How to Draw the Top View of Fists

Drawing the top view of a fist is a great way to become a better and more confident artist.

With no formal art training, drawing can seem very intimidating. By breaking down the process of drawing into a few simple steps, the intimidation factor is almost completely eliminated. Constantly practicing your skills and learning new techniques also helps you become much more confident. Drawing the top view of a fist provides an ideal way for you to start developing your skills and techniques.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pencil
• Reference picture or model
• Eraser

Instructions

1. 

   If you are not able to find a reference photo that suitable, take a picture of your own hand.

   Find a reference object; either have a friend pose their his hand in the exact position that you want or use a photo of a top view of a fist. Taking a picture of your own hand in the precise position that you want is also an option if you are not able to find a picture on the Internet.

2. Draw the outline and basic shape of the fist. Draw multiple outlines until you get one that you are completely satisfied with.

3. Begin drawing the detail lines that make up the fist. When drawing a detailed object like a human hand, start in a memorable spot so you won't miss any lines.

4. Shade your drawing, starting with the darkest areas first and working your way to the lighter areas. Try to push your darkest areas as dark as you can so that you will have a lot of contrast within your drawing when it is complete. Experiment with various shading techniques to get the desired effect.

5. Fill in the rest of the details of the hand to get it to look as realistic as you desire. Remember to continually check back to your reference object or picture so that you can be more precise.

Tips & Warnings

• How detailed your drawing is will depend on how realistic you want your fist to look. If you want it to look a little more stylized and not so realistic, feel free to leave off some detail. Continually practice to get better and faster at achieving the style you want.

• Make sure your live model doesn't move or shift his/her hand at all. The movement could result in a very flawed drawing, causing you to lose the proportions of an actual human hand and your perspective angle of drawing.

References

• How to Draw Fists
• How to Draw Hands
• Basic Shading Techniques

Resources

• Learn How to Draw People