To draw hands, you must first understand the main parts of it and their general shapes. The hand is made up 3 sets of bone. The carpals(wrist), the metacarpals(palm) and the phalanges(fingers). On top of these bones are 3 tear shaped muscle masses that make up the form of the hand.
These 3 tear shaped muscle masses are the Thenar Eminence, the Hypothenar Eminence, and the First Dorsal Interosseous.
The Thenar Eminence is located at the thumb on the palm side. It originates from the wrist and inserts along the thumb bone.
The Hypothenar Eminence is located at the pinky on the palm side. The First Dorsal Interosseous is the muscle mass between the thumb and index finger on the side opposite to the palm.
Proportions
You can determine the proportions of the hand by using a halving method. Half of the entire hand is where the palm ends and the fingers start. Half of that is the end of the first finger joint of the middle finger. Half of this is the end of the 2nd finger joint. You can divide the last half one more time to find the finger nail. The finger joints of the other fingers can be found by creating a curved rhythm across the hand. Remember that this method is based on bone and not the skin. The fingers will look short palm side, so just remember to imagine the bones underneath to determine proper proportions.
Hand drawing process
Start with a boxy shape for the palm. Make sure the pinky side is shorter than the thumb side. Add a triangle on the thumb side and add the Thenar Eminence and Hypothenar Eminence as well if the drawing is at an angle that shows the palm. If you can see the side of the hand opposite the palm, add also the First Dorsal Interosseous. Once done, draw the thumb and fingers. There are plenty of ways to do this. You can draw the silhouette and then add the fingers after. You can draw lines that signify the finger bones. You can draw each segment of the finger with a boxy shape. I myself use a combination of different methods depending on which ones work best for the drawing at hand. Experiment and find which one suits you best. Remember that each finger segment’s length is equal to each other, and that the finger ends in a curved shape.
