Newton Llorente
Bay Area, California
Learning how to draw two fundamentals at a time
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Newton Llorente
•
4yr
added comment inHow to Draw Gesture
Asked for help
Hello everyone, these are 2-minute gesture drawings I've done for the past couple of days. I feel like they're a bit on the cartoony side and not that realistic/proportional. The way I drew these was by starting with the robo bean and then attaching the limbs.
Do I need to learn anatomy in conjunction with figure drawing to make my drawings look more realistic/proportional? Or should I just focus on figure drawing for now and worry about anatomy further down the line?
Kolja Kaehler
4yr
I'd say, quick gesture drawings are all about abstracting details of the anatomy away. You want to focus on the connections, the flow of the rhythms between body parts. Check out the FORCE gesture drawing videos on the Proko channel (with Mike Mattesi), his approach really opened my eyes. In my own practice, I treat gesture, structure (mannequinization) and anatomy exercises as fairly distinct (with some overlap), each with their own goals. All taken together give you a well-rounded understanding of the human figure over time. Keep it up!
mac hewitt
4yr
Learning anatomy always helps but isn’t necessarily compulsory. In terms of your gestures, i would recommend only using c curves for your limbs. Try and have the c curves go in the same direction.
hope all goes well
Conner Emans
4yr
One thing I found really helpful when I was going through the figure drawing course the first time was to set a specific time frame that I would focus on each concept and stick to it so that you have to move on whether you feel you are "ready" or not. Stan makes a point of this in one of the Draftsmen episodes, but if you stick to one concept until you think you've mastered it, you'll be there for a really long time and each new concept increases your understanding of the others. Uncomfortable's drawabox course is a good example of this as well, where he sets a specific homework quota and demands that you move on when you've completed them.
Matheus Oliveira
4yr
I like your drawings. I would think more about the action lines for the hole body, not just the torso or limbs separately.
•
4yr
I think you're in a good stage to keep going with the figure drawing course. Once you finished that you can start on anatomy. Otherwise it could be a little overwhelming.
Arielle Ronin
4yr
Nice drawings :) I think a little bit more focus on the gesture would give your drawings a better "flow". Seems like your concentration is on the gesture of the single part of the body. But look more for the overall flow. I always try to find the "longest line" where the flow of the body goes and draw this one first :) e.G. from head to toe is a good start. Don't focus too much on propotions from the beginning. The proportions will come from itselt after a while :)
Trancematica
4yr
For myself, right now I'm working through the figure drawing course and then I'll move onto the anatomy one down the line. The advice I was given (which Marshall goes over in one of the critique videos I believe), is to focus on the gesture and the proportions will slowly start coming together. The figure drawing course also covers proportions toward the end of it, so I wouldn't worry too much :)
Matthew Kioki
4yr
If you want your drawings to look more realistic then anatomy will help a lot. I'd suggest studying simple shapes first. That will make it a lot easier for you to simplify what you're seeing.
Pedro Kaponautas
4yr
You seem to grasp very well the concept of the bean, but I feel like the way you're using it doesn't help very much when drawing gesture. Maybe try to find one main line on the figure first and after that you can add the adjacent lines for limbs (trying to keep the flow of the pose on them) and after that you can try to add the bean. About studying anatomy while studying figure drawing, you sure can do that, but Figure Drawing is the core basis in drawing human figures. If youre worried about structure you can give a go on the Mannequinization and proportions videos the course has to offer.
Newton Llorente
•
4yr
Asked for help
Hello @Stan Prokopenko @Liandro , these are 2-minute gesture drawings I've done for the past couple of days. I feel like they're a bit on the cartoony side and not that realistic/proportional. The way I drew these was by starting with the robo bean and then attaching the limbs.
Do I need to learn anatomy in conjunction with figure drawing to make my drawings look more realistic/proportional? Or should I just focus on figure drawing for now and worry about anatomy further down the line?
PS how do I post this as help request under the right video? I can only post as "help request" to my profile and not on the corresponding video.
•
4yr
Hey, @Newton Llorente, nice work!
As you keep practicing gesture, keep looking for these flowing, rhythmic curves as you seem to be already. If it helps, try to think of the body as a “flow path”: maybe imagine how water would flow throw it in sort of a “wavy” rhythm, as one curve leads to the other. (See the first image attached)
I agree some of the figures got a bit cartoony, but I’d say not all of them. Since these are such simplified sketches, I think the “cartooniness” is coming from the head/body relationship - in other words, if you want to go with a more realistic approach, watch out for the size of the head compared to the body. An average human is about 7 heads and a half tall; when we draw the head bigger than that, it may start to feel cartoony.
Of course, the most “guaranteed” way to get accurate proportions is by using Measuring Techniques. But save it for the longer drawings - since these ones are quick sketches and are supposed to be fast and intuitive, you don’t wanna spend time measuring and focusing on accuracy. So here’s a suggestion: keep in mind this “7 and a half” average as a mental reference, but, during your practice, try just eyeballing and going with your gut for how the proportions should be in your quick sketches. Whenever you notice a sketch is looking cartoony and you want it to look more realistic, quickly look for the head size compared with the body and, if it feels necessary, make the adjustments you need. With practice, you’ll slowly train you eye and will be able to spot this kind of thing more confidently.
I think there is no problem in starting with the bean and attaching the limbs after, but try to make sure you don’t lose sight of the “big picture”. When practicing gesture, remember to look for the “line of action” and consider the overall flow across the various parts of the figure, not just each area individually.
Definitely focus on Figure Drawing first if you want your drawings to be more realistic/proportional. Knowing anatomy is important, but Proko’s Anatomy course can get too complex too fast if you don’t have a nice grip on the basics first. Actually, the Figure course already provides a glimpse of anatomy, since you’ll be studying Landmarks of the Human Body at some point. But the Figure course will show you just enough anatomy for you to be able to solidly develop the skills you’ll need as a foundation. The Anatomy course will then approach the human body in much deeper details and will allow you to get more and more control and skillfulness over your figure drawings, but this should all build upon the knowledge you’ll get from the Figure Course - so, in a way, I guess I’d say the Figure course is somehow a “pre-requisite”.
To post your drawings under the respective video, you can post it directly from the site’s home page by choosing where you want that post to be placed (don’t forget to check the “help request” box if you expect someone to give you feedback). Or you can also can go straight to the specific page of whatever the lesson and create a post under the “Assignments” tab, where all posts are help requests by default. (See the second image for visual notes on this)
Hope this helps!
Let me know if you have other questions.
Happy drawing!
