LEARNING HANDS

        Hands are one of the hardest parts of the human body to draw. The sheer complexity of the hands - the fingers sizes, the perspective and the wrinkles are all crucial in not just drawing a hand, but making it realistic.  Up until the day I was taught how to draw hands, they where a body part I avoided with a passion - if I drew a body, I'd always leave the hands for another day, which never came.

   The first part of the workshop was learning how to draw the hand itself. Much like drawing the hand and the body, I learnt you start with blocking out the positioning and basic shape of the hand. Starting with a square for the palm of the hand, a single line is drawn directly from the middle of the square as a reference for the middle finger- this is the longest finger. From the middle finger, the next two are drawn on either side, both of which are the same length. The final finger is the small finger, which is slightly smaller than the two previous fingers and finally there is the thumb. Firstly, an equilateral triangle off shooting from the side of the square is drawn, from the top of this triangle the thumb is drawn. Now the entire hand is drawn in it's basics, and all that is left to complete is the minute details to define the individual characteristics of a hand.

   We was then taught how to draw hands holding objects with two main tips - one, reference a model and two, start with the basic shapes of the hand. From those tips and the lesson in drawing the hand itself  the below practice session took place.

   

   In that one session, I learnt how to draw hands and how to draw hands holding objects such as a ball, a cup and a pencil. Through practicing theses I learnt not only how to draw the hand itself, but how to draw the hand at different angles and perspectives, giving me a more comprehensive knowledge on drawing the hand. Since learning and practicing, I can now draw hands without thinking too much into things, and I believe the images above highlight this success. In all I learnt;

• The hand is built from a square, a triangle and a line
• The middle finger is central and the longest
• The fingers next to it are the same length
• The thumb is an offshoot of the triangle
• Referencing is an effective tool of practice

NEXT POST: LEARNING FEET

LEARNING BODY PROPORTIONS

        The head was always something I could comfortably sketch to some extent (until I had to draw the facial features), however the body was always a task that was easy enough until I got below the shoulders. That's when my drawings became complete failures - arms were longer than the legs, the legs were too short and the waist was always too square. Therefore in Lecture 2, where I learnt how to draw the body to proportion, I came heaps and bounds from where I was. 

   We started by drawing a entire character to measure our ability to draw the body, from there we were then taught to techniques of proportion. The first attempt is below;

   From this initial drawing, we was then told the individual proportions of the body before finally using that knowledge to practice sketching the body as a basic skeletal frame (image below). Within an hour I learnt;

• The body is generally 8 heads in height
• The body is generally 3 heads in width
• The joint of the arm lands directly in the middle
• From head to hips is the same length as from hips to feet
• Hands should land half way down the thighs
• The Knee is half way up the leg

   Already you can see how I'd progressed from the first body sketch. From these quick sketches I had mastered the measurements of the general human body. I now needed to draw the body from the side. However one further problem I'd always had was to differentiate a male from a female when drawing without reference images. I was taught both and practiced both in the next session.

   Two main tips were taught to me when drawing women - one, draw men with straighter lines and woman with curved lines and two, draw swimsuits on woman to get the figure correct (a personal aid the tutor used to use). From this I believe I managed to achieve the female figure, however I wouldn't call it a complete success, further practice is definitely needed. All that was needed now was to learn the hardest part of drawing the anatomy - the hands and feet.

   Overall, that one lesson in drawing has been the most useful drawing lesson I've ever had. From what I learned here coupled with what I learned the week on head proportions and facial features, I can now confidently draw any character I wish to with realism. However, I still need practice on both, as my drawings currently look like drawings completed by someone who's just taken a class in drawing basics (which I had) where as I want to be produce natural and accomplished work - the kind of work people look at an wonder how it was achieved.

NEXT POST: LEARNING HANDS