A rhythm, flow, or a gesture is a line that connects objects in a drawing. We can use S curves, C curves, or Straight lines as rhythms. Finding the flow in a pose can be hard because it's an abstract concept that we cant see. But it is the most fundamental aspect in figure drawing. Flow exists in EVERYTHING. In trees, buildings, water, etc. It is our job as artists to find these rhythms and design them to be visually appealing and truthful to nature. In figure drawing, all aspects should be connected in a unified whole. In my drawing, you can flow from any part of the body to another. For example, you can go down the neck, around the arm, and into the wrist. Or you can start from the wrist , flow up the arm, go down the rib cage and flow all the way down to the toes. HOW TO PRACTICE 1) Watch a tutorial on it. [Aside from proko: Tim Gula is amazing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvB3bnj63oc), Mike Mattesi (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAfTHWEKx2A)]. Absorb the information as much as possible. Watch it as many times as you need to. And most importantly follow along. Don't just passively listen, but try to analyze the figure. 2) Draw the figure on your own and try to find and analyze the rhythms. This is the hardest but most important part, this is where majority of the learning happens. You can also draw the figure multiple times to experiment which type of rhythm to use C, S, or I. 3) Get feedback from an outside source. Or you can analyze it yourself by comparing your drawings with those mentioned above and see where the differences lie, where you can improve etc. 4) Take a mental note of the critique you receive and keep it in the back of your head during your next session so that you don't repeat it. 5) Repeat from step 1 until you master it.

Where'd you get your reference?

Gesture is really hard cause it's simplifying the figure into it's most basic elements; often simplification is harder than making things look complicated. This is kinda depressing to say, but depending on how fast you learn, your first few hundred gestures will be bad. I know it seems kinda crushing but like Marshall said in the gesture critique video you just gotta power through them. Studying only gesture for a month is definitely sufficient. You should move onto the bean. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFB7deiL-3s&t=325s. As Stan says in this video, if you wait before you master a topic till you move onto the next you're gonna be doing gesture for 10 years. You should not wait till you fully master gesture cause that will just take too long. Even if you don't completely grasp the current topic, you should move onto the next. The course is designed so that the previous topic builds on the next, practicing the bean will improve your gestures significantly. I know it did that for me. Good luck with your practice.

Some of these boxes and cylinders are looking a bit off to me. I think you should work a bit on your perspective.

Here again. This last week was not it, but today's gestures make me hopeful of a turnaround. Let me know what I can improve on. (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzEw6ynDkvQ) Side note: I started a new sketchbook, one with recycled paper, and I don't really like it. It's slightly tinted brown which I don't really care about, but it's weight is slightly less than my previous, and so I can't draw on both sides of the pages (you can see my previous drawings through it, even with pencil). In addition, it has a tooth that seems to eat at my pencil so much that I sharpen it every couple of pages compared to rarely before. Well I guess it's better to know than not :/

Hey I'd like to say good job on these drawings, there's a lot of variety to your subject matter and I see a mix of sketching and study work which is good. But I can tell you're new to asking for critique because this is not the most efficient way to do it. When asking for critique you should state the goal of your drawings very clearly and ask for feedback on certain aspects. Take your first portrait for example, I could give feedback on the shape design, anatomy, proportions, shading, accuracy, hair, line quality, etc. So next time you ask for feedback, state what your goal was for the drawing and request for critique on THAT specific aspect. For my critique, I'll be focusing on your first portrait. The largest issues I see are the planes of the head and shading. You don't really have a good understanding of the planes of the head. The drawing is feeling quite structural which I like, you have somewhat of an understanding of the different planes but I feel like there are still some gaps in your knowledge. For example, in the left cheek you indicated a top plane and front plane. But the front plane is filled in with the same half tone which is incorrect. The cheek kind of wraps around the face, so the plane furthest from the light source is shaded dark (which you did correctly) but Im not seeing any gradation as the cheek turns towards the nose. You captured this gradation successfully in the forehead but failed to notice it for the left cheek. For the top plane you indicated, there should be a shadow on the left side as the cheekbone turns towards the right ear (away from the light source). I used the left cheek as an example of incorrect shading but it can really be applied to every feature in your drawing. To improve your shading, Dorian Iten has great videos on the Proko channel. I also recommend you study the planes of the head using the Asaro Head. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/GX3Ax1 That being said, even though you missed certain aspects the drawing still feels structural. There's a clear separation of lights and dark. And finally, you're using the correct tone to indicate and add to that structure which is really good. Edit: the image is really low res for some reason. Open the image, click the three dots on the top right and click open original.

I am learning a lot of new things all at once and want to make sure I am setting myself up for success. I want to start practicing the overhand grip that Stan uses in the gesture drawing lessons of figure drawing fundamentals. My question is what is his set up exactly? Table top? 45 degree or 90 degree easel set up? I don't own any kind of drawing board or easel and want to make sure I pick up the correct supplies to best practice both the overhand grip and gesture. Thanks in advance for any info! (Posting again so I can mark it asked for help)

Hey I'd like to point out the design of the anatomy. The whole figure is filled with the same design. All the fingers, digits of the abs, and even the deltoid and bicep have the same design. It creates a repetition that makes the drawing look unappealing to look at. Take a look at the left arm, both the deltoid and tricep have the same "C" curve design creating a snow man look when you really should be trying to make it look dynamic. I would suggest changing the apex of both the curves to make the arm look more dynamic. Addressing your repetitive design Stan has a great video on how to design interesting anatomy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ldiiFoEiek. Look at this page from Michael Hampton's book. Notice the asymmetry and design of each curve, you won't find Michael repeating the same curve. The reason why asymmetry looks good is because it creates a pin ball effect with the eye, they eye flows from the deltoid to the tricep, then to the bicep, then to the lower forearm. Contrast that with a "snowman" design where it really doesn't look appealing at all; the eye isn't guided where to look. In my drawing, I placed the apex of the deltoid a bit lower and the apex of the tricep a bit higher to create a more appealing design. (Please excuse my terrible draftsmanship I just wanna show the idea, the deltoid is definitely too small but im too lazy to change it). Another thing you could work on is the shading. The highlights are there but it's hard to tell what's in shadow and what's in light. Clear core shadows and adding more halftones to transition to the highlights will fix this problem. Having said all this, I think your painting is solid. You really captured a dark broody mood which I love. The fog, scenery, and lighting really come together to create that mood.

Hi Frank, these are a lot of fun. I must confess I’m probably not the best person to ask about animal drawing, but as you tagged me, I’ll give you some tips. 1) It’s great that you are analyzing your drawings and assessing what can be improved. People here on Proko only draw each reference once (or only post the final one)I feel this is such a pity. The first sketch should just be a first approach. Try to apply your own critiques to the second and even third and fourth attempts. Try things that you think are wrong too, see what happens. Sometimes you’ll be surprised. 2) Try not to lose gesture when adding structure. ( I did my best to find it on the camel 🐪 but it’s probably not completely right.As I said, I’m not an expert.) 3) It’s super important to find the horizon line and put our animal in a box. I chose the camel because you can actually see the hL in the horizon. Sometimes you need to find it using the paws. 4) Boxes and cylinders can also have gesture. 5) In figure drawing I always try to find the centerline and the edge that is closer to us. I did my best to find them on the camel, but again... Centerline is in purple, The edge is in green. Let me know if you have any doubts and I’m looking forward to seeing some of your boxed animals 😊