120 poses

Hand Drawing Study

One pose at a time for the hand that is not drawing, with a look-for line, a level and a length from 1 to 10 minutes.

Hand Drawing Study

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Set each pose with the hand that is not drawing. Prop your elbow on the table for any pose held in the air.
Read the look-for line before you start, then draw for the minutes shown.
Big shapes first: the palm, the four fingers as one block, the thumb. Divide the fingers afterwards.
Use an empty mug. Keep scissors closed unless the pose says open, and never aim the blades at your face.
Tick the box when the time is up, whatever the drawing looks like.

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All 120

Drawn: Tip your open palm towards you until the fingers look half their lengthTip your open palm towards you until the fingers look half their lengthMeasure a finger with your pencil before and after tipping. The width stays the same and the length shrinks.

Next step More foreshortening: hard things to draw Done studying it? Things to draw on your hand

All 120 poses

Palm towards you 30

Beckon with one finger: palm up, index finger curled towards you The curled finger shows three short sections. The last one points back at the palm.
Bend every finger at its two end joints only, like a claw, palm towards you Each finger makes a squared hook. The fingertips line up along the top of the palm.
Bring all five fingertips together into a beak, tips up, palm towards you All five tips meet at one point. The palm closes into a deep fold below them.
Bunch a cloth in your palm and close the fingers halfway round it Soft folds against hard knuckles. Let the cloth spill out between two of the fingers.
Count four on your fingers, thumb folded across the palm, palm towards you Four fingers up and the thumb lying across the palm. See which finger's base the thumb tip reaches on your hand.
Drape a cloth over your upturned hand so only the fingertips show The cloth hangs from the high points. Find the knuckles and fingertips under it before you draw a fold.

Show all 120 poses (114 more)

Palm towards you, continued

Hold a ball up in your fingertips like a trophy, palm towards you Five fingertips spaced round the ball. The ones behind it show only as tips over the top edge.
Hold a coin between the pads of your thumb and two fingers, palm towards you The coin's face is towards you, so it is nearly a full circle. Thumb in front, two fingertips peeping over the top.
Hold up one index finger, palm towards you One long form and a bundle. The folded fingers stack like a short staircase beside the thumb.
Hold up three fingers, palm towards you, thumb pinning the little finger Thumb and little finger make a knot low in the palm. The three straight fingers differ in length, so rank them.
Hold your hand up, palm towards you, fingers spread as wide as they go Five spokes from one hub. The thumb leaves lower down and at a wider angle than the rest.
Hold your open hand up, palm towards you, fingers together Block in a mitten first. Check the middle finger's length against the height of the palm.
Hook your four fingers as if carrying a heavy bag, palm towards you Four hooks in a row, each a slightly different size. The thumb stays out of it.
Lay a coin in the middle of your upturned palm The coin is an ellipse that tells you the tilt of the palm. Draw it before the creases around it.
Lay closed scissors flat on your upturned palm Hard straight metal on a soft curved palm. The loops give you two clean ellipses to check the tilt.
Make a loose fist and turn it so the curled fingertips face you Four fingertips in a row with the nails tucked out of sight. Decide where the thumb goes: across them or beside them.
Make a ring with thumb tip and index tip, palm towards you Draw the hole first. It is rarely a circle, more often a teardrop or a leaf.
Make a tight fist, palm side towards you, thumb across the fingers The thumb crosses the first two fingers at a slant. The folded fingers make a staircase, not a flat wall.
Pin a pencil across your upturned palm with your thumb The pencil is a ruler lying on the form. Notice where it lifts off the palm and where it sinks in.
Rest a ball in your upturned palm on the table The fingers follow the ball's curve. Draw the ball first, then wrap the fingers round it.
Rest the back of your hand on the table and let the thumb fall across the palm Move the thumb once before you start and watch how far down it hinges: almost at the wrist.
Rest the hand palm up beside a lamp so the curled fingers shadow the palm Draw the shadow shapes before the fingers. The cast shadows follow the bowl of the palm.
Rest the hand palm up on the table and cup it as if it held water The cup deepens as the thumb pad and the outer pad roll towards each other. Draw the creases that show it.
Rest the hand palm up on the table with the fingers half curled Relaxed fingers never curl by the same amount. See which of yours curls most and which least.
Rest the hand palm up on the table, fingers flat and together The palm is a shallow bowl even when flat. Look for two pads: one under the thumb, one on the outer edge.
Rest the hand palm up with a pencil lying loose in the curled fingers Relaxed fingers make a soft tunnel round the pencil. Two ends stick out, and only one is sharp.
Squeeze a soft ball or a rolled sock in your fist, fingers facing you The ball bulges out at the gaps: between thumb and index finger, and below the little finger.
Stand an empty mug on your flat upturned palm, elbow on the table The base is an ellipse sitting on the palm. Watch what the fingertips do to steady it.
Touch your thumb tip to your little finger tip, palm towards you The palm folds down its length to let them meet. The three free fingers fan out behind.
Weave a pencil through your fingers: over, under, over, under Each finger either hides the pencil or sits behind it. Get the order right and the rest follows.

Back of the hand 30

Arch your fingers on the table as if on piano keys From above every finger shows three sections, each shorter than the last, and the nails face you.
Cap a mug with your palm and let the fingers hang down its sides The rim shows between the fingers as pieces of one ellipse. Make the pieces line up.
Cross your index and middle fingers, back of the hand towards you One finger wraps in front of the other and both bend a little to do it. Decide which is in front before you start.
Flatten a cloth on the table under your spread hand, as if wiping The cloth wrinkles away from the fingertips in rays. Hand first, then the folds it causes.
Hold closed scissors by the blades, back of the hand up The way you pass scissors to someone. The fist wraps the closed blades and the loops stick out at one end.
Hold scissors ready to cut, back of the hand towards you Thumb in one loop, two or three fingers in the other. The loops hide parts of the fingers, so draw through them.
Hold up two fingers in a V, back of the hand towards you The thumb and the folded fingertips are hidden on the far side. The V opens from the knuckles, not the webbing.
Hold your hand up, back towards you, and let it hang limp from the wrist A limp hand hangs like a glove on a peg. The fingers part a little and the thumb hangs on its own.
Hold your hand up, back towards you, fingers spread wide The webbing stretches into shallow curves. From this side the fingers look longer than they do from the palm side.
Lay the hand palm down and lift only the index finger One cord stands up on the back of the hand and runs straight to the lifted finger.
Lay the hand palm down and tuck the thumb underneath Four fingers and no thumb. The thumb's side of the hand becomes a plain curve from wrist to index knuckle.
Lay the hand palm down on a crumpled cloth The hand sinks in and the cloth rises between the fingers. Soft edges for the cloth, firm ones for the hand.
Lay the hand palm down under a lamp set low to one side Low light picks out every cord, knuckle and vein. Draw the shadow edges and leave the outline until last.
Lay the hand palm down with a pencil under the fingers, as if rolling it The pencil passes under all four fingers in one straight line. Use it to check the knuckle curve above it.
Lay your hand flat on the table, palm down, fingers spread Draw the gaps between the fingers as shapes of their own. Each V has a different depth.
Lay your hand flat on the table, palm down, fingers together The knuckles sit on a curve, not a straight line, and the fingertips make a steeper one.
Lay your hand over the edge of the table so the fingers hang down The back of the hand is flat on top, then the fingers drop away at the knuckles and shorten.
Lift an empty mug by its rim with all five fingertips, seen from above Five fingertips spaced round a circle, seen from above the knuckles. See which finger the thumb sits opposite.
Make a knocking fist with one middle joint pushed out in front One joint breaks the row of knuckles. The fingers either side of it tighten to hold it there.
Make a ring with thumb and index finger and look at it from the back of the hand The ring is half hidden from here. Three fingers fan up behind it at three different angles.
Pin a ball to the table under your flat palm The hand tilts on the ball. Most of the ball is hidden, so its cast shadow has to explain it.
Pin a coin to the table with one fingertip, the rest of the hand lifted All the pressure runs down one finger. See whether its end joint bends back under the load.
Press your palm on the table and lift all five fingers off it Cords stand up on the back of the hand, one running to each knuckle. Draw them as ridges, not as lines.
Rest a ball on the table and drape your hand over the top of it The fingers fan out over the curve and the fingertips vanish round the far side. The knuckles are the high point.
Rest a loose fist on the table, back of the hand up, thumb beside the index finger The back of the hand is a flat plane and the fingers drop off it like a cliff. Mark that edge first.
Rest a tight fist on the table and look at the back of it, knuckles on top Four knuckles in an arc with a valley between each pair. Find which one stands highest on yours.
Spread your hand on the table with a pencil between the middle and ring fingers The pencil splits the hand in two. Compare the halves: they are not mirror images.
Stand your spread fingertips on the table with the palm lifted, like a spider The hand becomes a tent on five poles. The knuckles are the ridge and the back slopes down to the wrist.
Tuck the two middle fingers under and leave index and little finger flat on the table Two long fingers with two knuckle bumps between them. The back of the hand humps up to make room.
Wrap your whole hand round a mug on the table, back of the hand towards you The fingers disappear round the far side one by one. Note where the handle pokes out past the hand.

Side on 30

Balance a pencil on the side of your index finger, steadied by the thumb The pencil gives you a level line. Hang the knuckles and the thumb from it like washing.
Carry an empty mug by two fingers hooked through the handle The weight pulls the two hooked fingers into a tight curl. The others rest against the side of the mug.
Curl your index finger behind your thumb, ready to flick The fingernail hides behind the thumb pad. The other three fingers lift out of the way in a fan.
Grip a mug handle, seen from above You look down on the thumb and the curled index finger. Count how many fingers fit through the handle.
Hang closed scissors from one hooked finger One finger does the work and the rest relax. The scissors hang plumb, which gives you a true vertical.
Hold a ball from underneath as if about to bowl it, seen from the side The fingers cradle the lower half of the ball and the thumb comes over the top. The wrist bends back to carry it.
Hold a cloth in your fist with both ends hanging out, seen from the thumb side The fist is a hard knot in the middle of something soft. The cloth narrows going in and spreads coming out.
Hold a key or a coin as if turning it in a lock, seen from the side A key grip: the thumb pad presses the metal against the side of the curled index finger.
Hold a pencil like a dart, level with your eyes The fingertips crowd together at one spot on the pencil. The other fingers fan out behind for balance.
Hold a pencil ready to write, seen from the thumb side Thumb and index finger meet near the point, middle finger underneath. See where the pencil leans back on the hand.
Hold scissors open, seen from the thumb side The thumb loop and the finger loop pull apart. Draw the X of the blades, then fit the fingers to the loops.
Hold your flat hand level with your eyes, thumb edge towards you The whole hand flattens to a strip. Only the thumb, the index finger and the big knuckle keep any depth.
Hold your hand out flat for a handshake, thumb side towards you The webbing is one long curve from thumb tip to index knuckle. The four fingers stack behind one another.
Hook one finger through a mug handle and rest your thumb on top of it One finger vanishes into the handle and comes out the other side. The thumb pad flattens where it presses.
Lean on your fingertips on the table, wrist high, seen from the side A bridge from fingertips to wrist. See which joints bend backwards under the weight and which stay straight.
Let your hand hang off the edge of the table from the wrist, seen from the side The wrist bends and the fingers hang in a loose cascade. No two finger joints bend by the same amount.
Make a fist and look at it from the little-finger side The little finger curls into a tight snail. Below it the soft edge of the palm bulges out.
Make a talking mouth: four fingers above, thumb below, seen from the side Four fingers act as one upper jaw. Open the mouth a little so there is a gap to draw.
Pinch a coin at eye level Thumb and index finger make a pair of tongs. The coin is a thin ellipse or a plain line, depending on the tilt.
Pinch one corner of a cloth and let it hang All the folds start at the pinch and fall straight down. The hand is the small part of this drawing.
Point at something across the room, seen from the thumb side Follow the top edge from the wrist to the fingertip and note every bump. The thumb rests on the folded middle finger.
Press your middle finger against your thumb, ready to snap Middle finger and thumb are loaded against each other. The index finger stands clear and the last two fold in.
Press your thumb on the table as if leaving a thumbprint, seen from the side The thumb pad spreads where it meets the table. The fingers curl out of the way behind it.
Rest a thumbs up on the table, seen from the side A fist with a thumb standing on it. Some thumbs bend back at the end joint and some stay straight: check yours.
Rest the hand on its edge, fingers curled round an invisible glass A C shape from the side. Through the opening you see the inner faces of the fingers in shadow.
Rest the side of your fist on the table with a pencil standing up in it A pole in a fist. The spiral of index finger and thumb wraps round the pencil at the top.
Squeeze a ball, seen from the little-finger side From this side the fingers stack in a column of four curls with the little finger nearest you.
Stand a fist on the table and look down at it from the thumb side A spiral: the index finger curls in on itself and the thumb lies over it like a latch.
Stand the hand on its edge on the table, thumb on top, and look down at it From above the hand is a narrow wedge. The thumb lies along the top and stops well short of the index fingertip.
Wrap a cloth twice round your hand like a bandage, seen from the thumb side The wraps follow the form like contour lines. Where they cross the knuckles, they bend.

Fingers pointing at you 30

Aim a fist at yourself and lift only the little finger One small finger shortened against a big fist. The nail is the clearest shape, so place it first.
Beckon with all four fingers, palm up, fingers curling towards you The fingertips curl up and back, so you see their pads and the nails are hidden. The palm is a shallow dish beyond.
Cup your hand towards you as if about to catch a ball A shallow bowl seen from its rim. The fingertips are nearest and the thumb swings wide to one side.
Drape a cloth over one finger and point it at yourself A tent with one pole. The folds spread out from the fingertip, which is the nearest point to your eye.
Give a thumbs up with the thumb tip aimed at your eyes The thumb shortens to a nail and a knuckle. The fist behind it is seen from the thumb side.
Hold a ball out towards your face in your fingertips The ball hides the palm. Fingertips show round its edge like the claws of a ring setting.
Hold a pencil at arm's length with its blunt end aimed at you The pencil becomes a dot or a short stub. The fingertips holding it are the nearest thing, so draw them largest.
Hold a pencil in a loose fist like a telescope, blunt end towards you Look down the tunnel of curled fingers. The pencil end sits in the middle like a bullseye.
Hold closed scissors by the blades and offer the handles towards yourself The loops come first as two big ellipses. The fist behind them is mostly hidden.
Hook four fingertips over the far rim of a mug, facing you Four fingertips in a row along the curve of the rim, like someone peering over a wall. See how much nail shows.
Lay a pencil along your index finger, blunt end and fingertip both towards you Pencil and finger shorten together. The pencil's flat end is a clean shape to measure everything else against.
Lay your hand palm up, fingers towards you, with a ball in the palm Fingertips first, then the ball rising behind them, then the wrist. Three layers, each overlapping the next.
Offer a coin on your fingertips, hand reaching towards you A small ellipse on a platform of fingertips. The fingers behind it shorten to almost nothing.
Offer a folded cloth on your flat palm, fingers towards you A stack: fingertips, the folded edge of the cloth, then the thumb at the side. Keep the palm flat under it.
Point your index finger straight at your own nose The finger shrinks to a circle with a nail on it, and the fist behind is bigger than you expect. Draw the overlaps.
Push one fingertip into the table as if pressing a button, finger aimed towards you The pressing finger is a short stack of sections ending in a nail. The rest of the hand bunches up behind it.
Push your hand into a sock and point the covered fingers at yourself A covered hand is a mitten again. The cloth stretches tight over the fingertips and hangs loose behind.
Reach towards yourself with thumb and index finger open, about to pick something up An open pinch seen head on. The gap between thumb and index finger is the shape to get right.
Reach your open hand towards your face, fingers spread Five fingertips arranged round a palm you can barely see. Each finger is a stack of short overlapping tubes.
Rest a fist on the table with the knuckles aimed at you Four flat finger sections face you like a row of bricks, with the knuckles along the top edge.
Rest open scissors flat on the table under your hand, loops towards you Your fingers rest in the loops and the blades point away from you. The loops are nearest, so they are largest.
Rest the hand on its little-finger edge, loosely curled, fingertips towards you You look into the curl of the hand from the fingertip end. The thumb sits on top like a lid.
Rest the hand palm down, fingers towards you, with index and middle fingers lifted Two fingertips rise above the others and show their pads. The cords to those two fingers stand up behind.
Rest your forearm on the table, palm down, with the flat fingers pointing at you The fingers look short and wide, and the nails are the clearest shapes. The back of the hand rises behind like a hill.
Rest your forearm on the table, palm up, with the relaxed fingers pointing at you Curled fingertips come first, then the pads of the palm, then the wrist. Overlap does all the work.
Rest your hand on a ball with the fingers pointing at you The ball lifts the palm and the fingers slope down towards you. Show whether the fingertips touch the table or hover.
Rest your hand palm down, fingers towards you, and arch it like a spider Fingertips nearest, knuckles highest, wrist furthest. Each finger is two short sections and a nail.
Tip your open palm towards you until the fingers look half their length Measure a finger with your pencil before and after tipping. The width stays the same and the length shrinks.
Walk two fingers across the table towards you and stop mid-step A little pair of legs. One finger is straight and planted, the other bent and lifted.
Wrap your hand round a mug on the table so the fingertips come round towards you Turn the mug until the hand is behind it. Four fingertips appear round one side and the thumb round the other.

How this list was compiled: Own work: 120 poses written for this page, each one set up and held with the hand that is not drawing, and each given a length that hand can keep up (poses held in the air are 1 or 2 minutes, poses resting on the table are 5 or 10). The look-for lines are observations to check against your own hand, not measurements. The anatomy in the page copy (27 bones: 8 carpal, 5 metacarpal, 14 phalanges; three phalanges in each finger and two in the thumb; the knuckles are the metacarpophalangeal joints; the finger joints beyond them are hinge joints) was checked against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand on 2026-09-19. Licence: own work

How it works

A hand drawing study needs a model, and you brought one. Each of these 120 poses is set up with the hand that is not drawing: pinch a coin at eye level, grip a mug handle, rest the hand palm up with the fingers half curled. Every pose has a look-for line and a length from 1 to 10 minutes. The page is text only, with no reference photographs.

Read the full guide

Set the pose, then read the look-for line

Press Pick another pose, copy it with your free hand, and read the line under it before you draw. That line names the one thing to check: where the knuckle curve sits, which finger overlaps which, how far down the thumb hinges. Four rows narrow the deal. Minutes is 1, 2, 5 or 10. View is what you see: the palm, the back, the side, or fingers pointing at you. Level runs from 1, flat shapes with few overlaps, to 3, fingers aimed at your eye and tangled grips. Prop is a pencil, mug, ball, cloth, scissors, a coin or key, or nothing.

Run a timed session

Poses held in the air last 1 or 2 minutes, because an arm tires. Poses resting on the table last 5 or 10. The timer over the pose takes its length. For a quick session choose 1 under Minutes, press the timer, and at zero press Pick another pose; stop after ten. For a slower study choose 5 and draw six.

Thirty hands, one a day

Each pose comes with its look-for line, level and minutes, and a Drawn box to tick when the time is up. All 120 are written out below the tool. Keep a sketchbook beside it. Thirty hands at one a day is a month.

Prop your elbow on the table for any pose held in the air, so the hand stays in one place.
Draw a mitten first: one shape for the palm, one for the four fingers together, one for the thumb. Divide the fingers afterwards.
Foreshortening is what happens to a form aimed at your eye: its length shrinks on the page and its width does not. Shut one eye to judge it.
If the hand drifts, put it back where the drawing says it was. Do not chase it with the pencil.
If you draw with your right hand, every study is of a left hand. Draw it in a mirror now and then to get the other one.

Questions and answers

What is a hand drawing study?

A study is a drawing made to learn a subject, not to finish a picture. For hands that means many short drawings of one hand in different positions, each with one question in mind: where the knuckles sit, how a finger shortens when it points at you. Your own free hand is the usual model because it is always there.

Does this page have reference photographs of hands?

No. It is text only. Each prompt tells you how to set your own free hand, which has advantages over a photograph: a real hand has depth, you can turn it to see what is behind a finger, and the light on it is the light in your room. If you came to look at other artists' hand studies, this page cannot show them.

Why are hands hard to draw?

There is a lot packed in. A hand has 27 bones: 8 in the wrist, 5 in the palm and 14 in the fingers and thumb. Each finger has three of those and the thumb has two. The knuckles are the joints where the fingers meet the palm bones, and the joints beyond them are hinges that fold one way only. So each finger can aim somewhere different, and any of them can hide part of another.

Do I need the props?

No. Choose No prop and 66 of the 120 poses remain. The props are things already on a desk: a pencil, a mug, a ball or a rolled sock, a cloth, scissors, a coin or a key. They are worth trying: the object explains what every finger is doing.

How is this different from the pose prompt generator?

The pose prompt generator builds an imagined whole-body pose from parts, for drawing a character out of your head. This page is hands only and nothing is imagined: you set up every pose and look at it. For short drills of other kinds, see the drawing warm-up exercises.