Forming a blue print as it were

Question

Pardon but could someone help me with a problem I have? Effectively I'm trying to learn how to take an image of the hand and break it down into something of a wire frame model as if I was trying to make a blue print. However, I have no idea what tools I should use to perform this tasks or where I should really begin.
I have tried using a few filters and the magic wand feature but the filters end up removing  alot of detail or not enough. I need to retain important things like the outline of the fingernails and the knuckles however I don't actually want to retain any coloring only the outline of the fingernails, nuckles and so on. Well it's pretty much like the title says I want to take a top down view of the hand, its two sides and the front view and reduce them down to a blue print or just the outline or the major details.
If anyone could point me in the right direction or offer some guidance it would be appreciated. I've attached one of the images I'm trying to learn to process. To anyone who read this thanks for your time.

Answer 1

I decided to play with your concept. I came up with two versions that might give you an idea of ways you could potential go. I did this quick and it's slightly off center.
Tame version...
Spiced up with blend mode tricks.
I must confess I was lazy and started with Mtstuner's first hand version as a start point. That version I will call original image.
1. I first made the paper. It is made up of 4 layers. The first three layers are all solid color fill adjustment layers. I selected three shades of blue...a dark, a medium and a light. In each solid color fill adjustment layer mask I ran the clouds filter; followed by the noise filter; followed by gaussian blur. Notes: Color chips should be set at default black and white before running clouds filter. Add Noise filter had a very low setting...mine is currently set at 4.8 so that is probably the setting I used. The gaussian blur filter is also set at a low setting...just enough to soften the noise.
1a. On top of the three solid color fill adjustment layers, I added a blank layer and used render<clouds on it. I placed this layer's blend mode into Soft Light.
2. Next, I brought in the original version (Mtstuner's hand version). It rests above the layers I made in steps 1 and 1a. I inverted this layer. Ctrl + i if on PC; Cmd + i if on Mac. This makes the hand outline white and the background black. Now, change the hand layer's blend mode to Lighten to drop out the black background. Optional: I cleaned up the image so it was just the hand. I used black paint in a layer mask to hide the stuff I didn't want but if you don't have E9 you can use the eraser tool to erase what you don't want.
3. I added a levels adjustment layer over the hands and used the sliders to make the hands firmer and more opaque. I clipped this levels adjustment layer to the hands layer. (With levels selected, go to menu and select Layer<Create Clipping mask if on E8 or above. If you have E7 or below, the command is Layers<Group with Previous. Alternately, you can use the shortcut...click on levels layer and press ctrl + G if on PC; Cmd + G if on Mac. Another method is to hold in the alt key and hover on the line that separates the layers and click when you see the double ring arrow icon. On the mac, hold in the opt key instead of the alt key.)
4. I then clipped a blue to black gradient map layer to the levels layer. See step #3 for how to clip.
Above shows steps 1-4
5. Next, I made a grid. Create a new blank document 25 x 25 pixels fill document with black. Select<All then go to the menu and choose Edit<Stroke. Set it for 1 px…white…inside for stroke…okay. Choose Edit<Define Pattern from the menu. Name and save the pattern.
6. Add a pattern adjustment layer and select the pattern you made in step #5. I set the scale up for 108. In the pattern's mask, I ran the clouds filter followed by the noise filter to make the grid fade and a little gritty. The grid layer is in Lighten blend mode with an opacity setting of 56%.
7. Next, I added the blue to black gradient  Normal 100%…nothing masked entire image is covered by this gradient.
8. I added the details…all text and shape layers were done using white and the blue to black gradient was clipped to each. The opacity of each text and shape layer was set around 75%. Gradient layers were left at 100%.
9. To darken the edges, I added a blank layer and edged with black using a soft brush. This layer is set to multiply blend mode with an opacity setting of 25%.
10. For a final step, I added a border and hid the grid under the border. I added the border by using the rectangular marquee and stroking it with 1 pixel white…inside. I then added my blue to black gradient to cover the white. To hide the grid, I went back to my patter layer and used the marquee to select what I wanted to hide and filled it with black. (I reselected my rectangular marquee area and used Select<Inverse then filled the mask with black.
Above shows steps 5-10
Extra steps for the spiced up version:
Note: From here out, the original version is the completed image from step #10. I combined each of my layers by creating a blank layer and pressing ctrl + shift + alt + e on PC. If on a Mac, use cmd + shift + opt + e. Alternately make a duplicate of your image and flatten it.
11. I added a brightness/contrast adjustment layer over the original (see note above). Brightness is +91;Contrast is +64. I placed this layer in linear dodge blend mode.
12. I duplicated the original image duplicated twice (see note) and brought to top of stack. These were both placed in multiply blend mode.
13. I duplicated the Brightness contrast adjustment layer and brought to the top of the stack. Leave in linear dodge blend mode.
Above shows steps 11-13.