Yeah, I know, I'm annoying yall with all of these stupid questions about drawing this and that. But hey, artists need to learn to get better, am I right? Anyway, I know everyone knows that to simply draw a hand, just look at your OWN. But, it's really not that easy, for me at least. Whenever I try it with mine, it always comes out like some fat sausages or sticks, not that I have chubby fingers nor skinny ass hands. But, if anyone could give me a tip for using another method at drawing hands, it will be greatly appreciated. I've looked in art books, though all they mostly say is to "Look at your own", or " men have bony hands, and women soft, gentle, smooth hands" when I want to know how to even draw the damn hand! (sorry for my language, I just get so mad at how useless things can be.

Thanks, and please help a guy out hehe :)

I think you should make a "Art Tips" thread for all your questions on how to draw something~

Eh, I'll leave that to someone else, I just ask questions here and there every now and then. It's just on this occasion that I am asking constant questions so as I can start on my little manga already. eheh

WANT ADVICE ON HOW TO DRAW?!!? PRACTICE, YOU LAZY ASSHOLE! NO SHORTCUTS!

Hahahahaha, just kidding, obviously. :3
I find it helps to envision your palm as a sort of shovel-type deal. Remember that it bends in the middle where it connects to your thumb. Your thumb should reach just to about the bottom of your index finger when un-extended (Is there a word for that?) Your index finger is as long as your palm, so any hand you draw should be two palms long. Also, your hand is as big as your face.
This might also help a bit.
http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/hands/hands.htm
Coincidentally, that's also where my opinion on the hand being like a shovel came from. I haven't used that tutorial in like three years, and I still remembered that apparently, haha.
Anyway, yeah. Hands are a bitch to draw, as there's really no "trick" to drawing them like most parts of the human body. Hands look TOTALLY different from different angles and with different finger positions, etc.
They should be hard to draw; they're a miracle of evolution. Our hands allow us to do ridiculous things. Because of that, they change shape a hell of a lot. Because of that, they're a pain to draw. Really, you just have to practice drawing them a LOT from different angles. It's a pain, but it's worth it; a well drawn hand is always very impressive.

Anyway, good luck. ^_^

Okay...let me tell you some tips...(This is only my drawing style which i examined so many animation so it's not truely true...this is only my suggestion)
Anyway, if you're drawing animation hand, it is NOT neccesary to make the art of the hand perfect like same as what your own hand looks.(That's what i think)

I've discovered some animation have bigger hands, or smaller hands, or even it's just a circle. Anime or manga are like cartoon of course, so it's not really neccesary to make perfection. Sometimes, you have to practice, practice and practice.

If people don't like your drawing style but you still like drawing, don't be disappointed and try another way or keep on till it's improved!(Or try discovering how the artist draw)

Well, that's what i do, so you might go for other people's suggestion :heh:
Good luck!

By the way, My hands drawing and legs drawing are my weakness, but i'll keep improving and keep it up! XD

That's just the thing, it's not that I don't like my own drawing style, it's just that, they look like a buncha vienna sausages on a nub. Similar to Bender's hand off of Futurama(great show by the way). It just makes me wonder how anime artist make the proportions so well.

Haha, I like ZeroX's advice: "If you can't draw, don't worry about it!" XD


It just makes me wonder how anime artist make the proportions so well.
I just told you. It's called "hard work." I love how people start drawing and think there are like, magic tricks to doing things that the professionals know about. Here's a tip: the pros don't know anything you don't know. They earned their skills working their asses off for 10+ years. Really, asking how to draw is useless, as nothing will make any kind of substitute for practice. So, you want to draw hands eh? Put a good 100 hours practice into it, and you'll see some results. Nothing else will do it. <_<

"Everyone has a thousand horrible drawings inside of them! Before anything halfway decent comes out, one has to purge oneself of the first thousand!"

Go draw a thousand hands. God damnit. XD

Yes, you have to practice. I have a friend who is drawing for a manga now and since I known her 10-11 years and she had been drawing since I know her, technically they do work their asses off for 10+ years!

I'm a retired artist going on 2 years drawing nothing but the only advise I can give you is trace things first. That helps you get cordnated, then sketch the picture that you have been tracing. Soon what every comes to mind you'll be able to draw.

It just makes me wonder how anime artist make the proportions so well.

Well...to me, what really matters is not the graphic, but the story itself.
I don't really mind some bad graphic anime/manga or even a classic anime.
See the Samurai X?(1999) It's pretty classic, but it's still so popular!(Although it does have pretty good graphics)
And its story is really THIS good!

And Law Of Ueki and One Piece, I don't really like the graphics, but its great storyline makes me keep on watching.

I tried draw a manga once and give it to my friend and he said,

"Man...your graphic's really bad. But maybe you should write a story! Or just keep it up on your graphics with this story. I love to see what happens next!"

So what really matters is how good is your storyline.(Although people nowadays watch anime only by the way of it graphics with cute girls, handsome guys blablabla....)


"Everyone has a thousand horrible drawings inside of them! Before anything halfway decent comes out, one has to purge oneself of the first thousand!"

HopelessComposer is right, you might have the skill even I don't have. And for me, I might have the skill you don't have. Most famous artist are like using their own skill to create such famous manga.

And my final advice, when you are going to draw something like manga or art, make sure you have a notebook for you to test. When you're testing your drawing in a notebook, tried a few drawings inside it then compare those.
After that, when you find one that makes you happy, draw it in the art.
It's one of the best way to train your art.
Well, that's my advice.

So what really matters is how good is your storyline.
Sadly, that isn't really the case...there are so many comics out there with good artwork AND a good storyline, that nobody really needs to bother with any comic that is lacking in one department. Plus, if you can't draw and don't feel like getting better at drawing, why not just write a short novel instead? Then you'll be strengthening what you're good at instead of wasting time doing what you don't want/need to be doing. ^_^

Of course, if you want to get better at drawing, doing a comic is definitely a good and fun way to do so; so not being a great artist shouldn't stop you from making a comic if you still want to make one. :)

And sometimes, really interesting stories can make up for bad artwork, even if that is rare. I loved 0/1 for example, even though the artwork was pretty bad. :3

I'm a retired artist going on 2 years drawing nothing but the only advise I can give you is trace things first. That helps you get cordnated, then sketch the picture that you have been tracing. Soon what every comes to mind you'll be able to draw.

Just to let you know, I really hate tracing other art. It's just, just, I don't like doing that. I don't feel right.

And about the good story instead of good drawings thing, It's not that, it's just that, it doesn't look like a hand lmao.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and the worst of all things to draw with hands, is if your doing a wide view drawing, like drawing little people and a massive background, I mean, that's when I really get wierd with hands. I mean, I know that on smaller hands you just add less detail, but, it just doesn't look like a hand.

*shakes fist*
Have you drawn a thousand hands yet?! XD

And tracing is boring but helpful. It builds coordination and muscle memory. There's nothing wrong with tracing as a learning technique. :3