How to Draw Anime Hands and Hand Gestures

As your characters move, speak, and gesture, you will need to draw the hands from different angles, making different shapes. Take a look at the illustration below.

On the top row, we see a gesture common to anime and manga - the peace sign or victory sign. This gesture involves making a fist, curling the thumb, ring, and pinky fingers inward while lifting the pointer and middle fingers. The "V-for-Victory" sign is often made when the character is the subject of a photo or is trying to look cute.

Next, we see a heart hand drawing. In this gesture, the hands are seen from the side. It is often used to non-verbally communicate "I love you" from a distance or to frame an object or person that the character loves.

On the bottom row, we see a pointed finger. Depending on the context, this gesture - a closed fist with the pointer finger extended - can draw someone's attention to a point of interest or make an aggressive accusation.

The final image is a fist viewed from the palm side. This hand drawing might be used when the character is delivering a punch or when a girl is looking at her fingernails. Other negative emotions can cause the character to make a fist.

You may be wondering, are there significant differences between the anime boy hand and the anime girl hand? As when we discussed in the anime feet drawing tutorial, there may be slight differences that indicate the sex of the hand's owner.

Female hands may be narrower and smaller, male hands wider and bulkier. Female hands often have long fingernails, and these may be shaded in bright colors.