Problems drawing body parts hampering your manga artist aspirations? Let this app lend you a hand

Who’s got two thumbs and likes to help artists? Handy Art Reference Tool does!

In my youth, I was really into drawing, but I gave it up. Sketching human hands was always the one thing that stood in my way of becoming the next Naoko Takeuchi or Junji Ito (that time happened to be a pivotal moment in my life).

Those five damn digits with their independent movements, perspectives and shading were always a chore to get looking quite right using the mind’s eye alone. Sure, I could have hired a personal hand model or just grave-robbed one before rigor mortis set in, but who has the time or money for either of these things?

That’s why I and many other artists are happy to have discovered Handy Art Reference Tool for either iOS or Android devices. It gives you a library of movable hand poses allowing for just the right position and lighting you want to capture.

▼ Whether it be an ex-girlfriend flipping you the bird or Dr. Strange summoning Agamotto, this app has a pretty good range of poses.

The app itself costs 367 yen (US$3.60) and has in-app expansions of feet and animal heads as well. Otherwise you can enjoy human heads and skulls for free with a plethora of lighting options.

While it’s likely too late for me, perhaps some budding mangaka will master their skill at drawing hands with the help of these aids. But for a price of just a few hundred yen, it’s still worth picking up even for someone like myself who’s called upon to draw a cockroach refusing a bottle of soy sauce every once in a while.

Handy Art Reference Tool
iTunes
Google Play

Source: Netlab (Japanese)
Screenshots: RocketNews24

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