Has anyone mastered gesture drawing via online learning/books only?
9mo
@artpunk
I’m a few months into practicing gesture drawing and my attempts pretty much suck. I’ve watched and re-watched Proko as well as Michael Hampton and the logic in their approaches make sense but when I put pencil to paper the results are just sad.
I think I need an actual in person instructor at this point to help steer me forward and keep from getting discouraged. Art classes in Los Angeles are expensive though. Has anyone here actually mastered gesture / figure drawing without going to in person art classes and studying under a real mentor? If so, I’d love to hear about your process.
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9mo
Hey @artpunk! Only you can know what you need from your education, everyone learns differently. In-person instruction may be something that really helps you learn, and helps your art progress, so it might be worth looking into and saving up for a workshop or an in-person drawing class somewhere to get some variety in your education. That said, we have a large community of learning artists right here, all at various stages in the pursuit of mastery. If you post some of your work from the course projects you can ask for feedback, or just post some of your personal work in your album or community pages so we can get an idea of where you are in your learning and help point you in the right direction. Nothing we're here to learn can be mastered in a few months, and I'd argue gesture isn't really something to be "mastered" it's something that you will continue to learn and develop over time. The people who have seemingly "mastered" gesture have really just mastered fundamental drawing skills. Stan, and Michael Hampton are incredible draftsmen, and it took them years of intense training, and a lot drawing to develop their skill set, so give yourself some time to get comfortable with the fundamentals and your gestures will follow. Hope to see some of your work! Keep drawing and don't forget to have fun!