Hands and feet

Hands

1. Size by figure height; never enlarge a hand to "make it read". Skin bounding box (inside the outline, front view, fist × open hand): 8 px figure → 1×1; 16 px → 3×3 × 4×4; 32 px → 5×4 × 5×6; 48 px → 7×6 × 7×8; 64 px → 9×8 × 11×13 (the open hand's thumb adds 4 px of width). A relaxed hand hanging at the side is one step smaller: 2×2 at 16 px, 4×4 at 32 px. Basis: hand ≈ ¾ of head height (Loomis, derived) and measured sprites (the gallery in Pixel Logic runs 3–9 px). Blair's 3×3 palm "at 16 px" is a close-up cartoon scale. A hand more than 1 px larger than these numbers in either direction is a style choice (heavy, cute), never an accident.
2. Mitten first, fingers last. Block a palm mass, add the thumb as a separate bump, then split the finger mass. Below 5 px there are no fingers: a mitten and at most one thumb pixel. Draw the pose, not the anatomy.
3. Fingers arrive in a fixed order: one notch splitting the index off at 32 px; three fingers + thumb at 48 px; four fingers at 64 px. Never four equal parallel fingers: middle longest, little shortest, ring ≈ index. Three fingers
   • thumb is a legitimate stylisation at any size.
4. Separate fingers with value, not black. Under about 6 px wide, a finger gap is one skin-shadow pixel or a notch in the silhouette. A dark line between 1 px fingers reads as a barcode and eats the hand's only light.
5. The thumb points a different way from the fingers. Show it when the hand holds, points or pinches; omit it on a relaxed hand at ≤ 16 px. Its base is a fleshy lump, so give it one pixel of light, not an outline stub.
6. At 16 px one corner pixel is the gesture. A rounded fist whose bounding corner is filled turns: none = delicate fist; top-left = points at the face; bottom-left = hand dips or points down; top-right = beckon or uppercut out; bottom-right = reads as an elbow; three corners = heavy "hamfist"; all four = punch straight at the viewer (Tsu). A flat edge facing in, up or down turns a ball into a slap or a tray; a flat face turned outward looks wrong unless it is armour. See hands-16-corners.
7. A cuff separates hand from sleeve. One lighter or darker band at the wrist (Blair). At ≤ 16 px the sleeve's end is the edge of the hand: sleeves can stand in for hands entirely.
8. Hands get the highest contrast on the limb in fast motion (Saint11): skin or glove against a dark sleeve, or the reverse, so the eye can follow them through a swing. Never let hand and sleeve share a value.
9. A grip is the hand fused to the handle. Draw the fist; let the handle show 1 px beyond it on each end (guard above, pommel below); one dark line or shade step between skin and wood; the weapon crosses the hand and leaves the silhouette on a different axis than the forearm (BJG's trainer poses). Hold the object's offset from the fist constant while the body is steady (rules://45-secondary-motion, rule 10). Object shapes: rules://73-props-and-items.
10. Handedness is a design decision. transform op flip swaps hands: move the thumb to the correct side, re-draw anything asymmetric, and keep the weapon in the same hand in every direction, which makes 8 directions 8 unique drawings, not 5 plus mirrors (Slynyrd PB55). Flip a finished hand for the other arm and then fix it; hands are the most expensive part to draw twice (Tuts+).
11. An arm in front of the torso keeps its outline (Saint11). Where hand meets body, leave a 1 px gap or a clear value step; a hand tangent to the torso outline fuses into it (rules://03-silhouette-and-form).
12. Build six hands per character at its sprite size and reuse them: relaxed, fist, open, point, grip, reach or wave. Every other pose is a rotation or flip of these (Blair). A hand redrawn slightly differently each frame flickers.
13. Personality lives in the hand; change one parameter, not all. Weight: hand 1–2 px wider than the ladder, flat-edged (Solarski). Cute: small triangular limbs with stubby 3-finger hands (Saint11). Monsters: one exaggerated feature, a claw or a giant palm, instead of five normal fingers (Bancroft; rules://54-monster-design).

Feet

14. Feet plant the figure. The lowest foot pixel sits on the same row in every frame; both feet share that row unless one is lifted (Pixnote). A foot that is 3 px tall moves in thirds of its height, so lift it a whole pixel or not at all (Silber).
15. Side-view foot length ≈ head height (Loomis, cross-checked: Muybridge's 32 px feet are 4–5 px long). Inside the outline: 8 px figure → 1–2 px; 16 px → 3–4 px; 32 px → 5–6 px; 48 px → 8–10 px. Heavy or armoured characters get a flatter, wider wedge; a goofy character a bigger one (Blair).
16. A boot is shaft + foot + one sole line. 16 px: 2 px shaft, 3–4 px foot, the bottom outline row is the sole. 32 px: add a toe-cap highlight and a darker heel pixel. 48 px: cuff band, toe cap, heel block and a sole band one step darker than the boot.
17. Divide boot from trouser by colour, not outline (Tsu). Keep black where the shapes need separating (the sole, between the legs). The bottom outline row may be dropped when the ground contrasts: the eye bridges the gap and the row goes to detail.
18. Four foot poses carry a walk (Muybridge; frame tables in rules://42-walk-and-run): heel strike (heel down, toe up: a 2 px wedge at 32 px), flat (sole on the ground line), toe-off (heel up, toes on the ground), swing (foot off the ground, toe low). A run lands on the ball or flat foot under the body, never heel first.
19. View changes the shape. Front: feet splay a little outward and the boot is the widest part of the leg. Back: heel and sole line only, no toe cap. Top-down: toes toward the viewer with a lighter cap, legs foreshortened to 2–3 px behind the foot (rules://47-top-down-animation). 3/4 is in rules://37-views-and-directions.
20. Toes are not drawn below 48 px. At 32 px a bare foot gets at most three bumps along the bottom edge; the big toe separates only at 48 px and up (Tsu: toenails and gaps become blobs).
21. Heels change everything. A heel adds about 4 px of height and tilts the foot wedge down toward the toe; flat shoes add 1 px (Slynyrd PB52). Say which one the character wears before drawing the leg.
22. Paws, hooves and talons are in rules://50-quadrupeds and rules://54-monster-design.

Detail budget: a hand is at most 2 light-ramp steps below 32 px, 3 at 48 px. A highlight on a hand that is not on the fingertips or the knuckle row is noise (rules://14-readability-and-scale).

All hand sheets show a hand with a forearm stub in sleeve colours. Front = the character faces the viewer, or the palm/back of the hand does. Side = the character faces right, near hand. Cells are separated by one blank column; to draw one cell, copy its columns [i × stride, i × stride + width) into draw op grid and map the roles onto the sprite's own palette. Light is from the upper left.

8 px. Four 5-px cells (stride 6): arm hanging, sword grip (blade above, grip pixel below the skin pixel), arm raised, arm pointing. The hand is the only skin pixel.

L = skin-light  #f2b48a
C = sleeve-mid  #4f77b0
M = blade-light #d9e1ea
W = grip-mid    #a0663a
---
..C......M....L........
..C......M....C....CCLL
..L....CCL...C.........
.........W...C.........

16 px, front. Cells 7 × 7 (stride 8): relaxed, open palm, fist, sword grip, point, wave. Use for characters facing the viewer or gestures toward the camera.

O = outline       #2b1d2e
L = skin-light    #f2b48a
D = skin-shadow   #c47a5a
C = sleeve-mid    #4f77b0
c = sleeve-shadow #36568a
M = blade-light   #d9e1ea
m = blade-shade   #8d9bb0
W = grip-mid      #a0663a
w = grip-shadow   #6c4228
Y = guard-gold    #e2b94c
---
.OCCO.....OOO.....OOO.....OMmO.....O......O.O..
.OCCO....OLLLO...OLLLO....OMmO....OLO....OLOLO.
.OccO....OLLLO...OLLDO...OYYYYO...OLO....OLLLO.
.OLLO...OLLLLO...OLDDO...OLLLLO..OLLLO..OLLLLO.
.OLDO....OOLDO....OCCO...OLDDLO..OLLDO...OOLDO.
..OO......OCCO....OccO....OWwO....OCCO....OCCO.
..........OccO............OOOO....OccO....OccO.

16 px, side. Cells 9 × 7 (stride 10): relaxed, reaching open hand (thumb up), punching fist, sword grip, point, raised hand. The grip cell is the weapon pose for side-on sprites.

O = outline       #2b1d2e
L = skin-light    #f2b48a
D = skin-shadow   #c47a5a
C = sleeve-mid    #4f77b0
c = sleeve-shadow #36568a
M = blade-light   #d9e1ea
m = blade-shade   #8d9bb0
W = grip-mid      #a0663a
w = grip-shadow   #6c4228
Y = guard-gold    #e2b94c
---
.OCCO.........OOO....OOOOOO.......Mm.....OOOOOOOO....OO....
.OCCO......OOOOLOO..OCCCCLLO......Mm....OCCCLLLLO...OLLO...
.OccO.....OCCCLLLLO.OccccLDO......Mm....OcccLDOO....OLLLO..
.OLLO.....OcccLDDDO..OOOOOO...OOOYYYY....OOOOO......OLLO...
.OLLLO.....OOOOOOO............CCCCLLO...............OCCO...
..OOO.........................ccccLDO...............OccO...
..............................OOOOWwO...............OCCO...

16 px fist corners. Six 6 × 6 cells (stride 7): none, top-left, bottom-left, top-right, bottom-right, three corners. Rule 6 says what each one means.

O = outline     #2b1d2e
L = skin-light  #f2b48a
D = skin-shadow #c47a5a
---
..OO....OOO.....OO.....OOO....OO....OOOO.
.OLLO..OLLLO...OLLO...OLLLO..OLLO..OLLLLO
OLLLLO.OLLLLO.OLLLLO.OLLLLO.OLLLLO.OLLLLO
OLLLDO.OLLLDO.OLLLDO.OLLLDO.OLLLDO.OLLLDO
.ODDO...ODDO..OLDDO...ODDO...ODDDO.OLDDO.
..OO.....OO....OOO.....OO.....OOO...OOO..

32 px, front. Cells 13 × 10 (stride 14): relaxed, open (finger notch + thumb), fist, sword grip, point, wave (the open hand sheared; alternate it with its mirror for a 2-frame wave).

O = outline       #2b1d2e
L = skin-light    #f2b48a
D = skin-shadow   #c47a5a
C = sleeve-mid    #4f77b0
c = sleeve-shadow #36568a
M = blade-light   #d9e1ea
m = blade-shade   #8d9bb0
W = grip-mid      #a0663a
w = grip-shadow   #6c4228
Y = guard-gold    #e2b94c
---
...OCCCO.........O.OO..........OOOO..........OMmO...........O.................O.OO.
...OCCCO........OLOLLO........OLLLLO.........OMmO..........OLO...............OLOLLO
...OcccO........OLDLLO........OLLLDO.........OMmO..........OLO..............OLDLLO.
..OLLLLO........OLLLLO.......OLLLDDO.......OYYYYYYO.......OOLLLO............OLLLLO.
..OLLLDO.......OLLLLLO........OLDDDO........OLLLLO........OLLLDO..........OLLLLLO..
..OLLDDO.......OLLLLDO.........OCCCO........OLLDDO........OLLDDO..........OLLLLDO..
...OLDDO........OOLLDO.........OCCcO........OLDDDO.........OLDDO..........OOLLDO...
....OOO..........OCCCO.........OcccO.........OWwO..........OCCCO..........OCCCO....
.................OCCcO.......................OWwO..........OCCcO..........OCCcO....
.................OcccO.......................OOOO..........OcccO..........OcccO....

32 px, side. Cells 14 × 12 (stride 15): relaxed, open reach, punching fist, sword grip (guard, blade, pommel), point, raised hand.

O = outline       #2b1d2e
L = skin-light    #f2b48a
D = skin-shadow   #c47a5a
C = sleeve-mid    #4f77b0
c = sleeve-shadow #36568a
M = blade-light   #d9e1ea
m = blade-shade   #8d9bb0
W = grip-mid      #a0663a
w = grip-shadow   #6c4228
Y = guard-gold    #e2b94c
---
..OCCCO........OOOOOO.OO......OOOOOOOOOO..............OO....OOOOOOOOOOOOOO....OO.........
..OCCCO........CCCCCCOLLOOO...CCCCCCLLLLO............OMmO...CCCCCCLLLLLLLO...OLLO........
..OcccO........CCCCCCLLLLLLO..CCCCCCLLLDO............OMmO...CCCCCCLLLDOOO....OLLLO.......
..OLLLO........ccccccLDDDDDO..ccccccLLDDO............OMmO...ccccccLDDDO......OLLLLO......
..OLLLLO.......OOOOOOOOOOOOO..OOOOOOOOOOO............OMmO...OOOOOOOOOOO......OLLLO.......
..OLLDDO..........................................OYYYYYYO...................OLLDO.......
...ODDO......................................OOOOOOLLLLLO....................OCCCO.......
....OO.......................................CCCCCCLLLDO.....................OCCcO.......
.............................................ccccccLDDDO.....................OcccO.......
.............................................OOOOOOOWwOO.................................
...................................................OWwO..................................
...................................................OOOO..................................

48 px, front. Cells 16 × 13 (stride 17): relaxed, open (three fingers + thumb, gaps in shadow), fist (knuckle highlight, curl shadow), sword grip, point, wave.

O = outline        #2b1d2e
L = skin-light     #f2b48a
D = skin-shadow    #c47a5a
H = skin-highlight #fbd6b4
C = sleeve-mid     #4f77b0
c = sleeve-shadow  #36568a
M = blade-light    #d9e1ea
m = blade-shade    #8d9bb0
W = grip-mid       #a0663a
w = grip-shadow    #6c4228
Y = guard-gold     #e2b94c
---
...OCCCCO..............O..............OOOOO............OMmO..............O......................O....
...OCCCCO............OOLOO...........OHHLLLO...........OMmO.............OLO...................OOLOO..
...OCCCcO...........OLDLDLO..........OHLLLLO...........OMmO.............OLO..................OLDLDLO.
...OccccO...........OLDLDLO..........OLLLLDO...........OMmO.............OLO..................OLDLDLO.
..OHLLLLO.........OLOLDLDLO.........OLLDDDDDO........OYYYYYYO..........OOLLO..............OLOLDLDLO..
.OLLLLLDO.........OLLLLLLLO.........OLLLDDDDO........OOOOOOOO.........OHLLLLO.............OLLLLLLLO..
.OLLLLDDO.........OLLLLLLDO..........OODDDDO..........OHLLLLO........OLLLLLLDO...........OLLLLLLDO...
..OLLDDDO..........OOLLLLDO..........OCCCCO..........OLLLLLDO........OLLLLLDDO............OOLLLLDO...
...OLDDDO...........OLLLDO...........OCCCcO..........OLLLDDDO.........OLLDDDDO............OLLLDO.....
....OOOO............OCCCCO...........OccccO...........OLDDDO...........OCCCCO.............OCCCCO.....
....................OCCCcO.............................OWwO............OCCCcO............OCCCcO......
....................OccccO.............................OWwO............OccccO............OccccO......
.......................................................OOOO..........................................

48 px, side. Cells 17 × 14 (stride 18): relaxed, open reach with thumb band, punching fist, sword grip, point, raised hand.

O = outline        #2b1d2e
L = skin-light     #f2b48a
D = skin-shadow    #c47a5a
H = skin-highlight #fbd6b4
C = sleeve-mid     #4f77b0
c = sleeve-shadow  #36568a
M = blade-light    #d9e1ea
m = blade-shade    #8d9bb0
W = grip-mid       #a0663a
w = grip-shadow    #6c4228
Y = guard-gold     #e2b94c
---
..OCCCCO..........OOOOOOOO.OOOO.....OOOOOOOOOOOOO...............OO......OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....OOO..........
..OCCCCO..........CCCCCCCCOLLLLOOO..CCCCCCCCHLLLLO.............OMmO.....CCCCCCCCHLLLLLLLO....OLLLOO........
..OCCCcO..........CCCCCCCCLDDDDLLO..CCCCCCCCLLLLLDO............OMmO.....CCCCCCCCLLLLLLOOO....OLLLLLO.......
..OccccO..........CCCCCCCCLLLLLLLO..CCCCCCCCLLLLDDO............OMmO.....CCCCCCCCLLLLDDO......OLLLLLLO......
..OHLLLO..........ccccccccLLLDDDDO..ccccccccLLDDDDO............OMmO.....ccccccccLLDDDDO......OLLLLLO.......
..OLLLLLO.........OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..OOOOOOOOOOOOOO.............OMmO.....OOOOOOOOOOOOOO.......OLLDLLLO......
..OLLLLDDO..................................................OYYYYYYYO........................OLLDDDO.......
..OLLLDDDO............................................OOOOOOOHLLLLLO.........................OOLLDO........
...OLDDDO.............................................CCCCCCCLLLLLDO..........................OCCCCO.......
....OOOO..............................................CCCCCCCLLLDDDO..........................OCCCcO.......
......................................................cccccccLLDDDO...........................OccccO.......
......................................................OOOOOOOOWwOOO........................................
.............................................................OWwO..........................................
.............................................................OOOO..........................................

64 px, front. Cells 20 × 18 (stride 21): open (four fingers, thumb apart, gaps in skin-shadow), fist (three visible finger curls over a curl line, thumb across), sword grip (guard, fist over the handle, 2 px of handle and a pommel below). Palm shade sits on the lower and right edges; the only highlights are on fingertips and knuckles.

O = outline        #2b1d2e
L = skin-light     #f2b48a
D = skin-shadow    #c47a5a
H = skin-highlight #fbd6b4
C = sleeve-mid     #4f77b0
c = sleeve-shadow  #36568a
M = blade-light    #d9e1ea
m = blade-shade    #8d9bb0
W = grip-mid       #a0663a
w = grip-shadow    #6c4228
Y = guard-gold     #e2b94c
---
.........OO.......................................OMMmO.......
........OHLOOO....................................OMMmO.......
......OOOLLDHLO...................................OMMmO.......
.....OHLDLLDLLO...................................OMMmO.......
.....OLLDLLDLLOOO...........OOOOOOO..........OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..
.....OLLDLLDLLDHLO.........OHDLLDLLO.........OYYYYYYYYYYYYYO..
.....OLLDLLDLLDLLO........OHLDLLDLLDO..........OHLDLLDLLDO....
..OOOOLLDLLDLLDLLO........OLLDLLDLLDO..........OLLDLLDLLDO....
.OLLLOLLDLLDLLDLLO........OLLDLLDLLDO..........OLLDLLDLLDO....
.OLLLDLLLLLLLLLLLO........OLLDLLDLLDO..........OLLDLLDLLDO....
.OLLLLLLLLLLLLLLDO........ODDDDDLLLDO..........ODDDDDLLLDO....
..OLLLLLLLLLLLLDDO........OHLLLLLLLDO..........OHLLLLLLLDO....
...OLLLLLLLLLLLDDO........OLLLLLLLDDO..........OLLLLLLLDDO....
....OLLLLLLLLLDDO..........OLLLLLDDO............OLLLLLDDO.....
.....OCCCCCCCCCCO..........OCCCCCCCO.............OOOOOOO......
.....OCCCCCCCCCcO..........OCCCCCCcO..............OWWwO.......
.....OccccccccccO..........OcccccccO..............OWWwO.......
.....OccccccccccO..........OcccccccO..............OOOOO.......

Feet, 8 px. Four 5-px cells (stride 6): front stand, side stand, contact, pass.

B = boot-mid    #8a5a3a
P = trouser-mid #5a6a8a
---
.P.P....P.....P.....P..
.P.P....P....P.P....P..
.B.B....BB..B...B...P..
....................B..

Feet, 16 px, side. Three 8-px cells (stride 9): stand, heel strike, toe-off.

O = outline     #2b1d2e
B = boot-mid    #8a5a3a
P = trouser-mid #5a6a8a
---
.OPPO.....OPPO......OPPO..
.OPPO.....OBBO......OBBO..
.OBBO.....OBBBBO.....OBBBO
.OBBBBO...OBBBBBO.....OBBO
.OOOOOO...OOOOOO......OOOO

Feet, 16 px, other views. Three 12-px cells (stride 13): front pair, back pair, top-down pair.

O = outline     #2b1d2e
B = boot-mid    #8a5a3a
b = boot-shadow #5c3a26
T = boot-light  #b98458
P = trouser-mid #5a6a8a
---
.OPPO..OPPO...OPPO..OPPO...OOO...OOO..
.OPPO..OPPO...OPPO..OPPO..OTBBO.OTBBO.
.OBBO..OBBO...OBBO..OBBO..OTBBO.OTBBO.
OBBBO..OBBBO..ObbO..ObbO..OBBBO.OBBBO.
OOOOO..OOOOO..OOOO..OOOO...OOO...OOO..

Feet, 32 px, side. Three 10-px cells (stride 11): stand (flat), heel strike (toe up, 2 px wedge), toe-off (heel up). Trouser in trouser colours, boot in boot.

O = outline        #2b1d2e
B = boot-mid       #8a5a3a
b = boot-shadow    #5c3a26
T = boot-light     #b98458
P = trouser-mid    #5a6a8a
p = trouser-shadow #3e4b68
---
.OPPPO......OPPPO.......OPPPO...
.OPPpO......OPPpO.......OPPpO...
.OpppO......OpppO.......OpppO...
.OBBBO......OBBBO.......OBBBO...
.OTBBO......OTBBBBO.....OTBBBO..
.OTBBBBO....OBBBBBBBO....OBBBBO.
.OBBBBBBO...OBBBBBBO.....ObBBBBO
.ObbBBBBO...ObbBBBO.......OBBBBO
.OOOOOOOO...OOOOOO.........OOOO.

Feet, 32 px, other views. Three 14-px cells (stride 15): front pair (outward toes), back pair (heel + sole shade, no cap), top-down pair (toe caps toward the viewer).

O = outline        #2b1d2e
B = boot-mid       #8a5a3a
b = boot-shadow    #5c3a26
T = boot-light     #b98458
P = trouser-mid    #5a6a8a
p = trouser-shadow #3e4b68
---
.OPPPO..OPPPO...OPPPO..OPPPO....OOO....OOO..
.OPPpO..OPPpO...OPPpO..OPPpO...OBBBO..OBBBO.
.OpppO..OpppO...OpppO..OpppO...OBBBO..OBBBO.
.OBBBO..OBBBO...OBBBO..OBBBO..OTBBBBO.OTBBBO
.OTBBO..OTBBO...OBBBO..OBBBO..OTTBBBO.OTTBBO
OTBBBO..OTBBBO..OBBBO..OBBBO...OTBBO..OTBBO.
OBBBBO..OBBBBO..ObbbO..ObbbO....OOO....OOO..
OOOOOO..OOOOOO..OOOOO..OOOOO................

Feet, 32 px, bare. Side cell 14 px wide (arch lifted a pixel off the ground line), then a front pair 15 px wide (three toes each, separated by outline notches); both start at stride 15.

O = outline     #2b1d2e
L = skin-light  #f2b48a
D = skin-shadow #c47a5a
---
.OLLLO..........OLLLO...OLLLO.
.OLLLO..........OLLLO...OLLLO.
.OLLDO..........OLLDO...OLLDO.
.OLLLLO........OLLLLDO.OLLLLDO
.OLLLLLLO......OLLLLLO.OLLLLLO
.OLDLLLLLO.....OLOLOLO.OLOLOLO
.OOO.OOOOO......OOOOO...OOOOO.

Boot, 48 px, side. One cell: cuff band, shaft shade, toe cap, heel block, sole band.

O = outline        #2b1d2e
B = boot-mid       #8a5a3a
b = boot-shadow    #5c3a26
T = boot-light     #b98458
S = sole           #3a2a2e
P = trouser-mid    #5a6a8a
p = trouser-shadow #3e4b68
---
..OPPPPO......
..OPPPpO......
..OppppO......
.OTTTTTO......
.OTBBBBO......
..OTBBBO......
..OTBBBO......
..OTBBBBO.....
..OTBBBBBBO...
..OBBBBBBBBO..
.OBBBBBBTTBBO.
.ObbBBBBBBBBO.
.ObbSSSSSSSSO.
..OOOOOOOOOO..

Boots, 48 px, front pair. One cell: cuffs, toe splay, sole band across both boots.

O = outline        #2b1d2e
B = boot-mid       #8a5a3a
T = boot-light     #b98458
S = sole           #3a2a2e
P = trouser-mid    #5a6a8a
p = trouser-shadow #3e4b68
---
..OPPPPO....OPPPPO..
..OPPPpO....OPPPpO..
..OppppO....OppppO..
.OTTTTTO...OTTTTTO..
.OTBBBBO...OTBBBBO..
.OTBBBBO...OTBBBBO..
OTTBBBBBO.OTTBBBBBO.
OTBBBBBBO.OTBBBBBBO.
OBBBBBBBO.OBBBBBBBO.
OSSSSSSSO.OSSSSSSSO.
OOOOOOOOO.OOOOOOOOO.

1. sprite_info. Read the figure height and the head height; look up hand and foot size in the table. Write the size down before drawing anything.
2. Decide the pose from the six-hand library (rule 12) and the view (front, side, top-down). Pick the template whose size row matches; at an in-between height take the smaller one and add a pixel to the thumb or toe cap, not to the palm.
3. Draw the limb first (sleeve, trouser), then stamp the hand or boot with draw op grid at the limb's end, using transparent: "skip" so the limb underneath survives. Map roles onto the sprite's palette with palette op get; the example hexes only make the template renderable.
4. Hands that grip: draw the object first on its own layer, then the fist on top, so the handle runs behind the fingers and shows at both ends.
5. look op preview, then op ascii on the hand region: count the hand's pixels against the ladder and check that no hand pixel touches the torso's outline.
6. Other hand: copy the cel, transform op flip axis horizontal, then redraw thumb and cuff. Weapon hand stays fixed across directions (rule 10).
7. Animated: keep arms, hands and feet on stable layers (rules://06-layers-and-rigging); run look op filmstrip and look op onion on the hand layer; the lowest foot pixel must stay on one row and the hand's pixel count must not change between frames unless the pose does.
8. validate; fix orphan pixels at fingertips by moving them into the cluster, not by deleting the finger (rules://11-clusters-and-noise).

• Hand size is on the ladder for this figure height (±1 px), and every frame uses the same size.
• No individual fingers below 48 px; no four equal parallel fingers at any size.
• Hand and sleeve differ in value; a cuff or colour step marks the wrist.
• A gripped object overlaps the fist and shows at both ends; its axis differs from the forearm's.
• The thumb is on the correct side after any flip.
• The lowest foot pixel is on one row in every frame; the feet are no larger than about one head in length.
• Boot and trouser are separated by colour; black remains only at the sole and between legs.
• The view is respected: no toe caps on a back view, no heel-first run.
• No hand pixel is tangent to the torso outline.

• Loomis, Figure Drawing for All It's Worth, hands and feet (pp. 184–186).
• Hampton, Figure Drawing: Design and Invention, hand and foot chapters (pp. 160–215).
• Blair, Advanced Animation, mitten-and-thumb construction (p. 16), feet (pp. 4–15).
• Solarski, Drawing Basics and Video Game Art, "Hand" and "Foot".
• Muybridge, The Human Figure in Motion, walk and run plates (pp. 17, 35, 63).
• Pixel Logic (Andrew Moore), ch. 4 Readability, hands (pp. 97–98, 168, 182).
• Silber, Pixel Art for Game Developers, limbs and idle motion (pp. 36–40, 107).
• Bancroft, Creating Characters with Personality, hands and feet by age and style.
• Tsu, pixel tutorials 7, 8, 11 (corner-pixel fist, boots, small hands); Saint11 (Jump, Cuteness, Pipeline); Slynyrd Pixelblog PB52, PB55; Pixnote and Tuts+ small-sprite guides; BJG trainer-sprite measurements.