All of my drawing tutorials are based on two fundamentals:
1) It’s always easier to draw a small, simple, flat shape than to draw a large or complicated one.
2) Learning to see in “right-brain” mode enables to see your subject as a series of small, simple, flat shapes that all fit together.
Put these two concepts together, and you may envision something like a jigsaw puzzle….
Hand drawing #12: holding a pencil
Note: If you’re beginning these drawing tutorials for the first time, you may want to start with an earlier one – the first is here for example; the third here – and move forward from there.
Hand pose #12: Holding a pencil
For me, knowing how to draw is above all knowing how to see in what Betty Edwards called “right-mode,” or with the “right brain.” So I’m always trying to think through what might show you how to see in this way. If you learn how, it will help you draw easily.
As I was drawing this tutorial’s hand pose, I made a special effort to actually sketch in many of the guidelines I usually envision mostly in my head. I hope this will help you see this hand pose as a series of easily-drawn, small, simple shapes.
Unlike many drawing instructors, when I say “simple shapes,” I don’t mean cones and cylinders. That is, I’m not talking about volume. In my own experience, seeing objects as flat forms, like jigsaw puzzles, is much more helpful than seeing in terms of volumes.
After all, you’re drawing on a flat surface. You’re not sculpting in three dimensions. So it makes sense that you will be most successful if you can see what you’re sketching as a series of flat shapes.
As you’re drawing, think of shapes that make up a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces all need to be drawn accurately in order to fit together snugly. If you form each little piece correctly, and fit it properly into its neighbors, you’ll find that your drawing is a realistic representation of your subject.
Tutorial 12 hand pose: holding a pencil
Earlier posts, here and here, have presented colored-puzzle videos of my jigsaw puzzle concept. You may want to look at those before or after you go through the video below.
Which type of video helps you more? Or are they both equally useful in your learning to draw? Leave a comment below or email me to let me know.
Set up and work materials
Please see the relevant sections of this tutorial.
While most of my hand tutorials have been drawn from life (that is, my actual hand), this week I worked from a photograph of my hand. I did this partly because I wanted to sketch my hand holding one of its most typical tools, a pencil. I couldn’t hold a pencil in a natural way in my right hand while also sketching it!
I used the vertical setup, with the photo on a computer screen next to my easel. If you try this, be careful that you can see both the photo and your drawing straight on, so your drawing won’t be thrown off by some odd perspective.
Hand tutorial #12 video Part 1: initial outline
There is a written commentary below the video, keyed to each frame by number. You may want to open this post in two windows on your monitor so you can follow the commentary along with the video.
{"numImgs":"33","constrain":"height","cvalue":"450","shellcss":"width:356px;padding:4px;margin:14px auto 0;"}
Frame 1: I sketched in boundary lines along the left side and top of the paper. which enabled me to…
Frame 2: …draw a small rectangle in the upper left corner whose lower point would be the pencil tip. A diagonal line then formed the pencil’s sharpened top. To sketch the pencil at the correct angle, I envisioned where it would intersect my border-line if the line of the pencil were extended (I did extend it as a guideline, to be erased later on) .
Frame 3-4: Several triangles – formed partly by imaginary guidelines – told me where to draw bits of edges of finger tips and pencil top. In Frame 4 I corrected the triangles I’d sketched in Frame 3. Note that I’m using negative space here – the space around the hand and pencil, rather than the objects themselves. “Pieces” of negative space are important parts of the jigsaw puzzle. If you don’t yet know what negative space is, please look back at this tutorial.
Frame 5: I continued the process of envisioning the jigsaw pieces: the fingertip just below the pencil point, for example, had a curved bottom, two straighter sides, and a straight “top.” This is an example of how important it is to envision the shapes you’re drawing as flat bits. If I had been thinking about how to draw the 3-dimensional volume of fingers, I would have had a much harder time. Instead, I easily drew a small, seemingly “flat” shape.
Frame 6-7: I continued the same jigsaw-building process.
Frame 8: In order to properly represent the long sweep of the lower hand, I needed to eyeball over a larger space. I could see that the edge of the base of the thumb was beneath the middle of the forefinger tip I’d already sketched. So I lightly sketched a vertical guideline. I made a horizontal guideline from the bottom of the pinky rightward, to help me see where the most rightward curve of the thumb base should be marked.
Frames 9-11: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: fingernails make great measuring devices that you can use to check the accuracy of other bits you’ve already sketched.
Frames 12-14: I formed the side of the thumb and a bit of the fingers next to the pencil from simple, small shapes. Can you identify these jigsaw shapes in the photo above?
Frames 15-16: I darkened the interior shape I’d just sketched, helping me see it more clearly to be sure it was exact. This jigsaw piece is very distinctive and is at the core of the series of bits around it. So drawing it precisely would help me with the rest of the hand.
Frame 17: Knuckle and palm wrinkles make fabulously helpful measuring devices and guidelines. Here I used the thumb knuckle wrinkle to form a bridge to check the accuracy of lines I had drawn on either side of it. The thumb cuticle also helped me refine the whole thumbnail outline.
Frames 18-20: Now that I had the lines on either side of the thumb placed pretty well, I could begin the neighboring triangles that form the palm and – via their negative space – the pencil edge. Note that I used a palm wrinkle as a side for triangles.
Frames 21-22: The forefinger is made up of three jigsaw pieces. Our image of fingers may be that they’re made up of three almost identical rectangles. But look carefully at your pointer in this pose. It’s made up of three shapes that are quite different from each other in size and shape. Draw each of them right, and you’ll have the entire pointer in a pose immediately recognizable as realistic. (My pointer in this pose has a short middle section and a seemingly-fat bottom section.)
Frame 23: Now that I have more drawn, I’m able to correct some palm lines.
Frames 24-26: I used a series of guidelines to form the right side of the hand, which helped me capture the knuckle-triangle properly. I also used a very flat negative-space triangle, whose longest side was a guideline I drew from pointer joint to knuckle.
Frames 27-29: I used a series of vertical “plumb lines” to help me locate the correct placement for the bottom of the hand and the wrist. I was also keeping an eye on the negative-space angle (imaginary triangle) formed by the pencil’s lower line and the wrist.
Frame 30: I began shading the distinctive palm-triangle under the pencil.
Frame 31: I erased a lot of my guidelines because when I’m no longer using them, they can become distracting.
Frame 32: I refined the thumb line and checked the picky using a negative-space triangle with the ring finger.
Frame 33: As I transitioned to the shading phase of the drawing, I began working on the distinctive dark areas of the palm.
I eventually drew the missing fingernails as I was shading the drawing. We’ll take up that phase in the next post.
https://hot-topics.ru/
Por último, los factores psicológicos, como la ansiedad y el estrés, están detrás del 20 de los casos de disfunción eréctil.
I blog quite often and I truly thank you for your content. Your article has really peaked my interest. I’m going to book mark your blog and keep checking for new details about once per week. I opted in for your Feed as well.
https://blacksprutl.com/ blacksputs зеркала
amoxicillin for humans for sale – generic amoxicillin at walmart amoxil USA
Berikut ini saya sangat merekomendasikan Slot Online Terpercaya ini karena telah terbukti akan membayar berapapun jumlah kemenangan anda dan selalu memberikan pelayanan terbaik.
Thanks for the article.Really thank you! Fantastic.
Hi there, I check your blog on a regular basis.Your story-telling style is witty, keep up the good work!
plaquenil dose calculator – what is hydroxychloroquine used for order prednisone with mastercard debit
I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great.I don’t know who you are but definitely you are going to afamous blogger if you are not already Cheers!
You mentioned it effectively. cbd oil vape pen
connecting singles games casual dating
stromectol for humans for sale – stromectol uk ivermectin virus
https://blacksprut.online/ blacksprut зеркала tor
It is in point of fact a great and helpful piece of info.I am satisfied that you just shared this useful information with us.Please stay us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
canadian pharmacy 24 com canadian 24 hour pharmacy
It is really a great and useful piece of information. I’m glad that you shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
wonderful points altogether, you simply won a new reader. What might you recommend about your submit that you simply made a few days ago? Any positive?
buy dutasteride online cheap dutasteride pill ondansetron online
Hello There. I discovered your blog using msn. This is a really well written article.I will make sure to bookmark it and come back to learn more of youruseful information. Thank you for the post. I will definitely comeback.
Thank you for sharing your info. I really appreciate your efforts and I am waiting for your next write ups thank you once again.
https://pharmacyshippingtousa.icu/# discount canadian drugs
Aw, this was an extremely good post. Spending some time and actual effort to make a superb articleÖ but what can I sayÖ I hesitate a whole lot and never seem to get nearly anything done.
Good day! I could have sworn Iíve been to your blog before but after browsing through many of the articles I realized itís new to me. Anyhow, Iím certainly pleased I came across it and Iíll be bookmarking it and checking back often!
Who would I report to? ayurslim capsules review “We would come for a night out and they would be sat around waiting in their cars,” says Vicky
Im grateful for the blog article.Much thanks again. Really Great.
blacksprut зеркала tor
Hey there! I simply would like to offer you a huge thumbs up for the great info you have got here on this post. I’ll be returning to your blog for more soon.
Aw, this was an exceptionally good post. Spending some time and actual effort to create a really good articleÖ but what can I sayÖ I hesitate a whole lot and never seem to get anything done.
Thanks, I have just been looking for information approximately this topic for a while and yours is the best I have came upon so far. However, what in regards to the conclusion? Are you certain in regards to the supply?
The differences in odds may perhaps appear smaller, but they’ll rapidly addup more than time.
Hi, its nice paragraph on the topic of media print, we all understand media is a fantastic source of facts.
Thanks again for the blog post.Really thank you! Fantastic.
Hello. Great job. I did not imagine this. This is a remarkable story. Thanks!
Muchos Gracias for your blog.Really looking forward to read more. Really Great.
Really informative blog post. Much obliged.
purchase aldactone generic diflucan 200mg generic order generic fluconazole 200mg
Hello, its nice paragraph concerning media print, we all be familiar with mediais a great source of facts.
Hey! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could find a captcha plugin for my comment form?I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having difficulty finding one?Thanks a lot!
That is a great tip especially to those new to the blogosphere.Short but very accurate information… Many thanksfor sharing this one. A must read post!
credit score free credit karma what is considered a good credit score
canadian pharmacy no scripts canadian pharmacy 365
Попробуйте https://skladchina.vip/
ivermectin human: ivermectin – ivermectin nz
Hey There. I found your blog using msn. This is a really well written article. Danielle Warde Florian
Incredible! This blog looks just like my old one!It’s on a completely different topic but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Great choiceof colors!
Hey There. I found your blog using msn. This is a really wellwritten article. I’ll make sure to bookmark it and return to read more of your useful info.Thanks for the post. I will definitely comeback.
Hi, i believe that i noticed you visited my website thus i came to “return the favor”.I’m attempting to in finding issues to enhance my site!I guess its good enough to make use of some of your ideas!!
Thanks for another fantastic article. Where else may anybody getthat kind of info in such a perfect mannerof writing? I have a presentation next week, and I am at thelook for such info.
I really appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thx again!