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Spyridon Panagiotopoulos
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5d
added comment inGesture Drawing
Asked for help
I could not find the option while posting, but saw it now, so I will click it. I will not she it as an excuse to 'bump', just this once to formally request help
I need help. For the past 7 years, trying to learn Gesture Drawing has always lead me to horrible burn-out, stress and a long break from drawing (2-3 months to a year). It's coming to the point where I have really started to believe that it is hopeless, a person of my age (40) has no hope to pick this skill I was forbidden to learn as a kid, and always envied.
I have had successes in prior years, and some really good drawings in the past (especially in 2022), and while I am still bad at drawing, this year (starting April of 2024) I saw improvement. With patience and insistence, I could draw. And slowly, bit by bit, I did improve. Coming to this summer's challenge, and the exercises in MV perspective course, I really felt I had a chance to break through the stalemate, and finally start creating my stories.
But, like the past 7 years, Gesture comes in, and beats me to a pulp. After stressful session of horrid failure after stressful session of horrid failure, 0 progress, and 3 full courses behind (plus one ongoing, with mr Hampton), this time I really felt I am just worthless when it comes to Gesture. I just don't get it. It's impossible to me to make anything resembling what I see other students and artists do.
I feel stressed beyond belief. I am about to give a lifelong dream, but I honestly feel it's hopeless now. And this time my vow stands, if I burn-out/give-up, it's over for good. No more courses, no more videos, no more pencil and paper.
So, I turn to anyone who might have any idea, in a final desperate attempt. Is there ANYTHING that could help me make even the tiniest bit of progress, something to give me hope (aside from words) that I am not truly hopeless? Any technique?
I attach my horrid failures for reference. I do not ask for critique explicitly. My "attempts" are so worthless, critiquing them would be like offering anger management lessons to a feral cat. But if anyone has been in my position, and overcame it, I welcome any advice.
Asked for help
Choosing a sofa for the previous assignment feels like cheating to be honest. But it's what it is. I tried also to practice with a curved object, but it drove me crazy, and I had to scrap the attempt. Even "straightening" the curve did little to help me understand how I could translate it to pure x, y , z. Hopefully it will be tackled in this course, this is still (along with gesture) the only subjects that I have made 0 progress in the past year.
Asked for help
I tried my best, but I struggled with both parts of the assignment a lot. I am not sure I understood the lines I need to draw, and I returned to the lesson 2 times on different occasion.
These are not the first attempts, I had three pages of sketches that were me totally fumbling and not getting anywhere. It's in these last two that some semblance of the original movement can be roughly seen.
In the end, I went over the images first, and tried to understand the lines on top of them, before I drew them. Any hint, tip or advice is welcome.
For the 2nd part, it's my first time drawing something I didn't have the immediate reference, but had to use my imagination. It's tough. But I'll add it to practice, initially (the unseen attempts) it felt entirely impossible, and I just threw random lines. I still did not succeed, but I felt I at least had a rough idea what I wanted to try.
Asked for help
Ever since I trained, my name has been a nightmare. Being punished to write it 1000 times is enough to make you dread it. And imagine all the times you need to repeat it under signed documents.....
I tried my best. Some letters took me half an hour, like the S. It's tricky to get it right, and it added a bit more stress when I realized I was not able to easily copy a complex curve.
Well, there is an apex I need to practice more, I guess.
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20d
You bore the heavy burden of your long and ancient name and have emerged, like Atlas, stronger.
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28d
Well for what it's worth I think you have the coolest name ever. This is definitely a challenging exercise, but I think if you space out your letters a bit it might help you. All those convergence lines can get confusing, especially if two letters share the same line. Hope this graphic helps break it down a bit!
Asked for help
Omg, this was so much fun! And something I can practice doodling everywhere! I will be adding more over the days, but please, help me see what I have done wrong here, so I do not repeat them.
Spyridon Panagiotopoulos
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1mo
Asked for help
I'd usually do assignments on digital, so I can get everything perfect.
This time, for these courses, it's all traditional pencil.
It's time I learn to live with imperfections.
That said, Master Hampton, you are a fantastic instructor. I didn't want the video to end!
Asked for help
I have been trying to do snakes, but I have had issues doing their coiling. Is there a technique to go about doing all this slithering/coiling dynamically? I have falled back on doing the contour and then trying to make it look 3D, but the results are poor. I would love to start with the gesture or flow, it is so appealing, and then construct the snake on that flow. But I just can't.
Any tips?
I assume Zolly purchases are not cross-platform? I tend to travel a lot, so usually I switch between my PC and phone for reference. I'd definitely buy it fully, but I don't know which platform to choose from.
Asked for help
I decided to throw to the wind, and be sketchy and do all my lines free hand, estimating with the eye and only correcting when something was very wrong.
It looks sketchy and messy, but for the first time in 7 years (yeah, I've been trying to learn drawing an burning out a LOOOOONG time) this messier approach felt so much more fun, and I actually enjoyed the time I spent trying and somewhat succeeding in rotating simple objects.
This and Proko's beginner's course are shaping up to be the best way to start drawing as a limited-time, somewhat older, novice drawer. Are they perfect, or even good? Nope. But they are the best I've done to this day on hand, and best of all, they were fun to figure out!
For once in 7 years, I am very hopeful I'll finally figure the basics in Perspective well enough, to actually draw semi-decently in a few more years!
