# Handy Art Reference Tool — 3D Lit Reference for Artists! > 3D rotatable art reference tool for drawing hands, heads, and feet. (iPhone/iPad app by Belief Engine.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/handy-art-reference-tool/id478643661 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Belief Engine](https://appshunter.io/developer/478643664) - Category: Education, Productivity - Price: $1.99 with in-app purchases - Rating: 4.80/5 from 1,237 App Store ratings · 379 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 15.0 · 361 MB - Languages: German (Germany), Japanese, French (France), Chinese (Simplified, China), American English, European Spanish, Korean - Released: 2011-11-11 - Data updated: 2026-08-31 - Monetization: free with in-app purchases - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/handy-art-reference-tool/id478643661/reviews.md ## What is Handy Art Reference Tool? "Thanks to this useful app, drawing realistic hands can become a whole lot easier" - ImagineFX "Pencillers, inkers, and colorists should all give this a look!" - Tony Moore, co-creator of The Walking Dead If you're an artist and ever wanted just quick and easy drawing reference for hands, heads, or even feet (IAP) without having to awkwardly pose your limbs in front of a mirror, this app is for you! HANDY® is an artist's reference tool, consisting of several rotatable 3D limbs with a variety of poses useful for drawing. You can also customize and edit your own poses for hands, feet, and skulls. Fully adjustable 3-point lighting means you can get easy lighting reference when using any of the 10+ included 3D head busts. Handy if you’re painting and need to know what shadows the head casts from a certain angle! Also available is the Animal Skulls pack. With over 10 different animal species, it's great for anatomical reference or creature design inspiration. [Foot rigs and Animal Skull pack require additional purchase] NEW in Handy v5: Edit the materials of models! Selectively turn off their textures, adjust their specularity, or tint them a certain color. Perfect for comic book artists, painters, or just casual sketchers! Featured in ImagineFX's Top 10 Must-Have Apps! Check out the video demo: https://www.youtube.com/@handyarttool Sign up for the HANDY newsletter for information about new upcoming updates! http://www.handyarttool.com/newsletter Follow HANDY on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/handyarttool.bsky.social ## Key features - Rotatable 3D limb models - Customizable poses - Adjustable 3-point lighting - 3D head busts - Animal skull reference pack - Material editing ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: $1.99. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | Feet Models | $1.99 | one-time | | Animal Skull Pack | $1.99 | one-time | ## Chart rankings - #26 in Top Paid · Education (US App Store) ## What do users think of Handy Art Reference Tool? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 👍 Helpful for drawing reference - 🔍 Useful for lighting and shading - 🎨 Great for hands and heads - 💡 Customizable lighting and poses - 🎨 Diverse skin tone options - 🚀 Easy to use and intuitive **Cons** - 🐛 Crashes or freezes on some devices - 💰 In-app purchases for additional content - 🤔 Limited model variety (no full bodies) - 🤔 Difficulty with precise positioning - 🤔 Lighting controls could be improved **Commonly reported bugs** - Crashes on launch for some users - Purchased content not unlocking - Positioning and movement issues **Most requested features** - Add full body models and poses - Include more facial expressions and emotions - Allow for custom hand and finger posing - Implement ability to save custom poses - Add more diverse skin tones and ethnicities - Improve lighting controls and options ## Recent user reviews (10 of 379) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/handy-art-reference-tool/id478643661/reviews.md ### 5/5 — かなり便利 *2026-08-18* 一般的な絵描き向け3dモデルアプリよりリアルな質感。そのままなぞっても割とぽくなるので手の作画が捗る。手のみ細かくいじれるのがいい。 ただ、UIデザインが少しダサいのが気になる。トレスもいちいちスクショを撮らないといけないので、アプリ側でモデルのみの透過画像等書き出せると良い。おまけで頭部モデルもあるが、こちらは自由度は低め。 ### 4/5 — Amazing app. Wish it had an undo button *2026-07-25, version 5.1.1* First off, Thank you so much for making this app. It’s like a Swiss Army knife for artists. Only issue I really have is the lack of an UNDO button? There were so many times when I accidentally swiped the screen or used the wrong node (especially with 3 hands), or realized I made a mistake and cannot figure out how to get back to where I was. I am using the save function, but there are still moments in between and lot of retreading. Also, the support form on your website seems to be broken. I tried submitting got back a formspree error message: ‘make sure your form has method=“POST” attribute’ ### 5/5 — Amazing! Can’t wait for more updates *2026-07-07, version 5.1.1* It is so difficult to find animal skull references from different angles, especially a sheep skull! Can’t wait for more props and hopefully some full body 3D models you can manipulate for when I need to draw a person in a unique pose. ### 5/5 — No subscriptions! *2026-06-15, version 5.1.1* Really useful and no greedy surprises of paywalls or subscriptions. I can see myself getting loads of use out of this. Thank you. ### 5/5 — best download *2026-06-13, version 5.1.1* Life saver… ### 2/5 — Literally handy. Or pay extra. *2026-05-26, version 5.1.1* Seems ridiculous to pay twice to also access references for feet? And not that great on references. ### 3/5 — Could be better *2026-05-24, version 5.1.1* The only thing that really makes this app stand out is the lighting settings. Unlike some of the free apps I’ve used, you cannot modify the poses at all, nor are there many poses available. ### 4/5 — すごくいい *2026-05-07* 操作が直感的で作りたい形が作りやすい。 ただ、滑らかさや光源や肌の色の設定が毎回リセットされるのが少し煩わしい。プリセットやデフォルト設定ができたら嬉しい。 とはいえ300円でこれはすごい、満足度の高いアプリです。 ### 4/5 — 良いけど重い *2026-03-07* Split Viewでお絵描きアプリと同時に開くとお絵描きアプリが重くなってカクついたりします。Procreateを使用していますが、Undoが効かなくなったり線がカクつくなどの問題があったので、スクリーンショットを撮ってキャンバス上に置く カメラロールをSplit Viewで二画面表示させるなどの工夫が必要です。資料には最適だと思います。 ### 2/5 — アプリが開けなくなりました *2026-02-25* (2026/2/25更新) いつも使わせていただいています！ 本日アプリを開こうとすると落ちるようになってしまいました……再インストールなども試してみたのですが、効果がなく…… 是非とも使い続けたいため、改善頂けますと幸いです。 **Developer response:** こんにちは。ご心配をおかけして申し訳ございません。🙏 一部のユーザー様でHandyがクラッシュする不具合が発生しておりました。原因を調査するため、Handyを以前のバージョンに戻しました。 最新バージョンにアップデートしていただければ、Handyは正常に起動するはずです。 ご不便をおかけして申し訳ございません！ 🙇‍♂️ ‍ ## Frequently asked questions about Handy Art Reference Tool ### What is Handy Art Reference Tool? Handy Art Reference Tool is a digital application that provides artists with rotatable 3D models of hands, heads, and feet. It serves as a drawing reference, allowing users to pose and light these models to achieve realistic depictions in their artwork. ### What are the key features of this app? The app offers rotatable 3D limb models, the ability to customize and edit poses, adjustable 3-point lighting for reference, and 3D head busts. It also includes an optional Animal Skulls pack for creature design and anatomical reference. ### How much does Handy Art Reference Tool cost? The base application is free to download. However, certain additional content packs, such as the Foot rigs and the Animal Skull pack, require an additional purchase through in-app purchases. ### Who would benefit from using this app? This app is ideal for artists of all levels, including comic book artists, painters, illustrators, and casual sketchers. It's particularly useful for those who need quick and convenient anatomical reference without the need to pose themselves. ### What platforms is Handy Art Reference Tool available on? While the provided data doesn't explicitly state compatibility, it is described as a mobile application, suggesting availability on common mobile operating systems like iOS and Android. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 5.2 — 2026-08-24 HANDY users, thank you very much for your patience and supportive understanding. We’re ready to finally try applying our previous update once again. If you encounter any issues or problems, PLEASE do not hesitate to reach out to us at contact@handyarttool.com ! - Apple iCloud integration is completely re-written from the ground up, and (hopefully) should not produce any crashing or significant delays when opening Handy. - Fixing issues where links could no longer be opened in iOS18 or later - Fixing an issue where the rotation UI would not be aligned correctly on certain devices with skinnier aspect ratios. - Now supports swipe from left-edge Back shortcut gestures in the menus - Fix for not being able to individually adjust the Jaw sliders for loaded skulls ### 5.1.1 — 2025-11-05 YIKES! Well, we really apologize for that last update that was causing Handy to crash on launch for a lot of you folks. Despite our rigorous testing, we're still trying to diagnose and figure out what exactly is going wrong there and reproduce it on our end. In the meantime we are reverting Handy back to the previous 5.0.7 version (Apple still makes us call it something new, so it's technically 5.1.1 yada yada). Anyways, very sorry about that. If YOU encountered the crashing, and want to help us diagnose and figure out what might be going on via some TestFlight beta testing, PLEASE reach out to us at contact@handyarttool.com! ### 5.1 — 2025-10-30 Handy users, thank you for your support! Here's a general update to dust off Handy and keep things working - Re-tooling the iCloud integration behind the scenes to hopefully make it much smoother and no longer cause long load times - Fixed an issue where links would no longer be able to opened in iOS18 or later - Fixed an issue where the rotation UI would not be aligned correctly on certain devices with skinnier aspect ratios ### 5.0.7 — 2025-01-31 - Emergency bug fix for purchases suddenly locking up Handy Thank you for your support! ### 5.0.5 — 2023-04-27 - Fixed an issue where images would sometimes fail to save to Photos with transparency. - Slight improvement to the Save Scene/Light Rig UX flow - Minor bug fixes Thank you for your support! ## Apps similar to Handy Art Reference Tool | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [AKE Teacher](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ake-teacher/id1673653860) | — | Free | Education | | [Initiationen](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/initiationen/id6443526080) | — | Free | Education | | [JLI Shluchim Resources](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/jli-shluchim-resources/id1666652660) | — | Free | Education | | [Redação Nota 1000 ENEM](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/redacao-nota-1000-enem/id1671597780) | — | Free | Education | | [Worksheet Creator - Teacher AI](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/worksheet-creator-teacher-ai/id1669473620) | 1.3 (3) | Free | Education | | [Memorization:Spaced Repetition](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/memorizationspaced-repetition/id6443955900) | — | Free | Education | ## More apps by Belief Engine - [Mercury Notes](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mercury-notes/id1444237017) All apps by Belief Engine: https://appshunter.io/developer/478643664 ## Related topics [handy art reference tool](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/handy-art-reference-tool) · [hand reference](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/hand-reference) · [art reference poses](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/art-reference-poses) · [handy](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/handy) · [hansy](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/hansy) · [reference tool](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/reference-tool) · [engineering tool](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/engineering-tool) · [artist reference](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/artist-reference) · [asaro head](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/asaro-head) · [art reference](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/art-reference) · [referencesontap](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/referencesontap) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-31.*