Hands and feet are very complex structures in the human body and a common culprit for beginner and even advanced artists. So here I’ve gathered the best resources to practice them. Most of them are free. So grab your pencil and get better!
PS: In the case of AI apocalypse, you will at least have a job to draw hands correctly 😅
Free resources
Character Design Reference – Pinterest boards
I’ve mentioned this great resource in the General reference, Anatomy, and Head and Face posts. Character Design Reference is basically a gigantic collection of Pinterest boards filled with references, inspiration, and tutorials.
Hands: https://characterdesignreferences.com/visual-library-1/character-anatomy-hands
Feet: https://characterdesignreferences.com/visual-library-1/character-anatomy-feet
Line of Action – Timed practice tool 1
I recommend Line of Action as often as I can. It’s a great place to have a quick-timed practice of drawing people, animals, or even the environment. As a bonus, they have a special library for just hands and feet.
You can post your practice on their forums for feedback and community to get even more out of the resource.
https://line-of-action.com/practice-tools/hands-feet-practice
Quickposes – Timed practice tool 2
As a second choice for a similar practice, I would recommend Quickposes. They also happen to have a special reference library for just hands. Just make sure to choose it under the “Type”
Sketch Daily – Timed Practice tool 3
And if you are bored of both previous tools or went through ALL of their references, I would point you to this small website, where you can also practice hands with a timer.
Sketch Daily has a much smaller library, but I like to support these small resources.
Posemaniac – 3D hand reference
When you need to practice drawing a specific hand from a particular angle, I recommend you check out the Posemaniac’s hand reference, where you can choose the pose and rotate it however you want.
Paid resources with freebies
Handy Art tool – mobile app
If you wish to have a 3D hand reference tool in your pocket, check out this awesome app, conveniently named Handy Art tool.
The app is free to install but has specific things (like feet and animal skulls) as a paid feature.
You can choose a skintone, gender, pose, background, rotate light and the hand itself however you want. it’s even possible to save the scene (if you have several props).
Anatomy360 – 3D hand reference
Another collection of hand references can be found as a freebie at Anatomy360. However, if you would like to have it as a rotatable 3D object, it’s a paid product in their store (although only for 10$)
However, these 3D hands are different from the ones mentioned above because they were scanned from real people and not modelled in a program.
Free images: https://anatomy360.info/hand-reference/
Paid pack: https://anatomy360.info/product-category/hands/
Paid reference packs
Reference . Pictures – more than 1000 refs
And lastly, I want to mention Reference.Pictures – reference pack store for artists, made by Noah and Rachel Bradley (they often model for these packs themselves), who are artists themselves.
They have one pack with both hands and feet and one special just with hands.
Combined pack: https://reference.pictures/hands-and-feet/
Just hands: https://reference.pictures/Hands/
Hope this post is going to help you to become an absolute beast at drawing hands (and feet)!
Have fun practicing and good luck 🍀
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