How to Draw Anime Hands

In Japanese anime, the face is typically the most important, followed by the clothing or outfit of your character. Often overlooked, though, are the hands. Hands can play a vital role in developing an instant impression for your character, and they can be shaped in many ways.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sketch pad/paper
• Rubber eraser
• Graphite pencil or charcoal

Create Realistic Hands for Male and Female Characters

1. Draw a basic palm shape with four fingers and a thumb. If you need help with this step, you can actually trace your own hand on a separate sheet of paper to get the shape just right.

2. Add fingernails by drawing wide "U" shapes on the last one-eighth of each digit. Close off each nail with an arch. For male hands, this should be more of a wide arch, while female nails should end in a narrower, pointy arch.

3. Draw two horizontal lines, half the width of each finger, on each finger or thumb of male hands. These lines represent the knuckles and can be drawn as slight u-shaped lines if the hands are partially bent. Female hands do not require knuckles.

4. Add small hairs using several hatch marks placed at the quarter point from the tip of each finger on male hands. This can give your hands an older, larger look ideal for burly looking male characters.

5. Shade female nails with color to denote nail polish. You can leave a sliver of white in an upper corner to show light reflecting off the nails.

6. Add accessories like rings, tattoos or fingernail jewels to give your character's hands a more distinctive flair.

Tips & Warnings

• For anime animals, a simple circle can often be used as a hand. Accompanied by a smaller circle on top, you can easily make an animal show a "thumbs up" sign, which is universally popular in this cartoon genre.
• The thing to remember about anime is that you don't need nearly as much detail as other types of drawing styles. In general, only basic shapes are necessary for hands.
• If you're having trouble with proportions, measure your hand and divide the number by eight. Then, draw light horizontal lines for each 1/8-inch section, using a ruler. You can line up your nails, knuckles and palm based on this grid.
• Pay close attention to the palm and wrist of each of the character's hands. If the hands are at rest, the palm should be drawn at an angle facing away from the body. For larger, male hands, be sure to add more flesh to the palm and wrist.