Draw a Handshake – This step-by-step tutorial explains how to draw a handshake. The tips provided and examples can draw in anime, manga, comic books, or traditional art styles.

Drawing a handshake can be difficult because both parts of the hand are hidden behind each other and because even each hand is not easy to draw. To help with this study, we provide a detailed description of the drawing process that explains each step.

And as mentioned, these examples can be used in hand painting in almost any style. So once you get here, you want to learn how to draw hands and not worry too much about anime; all the drawing tips will still be useful.

If you like drawing in anime style and fantasy, then you are in the right place, and you should check out some lessons here at EasyAnimeDrawing. (Draw a Handshake)

Before You Start Drawing A Handshake

Before you draw a handshake, it is good to understand the shape of each hand when shaking hands. You can see this in the examples below.

The “forearm” drawing of the handshake above is made as if the “back hand” is not visible.

You can also see the rough placement of each forearm member in this example. Observing their shape can help you measure the length of each half finger and thumb.

And in the following example, you can see the second hand drawing as it may look like the first one is invisible.

And you can also see the limited placement of members in this hand.

In this lesson, both hands are the same size to think of each one as the other scroll. All members and major sections will be in the same locations. All measurements should also be very similar.

Step 1 – Make a Building for both Hands

To begin the actual drawing process, make a drawing of each hand as if the other is clear. You draw your fingers as one joint and leave all the small details in this step. Also, make sure that you draw very simple lines that you can easily erase until the final teaching step.

The purpose of this step is to make sure you have the right balance and to place each hand. Drawing hidden sections will also help you ensure that the different parts of the hands fit snugly. You may have to erase and redraw things a few times to make everything look good.

Step 2 – Clean See Through Construction Lines

Once you believe you have the correct placement and proportions, erase the parts of each hand that should be hidden behind the other hand.

It would be best to have a clean and simple building handshake drawing when you are done.

Step 3 – Draw Each Finger

Inside the sketch, to create a “frame” from the previous step, draw each finger.

Please note that the models are made so that the fingers fit almost exactly the frame. In your drawing, you may find that you need to adjust the length of some fingers to get out of the building lines. This is good.

Step 4 – Draw small details for each hand and complete the drawing

You can add small details for the hands in this step, like nails and wrinkles. Draw sketches of bones around the base of the fingers and on the forearm.

You can also add some curves around the forearm joints where they bend to rotate the backhand. This will help to show bending.

With anime style, manga and comic book hand nails may not be painted. Nail painting, however, makes the hand look better and can help show each finger’s bending angle. For example, you can see that the index finger is painted much smaller than others. This helps to show that it looks more at the viewer than at the other side, like other fingers.

When you add all the details, go over your drawing with black lines. You can make the lines slightly larger in large parts of the hand and thinner with smaller details.

Conclusion

Shaking hands and hands are often very difficult to draw. If you want to get used to drawing a handshake, try and draw one by one in the handshake as if the other one is not visible (as shown in the previous examples). Doing so can help you better understand each hand’s shape and help you avoid mistakes when drawing two hands together.