in your hands prior to completing your drawing.

While it isn’t easy, drawing hands from anime can be quite a bit of enjoyment. The process of simplifying is enjoyable – even though it can be initially challenging, as time passes, it will result in immense time-saving while allowing you to communicate what matters to your target audience.

This is because the majority of Anime and Manga reduce the complexity and details of the human figure, its gesture and anatomy down to its most fundamental (and gorgeous) components.

We hope you enjoyed this lesson. It’s your turn to experiment with drawing hands in anime! Use the techniques taught in this video tutorial, and let me know what results out of it! Best of luck!