Hand poses are an important element for showing a character’s emotions and situation.
However, hands have a very delicate movement and a complex structure, so creating natural poses is challenging.
Hand Pose
Expressive Hand Pose
Through self-study, I realized that hand poses are important for showing emotions, and it is important to make the differences between emotions clear. For example, when a character is happy or angry, the hand movements are fast, big, and sometimes clenched tightly. On the other hand, when the character is sad or feeling down, the hand movements are slower and seem weaker.
I also learned by watching professional animators that hand movements need to work together with the body. Even if the hands move well, if the body moves in the opposite way, the emotion or situation is hard to understand for the viewer. This made me understand that keeping the whole body consistent is very important.