Human Body Drawing: Lesson 13: Mastering the Hands
HANDS, THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF THE HUMAN BODY
The hand is the part of the body that can adopt the greatest number of different positions. We can see it from above, from below, from the front, from the side, closed, open, one finger this way, another differently, in an almost infinite number of positions.
Certainly, drawing hands is difficult.
But, knowing how to draw hands is necessary. Essential! The hand is, along with the head, one of the parts of the body that we always see bare, as it is, without clothes to hide it or change its shape, even if it is gloved. A character with poorly drawn hands—in a painting, an illustration, or a poster—gives such an unpleasant impression! And there are so, so many hands that produce this impression!
We are therefore going to study how one must draw hands, starting from the principle that it is a difficult subject, but that it is fun to draw them; it is perhaps because of this difficulty inherent in their form, and also to show their talent, that many artists have taken hands, only and simply hands, as a subject for a painting (fig. 21).
Let us try, to begin with, to study the ideal dimensions of the hand (fig. 22). We see that its length is equal to twice its width and that the palm or body of the hand corresponds to a square. You will notice that the length of the middle finger is equal to half the total length (point A), that the index and ring fingers are a little shorter, their extremity arriving at the base of the nail of the middle finger (point B); the length of the little finger reaches the upper phalanx of the ring finger (point C); observe also that the top of the thumb forms an almost perfect arc, with the first phalanx of the other fingers.
On the following figure, no. 23, you can study the shape and dimensions of the hand, seen in profile; you will notice that, in this position, the thumb appears almost from the front (contrary to what happens when the hand is seen from the front where the thumb appears in profile). Also study on this figure no. 23 the length, the shape, and the place of the fold formed at the inner base of the thumb (point A): it is very important for the framing of this part of the hand. Compare this figure with the following, no. 24: notice the change in the fold; the extended thumb has moved away from the hand, and the angle formed corresponds to an arc of 90 degrees.
Observe the shape of the hand when the palm hollows; examine, with attention, the folds and the swellings, which the flesh then forms. Study constantly all these aspects directly on your own hand (fig. 25).
Consider with attention the particular shape of the nails and their place in relation to the fingers; you must center them using axial lines like those that appear on this drawing (fig. 25 A).
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The first point makes us understand that the situation of the wrist joints is always in relation to that of the finger joints, whether the hand is open, totally or half-closed. Look at your hand, open it, close it, make it move. You will see that the wrist joints and those of the fingers are always in a straight line. The second point does not need to be clarified, but a few graphic examples will show you that this correspondence between the parallels persists when the hand is half-closed, or entirely (fig. 27).
Rely on these rules to obtain good hand sketches. Work thoroughly on the calculation of dimensions and proportions, because all the success of the endeavor depends on it and only on it. Make numerous hand sketches; for example, your left hand in different positions, while the right one works; help yourself with a mirror, to obtain a greater number of different poses.
Finally, at the moment of rendering the modeling, see how I myself found it necessary to wrap the cylindrical forms with lines and shading, and how I drew the volume, by means of humps and light reflections (fig. 28).
Fig. 28. - Make many hand sketches; for example, your left hand resting on the table, grasping an object, reflected in a glass. The study of the hand is one of the best exercises on the problem of dimensions and proportions. Notice here the enveloping direction of the line.
