Why is foreshortening hard when drawing a hand holding a coffee mug?

[Penelope.R]

I’ve been trying to draw a convincing hand holding a coffee mug, and I just can’t get the foreshortening right on the fingers. The thumb especially looks flat and disconnected, no matter how many times I sketch it from my own hand as a reference.

[Robert33]

I know the feeling. I tried to draw that grip from my own hand too, and the fingers just end up looking like cardboard. Foreshortening is slippery once the mug tilts toward you.

[Chloe88]

Sometimes I wonder if it's the reference or the angle. When I crank the mug up and over, the knuckles gain a little life, but not enough.

[Mila3]

I keep wondering if the real problem isn't the fingers but how the mug reads in perspective. Could the angle you're using be throwing off the whole silhouette?

[NatalieWP]

A couple of times I sketched a quick contour of the mug and then drew the fingers after, and the proportions felt closer for a moment, then slid off again.

[EthanH]

I did measure the bend at each joint in a slow study, and I noticed the distal joints sometimes condensed more than expected.

[Chloe_S]

Sometimes I drift to other things, like drawing a branch or a can, then circle back to the grip and it still looks off.

[David_J]

Maybe the problem isn't the fingers but the overall gesture; every time I push on the stroke it tightens the silhouette, and I abandon it mid-sketch.