Guides · Hands

Pointing Hand Reference: Photos From the Side

Reference photos of a pointing hand seen from the side, turned between sixty and one hundred and twenty degrees from facing the camera. Four landmarks change at this angle, and each has a common mistake.

What changes at this angle

The index finger's big knuckle stands out as a sharp bump at the base of the pointing finger.
The pointing finger tapers toward the tip.
From the pinky edge, the folded fingers hang below the line of the pointing finger.
The back of the hand and the pointing finger make a near-straight line from the wrist to the fingertip.

What goes wrong

Running the pointing finger out of a smooth, knuckle-less hand, so the finger reads like a stick glued to a mitten.
Hiding the folded fingers behind the pointing finger, so the hand reads as a flat paddle.
Drawing the finger as a tube of even width with three equal segments, so the finger reads like a dowel and the point loses its direction.
Bending the pointing finger up from the hand like a hook, so the gesture reads as beckoning or asking a question rather than pointing.

Try it

Open the same side view in the hand search and turn the hand to see the full set of results.

Open this angle in Angle Ref