[Feedback] Gesture Quicksketch
2yr
Christopher Lehn
This is probably my 5th reattempt at art over the past few years. I struggle to feel adequate and was too scared to ask for help.
When it comes to gestures, I understand the "flow" and "story" that we look for when attempting to recreate these poses. However, for me, when I apply the technique it looks/feels horrendous. I tried 30 second poses, but felt the time was too short and I was only doing minimal lines. With 2 minute poses, I felt I was trying too hard to make the sketch look (construct?) like the pose. 1 minute felt like the middle ground of forcing myself to move on without trying to be perfect.
When it comes to these quick sketches, how do I make it look/feel like the sketches proko does in his videos? I see other users on the forums and feel scared that I am no where near their levels. Thanks!
edit: spelling/grammar
•
2yr
Hey, @Christopher Lehn! I’m onboard with @Steve Lenze’s notes, and I’m glad to know you found his feedback helpful! As a complement, here’s the video where Stan talks about “drawing from the shoulder”: How to Hold and Control Your Pencil - Thought you might like to see it in case you haven’t.
Overall, I get a feeling you might be berating yourself a bit too much, and I’d like to encourage you, as much as possible, to soften your “inner critic” a little more. You should find artists of all levels here at the Proko site, from students to pros, from “day one” to “highly skilled”, each one learning based on their own individual needs, capabilities and interests. So, especially, try to not judge yourself badly by comparing your stuff to other people’s - not even Stan’s. Don’t worry about making your sketches look like his. People draw in various different ways, so assess your outcomes by simply considering if you’re applying similar concepts, ideas and techniques, even if adapted into your own manners. Learning often means taking risks, experimenting and making mistakes - all of that is fine and also necessary, and staying in “learning mode” (I love this, Steve!) should allow space for it. Through trial, error and overcome is how we learn, grow and, eventually, “get good”.
By the way, there’s this other video where Stan discusses a bit about other styles of approaching gesture: Q&A – Gesture vs Contour and Scribbly Lines And you might also find it interesting to google quick gesture sketching videos by other skilled artists such as Glenn Vilppu, Mike Mattesi, Glenn Keane, Marshal Vandruff, Alex Woo, Hiro Kawahara… etc.
Other than that, just keep up the good work and feel free to count on this community for feedback whenever you need!
Much appreciated! Great points that help to remind me to relax a little, haha. It's funny how with any skill you learn I find messing up to be common knowledge/practice, but when it comes to art I beat myself up to a higher standard for no reason :(. Thanks for reminding me of risks, experimenting, and mistakes being a key component. Also, thanks for adding in the links. I only practice art a couple days a week due to various other interests and responsibilities. This helps a lot in case I missed something due to short time invested here and there. I'll keep your words to heart and slowly truck on through!
Hey Christopher,
Congrats on picking up drawing again. To help with the fear, stop thinking you have to be good or compare yourself to other artist right now, you're in learning mode.
The first thing you need to do when working on gesture is try to use your whole arm when you draw. Also, use the edge of the pencil and make soft gesture marks.
Next, find the "S" or "C" curve that describes the pose from top to bottom. Even if arms or legs or whatever gets in the way, just follow the gesture all the way down. The arms and legs will also have their own gesture.
After you can do this a few times, you will begin to see gesture in everything. After you get how gesture works, then you can start using structure to build a more realistic figure.
I did some sketches to show you what I mean, I hope it helps :)
Incredible gestures! Definitely what my current goal is.
Learning mode: I really like that, "learning mode." Using those two words clicked for me. I'll keep reminding myself using learning mode as my focus. Thanks!
Whole arm: Thank for this. It reminded me of the drawabox lessons. I will keep working on whole arm movements & softer marks with the "edge" trick you mentioned. Thanks!
S or C curves: Seeing your sketches allowed me to fully understand what you mean. Much appreciated. "The arms and legs will also have their own gestures." That statement helps a lot. I was so focused that there was only 1 line of action / gesture line that I fell in the trap of thinking that I had to build around that one line. Thanks!
Gesture practice: Thanks! Sometimes I catch myself wanting to give up as I convince myself, "this isn't helping and doesn't look right." I will keep reminding myself that it builds upon itself!
Sketches: Your sketches hit it home for me. Made me cheesy thinking how incredible my gestures may look with more practice :)!
Plans:
Thanks for the feedback. I will take your advice to heart and continue practicing daily gestures. I now have a more confident direction with gestures, thanks to you, and feel I can start building on it. I definitely will be analyzing your sketches as a reminder to help my own self-critiques. Helped a lot in terms of giving me a great direction to work towards!
