how to draw hands holding something

This step by step in tutorial shows how to draw anime, manga or comic book style hands holding various objects. The examples include hands holding a knife, sword, shopping bag, phone, gun and pen or pencil. These examples can also be applied to drawing real hands.

You may also want to see the How to Draw Anime and Manga Hands Step by Step.

Drawing hands on their own can be quite complicated. Drawing hands that are holding something can be even more tricky as parts of the hand can be covered by the object making it even more difficult to get the correct placement and proportions of different parts of the hand.

To help you this tutorial shows some examples of drawing objects that you are very likely to see in an anime, manga or comic books.

How to Draw Anime or Manga Hand Holding a Knife

Anime hand holding knife palm and thumb base

Start drawing by getting the overall proportions of the major parts of the hand. When the fingers are together you can draw them as one big shape before drawing each finger individually.

Anime hand holding knife fingers and thumb proportions

Draw the base of the thumb and then the thumb itself. The different shapes can overlap each other but you can erase the overlapping lines as you continue drawing so that your sketch wont get too cluttered.

Your finished proportions sketch should look like the hand is wearing a glove.

Anime hand holding knife thumb and finger proportions

After you have the rough shape of the hand (this can be a very rough sketch) draw in the actual object that the hand will be holding (in this case the knife).

Clean up your drawing by erasing any guidelines.

Draw in the details of the hand and knife. You can also go over the drawing with darker cleaner lines.

You can also apply the same view of the hand and the same steps when drawing it holding other type of of objects and you can flip the object to point upwards instead of downwards. For example you can also draw a club or a sword. You can also rotate the hand and draw it holding on to something like a handrail.

How to Draw Anime or Manga Hand Holding a Sword

Anime hand holding sword palm and thumb base

Start with the major shapes of the hand.

Anime hand holding sword fingers and thumb and index proportions

Because in this case we will have the index finger pointing slightly away from the other fingers we will draw it separately. You can start drawing the rest of the fingers as one big shape (same as in the first example).

Anime hand holding sword finger proportions

After you have the major proportions draw in the sword. Draw out the individual fingers afterwards.

Clean up your drawing.

Draw in the smaller details.

Just as the previous example you can also use this view and position of the hand to show it holding other objects or holding on to things in a more relaxed manner.

For a tutorial on drawing a katana see:

How to Draw a Katana Step by Step

For other types of weapons see:

How to Draw a Shuriken (Ninja Star) Step by Step

How to Draw Anime or Manga Hand Holding a Shopping Bag

Anime hand holding shopping bag palm and thumb base

Start with the major shapes of the hand. Draw the palm and the base of the thumb.

Anime hand holding shopping bag fingers and thumb proportions

Draw in the overall shape of the fingers and then draw the thumb base followed by the thumb itself.

Anime hand holding shopping bag finger proportions

Draw the bag after you have the rough sketch of the hand draw and each individual finger afterwards.

Erase the guidelines and finalize your drawing by adding the details.

How to Draw Anime or Manga Hand Holding a Phone

Anime hand holding phone palm and thumb base

Although later on most of the hand will be covered b the phone you should again draw the major shapes of the hand same as in previous examples to avoid making mistakes later on.

Anime hand holding phone fingers and thumb proportions

Draw a rough shape to indicate the outer shape of the fingers (you can also skip this for this particular view and start drawing each finger individually). Next draw the thumb.

Draw in the phone very lightly so that you can still see the hand.

Clean up your drawing. For the purposes of the tutorial the phone is left as "see through" in this step but you can go ahead and eras the hidden parts of the hand.

You can erase the invisible part of the hand if you have not done so in the previous step and draw in the details.

How to Draw Anime or Manga Hand Holding a Gun

Anime hand holding gun palm and thumb base

Draw the major shapes of the hand.

Anime hand holding gun fingers and thumb proportions

Draw the index finger separate from the other fingers (it will be on the trigger) and draw the overall shape of the other fingers combined.

Anime hand holding gun index finger proportions

Draw in the gun after you have the major proportions of the hand.

Anime hand holding gun finger proportions

Draw the individual fingers.

Clean up your drawing.

Draw in the details.

How to Draw Anime or Manga Hand Holding a Pen or Pencil

Anime hand holding pen or pencil palm and thumb base

Get the overall proportions of the the hand. It can be a little more difficult to draw the palm part of the hand in this view.

Anime hand holding pen or pencil thumb and index finger proportions

Draw the thumb and the index finger and afterwards draw in the pen or pencil.

Anime hand holding pen or pencil middle finger proportions

Since the other fingers are not fully visible in this view it can be difficult to draw them in the correct position and proportions. Therefore it is a good idea to fully draw out each finger from the base to the tip with light lines (you can erase the invisible parts later).

For the sake of the tutorial some parts of the hand are shown as see through to make it easier to see other parts. You don't need to worry about this in your drawing.

Anime hand holding pen or pencil ring finger proportions

Draw the ring finger.

Anime hand holding pen or pencil pinky finger proportions

Draw the pinky finger.

Clean up your drawing.

Draw the smaller details of the hand.

Conclusion

As already mentioned you can use the examples in this tutorial to draw the hands holding other objects. You can also draw the hands in other views using the same principles by starting with a rough sketch, drawing the major parts of the hand first and working your way down to the details. If you are having trouble drawing the parts that are not fully visible try and draw the hand as "see through" to help you place them correctly.

Always be sure to compare the different proportions of the hand to one another to help avoid mistakes. Hands are difficult to draw so don't get discouraged if your drawings don't come out right the first time. Keep practicing.

For more on drawing hands see: