Hands are a nightmare. Ask any artist, from the Renaissance masters to the kid doodling in a sketchbook during pre-calc, and they’ll tell you the same thing: hands are the ultimate vibe-killer. But when you get into the specific territory of a drawing of shaking hands, the difficulty doesn't just double. It triples. You aren't just drawing one complex anatomical structure; you are drawing two distinct, interlocking machines that have to look like they actually belong together. It's a mess of knuckles, overlapping skin folds, and weirdly compressed fatty tissue. Honestly, it’s enough to make you want to just draw people with their hands in their pockets forever.
The problem is that a handshake is more than just a gesture. It’s a bridge. Whether it's a "deal's a deal" business grip or a sweaty, nervous greeting between two strangers, the physical geometry of that interaction is incredibly specific. If the thumbs aren't aligned right, the whole thing looks like a clump of fleshy bananas. If the pressure isn't conveyed through the way the skin bunches up on the back of the hand, the drawing feels dead. Static. Plastic.
The Anatomy of a Grip: Where Most People Mess Up
You've probably seen it before. Someone draws a decent figure, then they get to the hands, and suddenly it looks like two AI-generated mittens clashing together. The biggest mistake is forgetting that hands aren't flat. When you grip someone's hand, your palm cups. It creates a hollow. The other person's hand fills that space.
Standard anatomy books, like the classic Anatomy for the Artist by Sarah Simblet, emphasize the importance of the metacarpal bones. In a drawing of shaking hands, these bones are your best friends. They provide the structural framework that tells the viewer's brain, "Hey, there's a skeleton under there." Without that skeletal hint, the hands look like they're made of dough. You have to consider the "webbing" between the thumb and the index finger too. That little flap of skin stretches or compresses depending on how tight the grip is. It’s a tiny detail, but it’s the difference between a professional-grade illustration and a middle-school sketch.
Perspective makes it even worse. Usually, one hand is coming at the viewer (foreshortening) while the other is seen from the side or back. Foreshortening is the great equalizer of artists. It humbles everyone. You have to squash the fingers and exaggerate the knuckles to make the depth feel real. If you just draw what you think a hand looks like—long, slender fingers—it will look flat. You have to draw what you actually see, which is often a series of overlapping, truncated cylinders.
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The Psychology of the "Touch"
Basically, a handshake is a story. Is it a limp fish? A power move? A fraternal bond?
The tension in the tendons of the wrist tells this story. When I'm looking at a drawing of shaking hands, I look at the tendons. If the person is squeezing hard, those tendons in the wrist should be popping. The skin around the knuckles should turn a lighter shade—almost white—to show that blood is being pushed out of the area. This level of realism isn't just about being a show-off; it’s about emotional resonance. We’ve all felt a firm handshake. We know what it looks like. If the drawing doesn't replicate that physical feedback, the viewer won't connect with it.
Technical Hurdles and the "Mitten" Method
If you’re struggling, you’re in good company. Even Leonardo da Vinci filled pages of his notebooks just trying to figure out how the thumb rotates. It’s a ball-and-socket-style joint at the base, but it moves in a way that’s totally unique.
One way to simplify this is the "mitten" method. Instead of trying to draw ten individual fingers at once—which is a recipe for disaster—you draw the general mass of the four fingers as one block. You treat the palm as a square or a wedge. You get the orientation of these two "mittens" right first. Only once the perspective and the "fit" of the two hands are locked in do you start carving out the individual fingers. It’s like sculpting. You don't start with the eyelashes; you start with the big blocks of the head.
- The Overlap: One hand’s fingers will always be partially obscured. Don't fight it. Lean into it.
- The Thumb Placement: The thumbs are the anchors. If they aren't hooked over the top of the opposite hand, the handshake won't look secure.
- The Wrist Angle: Hands don't just exist in a vacuum; they're attached to arms. The angle of the wrist dictates the energy of the entire pose.
Common Misconceptions About Finger Length
Here’s something that trips people up: finger length. Most people think fingers are much longer than they actually are because they only look at them from the back. But if you look at your palm, your fingers actually "start" much higher up. The "webbing" between your fingers sits about halfway up the first knuckle of the actual bone structure. In a drawing of shaking hands, this becomes a nightmare because the fingers are interlaced. You have to be incredibly careful not to make the fingers look like they're six inches long.
Realism comes from the "fat pads." The meaty parts of the palm and the tips of the fingers. When two hands press together, these pads flatten out. If you draw two perfect, rounded fingers touching, it looks fake. They need to squash against each other.
Why Digital Artists Have It (Slightly) Easier
Working digitally—on a Wacom or an iPad using Procreate—gives you a massive advantage: layers. You can draw one hand on Layer A and the other on Layer B. You can lower the opacity of the top hand to see how the one underneath is structured. This is a game-changer.
In traditional graphite drawing, once you’ve committed to the silhouette, you’re kind of stuck. You’re erasing, smudging, and losing the "tooth" of the paper. Digital allows for that "x-ray" vision. You can ensure that the fingers of the hand "behind" actually line up with the wrist they're supposed to be attached to. There is nothing worse than finishing a complex drawing of shaking hands only to realize that the pinky finger on the right side doesn't actually connect to the hand on the left. It’s a classic anatomical "orphan."
Light and Shadow in the Crevices
Shadow is what defines the form. In a handshake, there are "occlusion shadows." These are the dark areas where two surfaces get so close together that light can't reach them. The tiny gaps between the interlaced fingers should be the darkest parts of your drawing.
But don't go overboard. If you make every line pitch black, the hands will look dirty. You want a range of values. Use a hard edge for where the skin of one hand overlaps the other, but use a soft gradient for the curves of the knuckles. This contrast between hard and soft edges is what gives the drawing a "professional" look.
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Historic Examples of the Gesture
We can't talk about this without mentioning the "Hand of God" and "Hand of Adam" in the Sistine Chapel. Sure, they aren't shaking hands, but Michelangelo was the king of "the almost-touch." He understood that the space between hands is just as important as the hands themselves.
In a drawing of shaking hands, the "negative space"—the little gaps of air between the palms—is what defines the shape. If you fill in every single gap, it looks like a solid blob of meat. You need those tiny slivers of background peeking through to give the image air. Look at the works of Albrecht Dürer, specifically his Study of the Hands of an Apostle. The guy was obsessed with the wrinkles and the way skin folds over joints. He didn't shy away from the "ugly" parts of hands, and that's why his work still holds up hundreds of years later.
Moving Beyond the Basics: Texture and Age
A handshake between a grandfather and a grandson looks different than a handshake between two athletes.
If you're drawing an older hand, you’re dealing with thinner skin, more prominent veins, and "liver spots" or sun damage. The skin hangs a bit looser over the knuckles. For a younger hand, the forms are smoother, the transitions between light and shadow are more gradual, and the "fat pads" are more resilient.
- Vein placement: Don't draw them like straight pipes. They meander. They dive under tendons and reappear.
- Nails: Please, stop drawing perfect ovals. Nails are complex. They have a slight curve, and they’re embedded in the "mantle" of the skin. In a handshake, you usually only see a few nails, and they should be foreshortened.
- Hair: Tiny, sparse hairs on the back of the hand (mostly for men) can add a layer of "grit" and realism that makes the drawing feel less like a clinical study and more like a real moment.
Real-World Reference: Use Your Own Hands!
The best tool you have is literally attached to your arms. Take a photo. Use a mirror. But better yet, have someone else shake your hand and hold it while you take a burst of photos from different angles.
Don't rely on 3D models or "hand poser" apps if you can help it. Those models often lack the "squish" factor I mentioned earlier. They look like wooden mannequins. Real skin reacts to pressure. It turns red, it bunches, it stretches. Your own hands are the best reference you'll ever find, and they're free.
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Actionable Steps for Your Next Sketch
Stop thinking of it as "shaking hands." Think of it as a puzzle where the pieces are made of bone and muscle.
First, draw the two wrists. If the wrists aren't aligned, the hands will never look right. Establish the "flow" of the gesture.
Second, block in the palms as two interlocking wedges. Don't even think about fingers yet. Just get the "meat" of the hands in the right place.
Third, add the thumbs. The thumbs define the "top" of the grip. Once they are placed, the rest of the fingers have a logical place to go.
Fourth, carve out the fingers using the mitten method. Keep your lines light. You’re going to be erasing a lot of "ghost lines" as you refine the overlaps.
Finally, add the occlusion shadows. Find those deep, dark crevices where the skin meets skin. This will "pop" the drawing and give it immediate 3D depth.
If you do this, you’ll avoid the "blob" effect. You'll have a drawing of shaking hands that actually looks like it has weight, pressure, and intent. It takes a lot of practice—honestly, probably hundreds of bad drawings—before it clicks. But once you master the handshake, everything else in figure drawing starts to feel a whole lot easier.
Focus on the pressure points. Watch how your own hand changes color when you squeeze a desk or a chair. That's the secret. It’s not just about the lines; it’s about the physics of the squeeze. Get that right, and the rest is just window dressing.