When painting hands from a photo, if you can’t quite see what is going on, take a new close up photo of your hand (or some patient model’s) in a similar position so that you can get a more clear idea of the ‘structure’ of the hand. You can also do this and change the gesture of the hand if necessary.

I always begin with the trapezoid shape of the top of the hand (apparently this is called the ‘dorsal’ side of the hand). I try to capture the angles of this shape. When the thumb is seen, this is more of a pentagon shape. I do this first whether painting the dorsal side or the palm side.

I then loosely work on the fingers however I am always thinking of the three joints that create the three sections of our fingers. I often paint each of the sections in a different color or value to suggest these joints. You can see this clearly in the example here.

I continue this technique with each finger. I will also paint the negative space between the fingers to help shape the fingers. Particularly on the pointer finger I create the curve of the tip of the finger as a simple detail. Often each finger section is just one brush stroke, although it can take several tries to get this right.

Notice the joint separations that instantly describe the finger shape and form.

Notice the joint separations that instantly describe the finger shape and form.