* Yes, I know there’s a spelling mistake. I didn't save this on layers, so I'm kinda too lazy to fix it, ignore it :P

Let me first say that I am NOT an expert on hands. I find them damn hard to draw and have loads of practice to do with them.

But I want to show why it’s important to reference things. Do you always need to reference? Not really, there does come a point where you don’t feel the need to look things up, but it’s a good habit to have. I personally only reference when I feel I’m not doing things correctly.

So, look at the image on the left. I did this without a reference and simply inked over my sketch. She’s holding a plush. It gets the point across, but I found the fingers looked very broken.

Finding a reference for a hand can be a bit difficult, so I ended up referencing my own hand. However, due to looking at it and not taking a photo, my hand was upside down compared to hers. So I just sketched it that way and flipped. I find this hand makes much more sense now! It is NOT perfect by the way, so I’m not trying to say it is. It’s still a bit off and after looking at it again, I need to fix a few things.

All this post means is: Don’t forget to reference things to see how they move and should look in certain ways!

Also, this is a GREAT tutorial on the best way to reference things, take a look!: http://strawberryneko33.deviantart.com/art/The-BASICS-Using-References-255875213