22 Hand Drawing Ideas and References - Beautiful Dawn Designs

If you’re looking for hand drawing ideas and references, I have a collection that will help you practice drawing hands.

Drawing hands can be one of the most difficult challenges artists face. Many artists have stories of putting their characters’ hands in their pockets or behind their backs to avoid drawing hands.

A few tips to remember when drawing hands is that the basic shape of a hand is square-ish. It’s also important to note that the fingers are not straight, but bend slightly.

Drawing hands from references is a great practice that will eventually lead to you being able to draw from your imagination.

Gather Your Drawing Supplies

How to Draw Flowers: Learn how to easily draw flowers with these printable worksheets.
Learn to Draw: When it comes to learning to draw, you can’t go wrong with the book You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less.
Colored Pencils: I love using the Castle colored pencils whenever I add color to my drawings. They’re amazing!

Hand Drawing Ideas and References

Check out these 19 hand drawing ideas and references for inspiration and practice drawing hands.

Use the Grid Method

The grid method involves drawing a grid over your reference photo and then lightly drawing the grid on your drawing paper to scale.

The grid method will help you with the placement of your drawing. It will give you a reference point between the photo and your canvas.

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Add Color

Adding color to your drawing can be a great way to make your drawing stand out. You can use colored pencils, pastels, or even watercolor paint to add some color to your drawing.

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Practice Blind Contour Drawing

Blind contour drawing is the practice of drawing the contour of a subject without looking down at the paper.

Blind contour drawing is helpful because it trains the eyes and hands to work as a team. It always helps the artist see all the details of the subject.

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Practice Sketching Daily

If you want to get better at sketching, the best thing you can do is practice daily.

I recommend setting aside an hour every day to sketch. Don’t worry about your work being perfect. It will get better naturally the more you practice.

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Don’t Blend with Your Fingers

Once it’s time to blend, try not to blend with your fingers. When you blend with your fingers, the oils from your skin will transfer to the paper and may affect the look of your drawing. Again, I recommend blending stumps for blending your work.

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Use a Blending Stump

It can be difficult to get a good blend with pencils. However, you can create a smooth bleeding effect by using a blending stump. Blending stumps are great for smudging graphite and charcoal.

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Try Not to Smudge

If you can, avoid smudging your drawing. You can place a piece of paper underneath your hand to minimize how much your hand smudges your drawing.

This will help ensure you have a clean looking drawing once it’s complete. Remember, you can use smudging to your advantage to smooth out your shading.