How to Create a Hand Holding a Stethoscope in Adobe Illustrator

In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the Mesh Tool in Adobe Illustrator to create a medical background.

If you want to skip the tutorial and just use this vector in your work, purchase Medical Background With Hand Holding A Stethoscope from GraphicRiver!

1. How to Draw the Hand

Step 1

Begin by using the Mesh Tool (U) to draw a part of the hand.

Starting with a rectangle, add nodes inside the shape and move its edges around to create the shape pictured below. Proceed by adding more nodes and recoloring them just like in the screenshots!

Use these colors for the steps below:

1. #E6B896
2. #F7D7B9
3. #A95F30
4. #D7986E
5. #EBC099
6. #E7B68D

Step 2

Finish the hand.

1. #DCA57F
2. #E7BC8E
3. #FCDFC2
4. #FFDBBB
5. #E7BC8E
6. #DEAC79

Step 3

Draw the second part of the hand.

1. #DCA57F
2. #FFDABE
3. #B37240
4. #D6A074
5. #FFE6CB
6. #CBA576

Step 4

Finish the second part.

1. #F7D6AD
2. #E9B68E
3. #BE804F

Step 5

Add the third part.

1. #F0CDA7
2. #D09F75
3. #C47E47
4. #E0AB79
5. #D09F75
6. #EBBD9A

Step 6

Finish the third part.

1. #FFDCBB
2. #FADAB1
3. #EBBD9A

Step 7

Draw the tip of a finger.

1. #EDBA92
2. #FCD7B5
3. #F5C4A8
4. #F1B499
5. #A95527
6. #E89E7E

Step 8

Finish the fingertip.

1. #DC9F68
2. #F5C398
3. #F5C4A8

Step 9

Draw a base for the finger.

1. #EDBA92
2. #A45724
3. #D89A66
4. #E6B585
5. #FDD8B7
6. #BF7E40

Step 10

Align the previous two objects perfectly and color the bordering nodes according to the screenshot.

• #FDD8B8
• #F5C398
• #DC9F68
• #A95527

Step 11

Draw the nail with mesh.

1. #EDBA92
2. #E3A592
3. #FFD3C9
4. #FEB191
5. #CAA98F
6. #FADDCB

Step 12

Draw more finger parts.

1. #C77E61
2. #B55437
3. #7B180B

Step 13

1. #D6A07D
2. #A5401F
3. #BF7548

Step 14

Draw the base of the hand.

1. #E6BE9B
2. #CA9267
3. #CFA97E
4. #D9A97E
5. #E0B28E
6. #D6A47D

Step 15

Draw the arm.

1. #DBB48D
2. #C3A481
3. #DDBC9B

Step 16

Align the previous two objects perfectly, and color the bordering nodes according to the screenshot.

• #DAAB81
• #DBAC82
• #E6BE9B
• #E5BD99
• #CFA97E

Step 17

Assemble the hand out of the elements we’ve made so far.

2. How to Draw the Stethoscope

Step 1

Draw the stethoscope. For the second step, bend the rectangle into a circle and align the nodes on the edge perfectly.

1. #BAB6A6
2.  –
3. #FFFFFF
4. #838173
5. #58544A
6. #888677

Step 2

Finish the mesh.

1. #9B9987
2. #EAE3D3
3. #D2CDBD

Step 3

Add one more element.

1. #898574
2. #FCF9F2
3. #27291F

Step 4

Create an ellipse with a Linear Gradient (#6F6458 – #D9D8C5 – #6F6458).

Step 5

Create a shape with a Linear Gradient (#6F6458 – #BDBBB3 – #4A4434 – #6F6458).

Step 6

Copy the shape we made in Step 2 and, with Edit > Edit Colors > Adjust Colors, convert it into Grayscale, adding 16% Black.

Place the gray copy under the colored copy and Group both objects.

Step 7

Draw a Blend shadow for the stethoscope, using a white and a #6D6C6A circle.

Make the white circle transparent, and then create a Blend out of both objects with Object > Blend > Make, using Specified Steps, 30.

Step 8

Assemble the stethoscope.

Step 9

Draw a curved line with a Gradient Stroke (black to #C9C9C9 to #1C1C1C).

Expand the shape.

Step 10

Begin with a #1D1D1D rectangle with some mesh nodes. Bend it with Effect > Warp > Arc, using -100% Bend, and then Expand Appearance.

Shape the image as shown below and add some #9B9B9B highlights.

Step 11

Draw a line and give its Stroke a Linear Gradient from black to #9B9B9B to white to black.

Expand the image.

Step 12

Draw the buds for the tool.

1. #4E4E4E
2. #868686
3. #242424
4. #AFAFAF

Step 13

Assemble the medical tool.

Step 14

Place the stethoscope inside the hand, and then use a Clipping Mask to ‘crop’ the image.

Step 15

You’re done!

Awesome Work, You’re Now Done!

What now? You can try any of my other tutorials from my profile or check out my portfolio on GraphicRiver, as well as the original vector we recreated in this tutorial.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial, and I would be super happy to see any results in the comments below.

Want to learn more about Gradient Meshes? Why not check out these tutorials: