The exterior shape of the fist may be either a square or rectangle depending on the position of the hand.
Observe proportions carefully to determine which best fits your drawing …
… and don’t forget to add the wrist extending off the bottom at an angle.
Cut off the corners as shown to make a closer estimation of the exterior shape, then mark guidelines at the vertical and horizontal center lines.
The top of the fingernails line up on the vertical center, and the line between the middle and ring finger lies on the horizontal center in the picture here, but the guidelines will change for every hand you draw, so you need to observe closely to find the guidelines for every individual drawing.
A triangle will be useful in finding which features share a common guideline.
Begin sketching in the interior shapes around the guidelines. Place the largest interior shapes first. If you find it easier, you can put down the whole cluster of fingers as one big shape initially, and then divide it into smaller pieces from there.
Erase the guidelines and add smaller details like fingernails, wrinkles at the joints, indications of tendons and so on. The fingernails are very important for showing how the finger is bent, so place them carefully.
The fingernails may extend to or beyond the fingertip, but there is skin visible around the sides unless the finger is tilted away from the viewer.
Squint to better see the shapes of shadow and lay in the tone as one big shape whenever possible. Importantly, the fingers are shaded at the joint where they begin to curl under.
Without shading here, the hand won’t appear to be curled into a fist at
all. There may also be shading at the top of the hand and on the surface that the hand is resting on.
Blend the tone smooth with the largest blending tool possible for the area, then re-darken or pick out highlights with a kneaded eraser as needed
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