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@culhwch
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3d
added comment in3 Weeks to Better Gesture Drawing
Asked for help
Abdallah Farah
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2mo
Asked for help
so I've been practising gesture for the past few days and I would really appreciate it if someone could critique/give me some advice on things to look out for,improve moving forward.
thank you
You're doing well -- nice work practicing gestural lines that aren't overly contour-y or anatomical. I'll recommend a few things. You can look at some of my sketches a few posts below yours to decide if you want to take my advice. I have found that figuring out whose advice to take and whose to avoid is a big part of the battle in learning to draw.
For your thirty second poses, you don't have to do this all the time, but I would recommend practicing drawing limbs and even bodies with a single, gestural line. I spent a lot of time rapidly drawing gestural sketches with bodies and limbs that were full enclosed, and while that's all well and good, I think working on single, flowing lines is good practice to make your sketches more gestural and expressive.
Secondly, take a couple seconds to analyze each pose for the line of action -- ideally a single line that runs through the entire pose. For example, the bottom pose on the left image of a figure reclining with the arms outstretched behind them -- you could have drawn a single C-curve from the neck down and curving to the left all the way to the heel of the outstretched leg. The bottom left figure on the second page, the figure with one arm over their stomach and one above their head, you could have extended that line of the neck down all the way to the figure's right (our left) knee. You were almost there, but you drew two lines instead. It's okay sometimes to discard one of your trusty, go-to rhythms to accommodate a fluid line of action.
Most importantly, keep it up. You'll be glad you did.
@culhwch
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2mo
Asked for help
This month marks a year of daily gesture drawing. Phew. Here’s a sample of my digital and traditional sketches.
Lately for my 2-minute poses I’ve been “rotating the camera” in my mind’s eye and drawing the model as if seen from a different angle, so they might look a little funny.
One of my most important discoveries in doing these is the immense expressive power of the tilt of the head and its attachment to the torso. Don’t neglect this! These aren’t the cleanest or most elegant drawings in town, but I think I have made them expressive.
These are very nice! You should post more of these as you go. I’d love to follow your progress.
@culhwch
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8mo
Asked for help
Me again. After 6+ months of daily practice I'm starting to feel some satisfaction in my gesture drawings. Still find myself drawing a little too quickly though. With the two minute and especially the longer poses I make a real effort to push the gesture or modify the pose in some way, which results in a weaker looking drawing but I can tell it's a good workout for my brain. Drawing well from imagination is my end goal.
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8mo
These are fabulous! I don't think they look weak at all. It seems like you are using your artistic sensibilities and drawing what you want to see, which is great for gesture. I really enjoy all of them but I particularly like what you did for the 1 and 2 minute poses. Drawing from imagination takes time and you're obviously putting in the work -- keep it up along with studying anatomy and you'll get there!
@culhwch
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10mo
Asked for help
I've been doing daily gesture drawing for several months now. Here's are some of my 30 second, 1 minute, 2 minute, and longer sketches. Even with plenty of practice, I still have to remind myself to use fewer lines and focus less on contour.
@culhwch
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1yr
Asked for help
Hello. Here's a sample of my 30 second and 2 minute gestures. I'm a little reluctant to post these because I've been working on gesture daily for two months and I don't really think my drawings reflect that time investment. But I think posting these is probably good for me. I've watched some videos on the Force method and I'd love to get my drawings even more gestural like that, but my eyes and hand can't seem to make it happen yet.
Two weeks later, here's where I'm at (30 second, 1 minute, and 2 minute poses). I tend to feel like my sketches are regressing, but hopefully they aren't! I can "see through" the contours to the spirit of a gesture pretty well by now, but I have a very hard time getting myself to modify poses under pressure the way that Stan and other skilled artists do in their demos.
