An approach to sketching gestures and figures, beginning with warm-up exercises for better flow, then advancing to detailed anatomy and figure studies.
Newest
Albert Galilov
2mo
Hi, I’m having trouble understanding what to focus on in the reference to get the gesture right. I also want to be able to look back at my old gestures, understand what went wrong, and improve in future practice. While you show what you’re doing, you don’t really explain how to do it. This makes it hard to follow when I try to do gesture drawing on my own. Could you update the video with explanations on how to approach gesture drawing practice?
Kathryn Fauver
19d
Hello! I hope I can help. With gestures, the biggest thing to focus on is not having your drawing be stiff, and to have a pleasing flow to them that's appealing to the eye. Try to not focus too much on detail right away, that was an issue I had to overcome, and instead focus on placement and form of the subject. Think instead of shapes. Focus on doing short 1 min to 30 sec quick gestures to help with flow, and have the ones that are a few mins focus on form. Alongside this, do in-depth anatomy studies of the different parts of the body. When you do that, you'll start to see anatomical landmarks you can use for the quick gesture drawings.
As for how to see what went wrong and how to improve, what I did at the start was after finishing a drawing, I compare it to the photo by laying the sketch over it. From that I can see if my proportions or placement of body parts is correct or not. I take note of this and keep it in mind for when I do future drawings. Over time, I'm able to notice if something looks off just by looking at the photo and comparing, though I still do the overlay if I'm not sure why something looks wrong.
Most of all, don't be too tough on yourself and keep practicing. It'll take time but you'll get there.
@saraburgio
4mo
Hi, Sara speaking! I'm following the first lesson of this classroom and I tried to draw along the woman's figure together with the teacher (after having watched it once beforehand): that would be the figure on the left. Then I came back to it twice, stopping the video, and tried to correct the things that seemed off to me compared to the lesson's drawing (figure to the right, red for the firs batch of corrections, blue for the second. I am of course probably still wrong cause I'm "correcting" my own drawing). I decided to post because I found it very interesting how twisted is the internalised idea I have (and maybe many women alongside myself) of what the proportions of a woman should be (my take 1)! Very elongated (too elongated! especially long legs!), super high and cinched waist, awfully small head and incredibly wide hips... it was very interesting to realise how off and unrealistic are the proportions my brain believes to be the "standard" ones for women (and that maybe it feels it has to adhere to!). Just thought I'd share, if anyone else finds it interesting too :)
maciek szczech
4mo
It's interesting what you noticed and also because of the self-conscious process / analysis. I like the quality of the lines (although sometimes repetitive) in both your drawings. Thank you for sharing and keep up practising.
Phil
7mo
Some gesture drawings today. I’ve been taking both prokos figure drawing fundamentals and this class.
@shimada_clan
8mo
after a few days of practice i feel like i am getting the hang of the one minute ones more and more. allot of fun
@shimada_clan
8mo
my first try at 1 minute poses , i feel like my proportions still need allot of work.
Kathryn Fauver
8mo
Hi! Here's some of the gestures I did for the lesson. These are the better ones I drew in the batch.
Kathryn Fauver
19d
Completed the full course recently and decided to revisit the gestures in this video to see if I've improved. I can happily say I have! I have a better grasp at anatomy and flow along with being more confident in my skills, which I think shows. Took me a bit longer than I wanted to complete this course (more on my end, a mix of procrastination, perfectionism and work/family stuff which was rough) but months of daily practice and study have paid off! I still have a lot to learn, but I'm happy to finally know now that I can become a better artist and not be plateaued with my abilities.
Phil
8mo
Love the action and balance in these!
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8mo
Excellent gestures!
Ian Gregory
9mo
Hello! This is my take on sketching gestures and figures based off the references from the video. My lines can get messy on my first try of sketching the gesture, so I reduce the opacity then sketch on top of it with a new layer (even if that would mean it’ll take longer to finish).
@srodriguez98
9mo
Could you upload a pdf of the full anatomy at 36:30? That would be helpful to have in my sketchbook
maciek szczech
10mo
240404. Another few lesson studies. WHS Sketchbook, plain paper A4 size 210x297mm, HB mechanical pencil.
@gabemartini
10mo
I'm so confused, it's not playing the video in the browser, and when I download the video it starts off saying it's the video for the third lesson? where's lesson 1 and 2? O:
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10mo
hey @gabemartini! All videos should be showing in browser now. I believe Josh had previously had a different order for his lessons on gumroad, but we've slightly adjusted the order here for this course since it includes additional content. Sorry for the confusion.
Kimberly Lee-Lewis Adams
10mo
Hi there, @gabemartini ! Sorry for the trouble! A few other students are reporting similar issues as well. We are working on the issue with Vimeo, the video player we use to embed issues on the website. Seems to have something to do with initialization. Some folks have been able to get around the issue by clearing their caches and reloading the video. Will keep you posted as we work out this issue with Vimeo. Appreciate your patience!
maciek szczech
10mo
A few lesson studies. 240401. WHS Sketchbook, plain paper A4 size 210x297mm, HB mechanical pencil.
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10mo
Nice work! These look great!
@srodriguez98
10mo
For some reason I'm only seeing the thumbnail of the video (as a photo) and there's no play button for the video itself. Has anyone else had this issue? I've gotten the same error on mac, ipad & iphone.
•
10mo
Final update: All videos have now been fixed and should be playable in browser! Please let me know if you run into any additional issues! Otherwise enjoy the course content and thanks again for being patient while we fixed this issue!
•
10mo
Update: Our devs think they've found the issue and we're trying to solve it. If you are unable to load the video right now you can still download the lesson for offline viewing in the download tab. Thanks for being patient.
William Montalvo
10mo
I can’t get this to run either
Franklin Palma
10mo
another one?please
@hing
10mo
My internet is really bad, is there a chance this lesson also gets lower quality settings then 1080p, like the others? This lesson won't even start, the others work fine with lower resolution.
Kevin Riedel
10mo
How about if you download the video file. Its 272 MB, that's not so much. May take time with your connection but then you can watch it on vlc player without internet.
Lili Richter
10mo
Hello everybody! I'm an illustrator from Austria, working for years without profound anatomy-skills. I did a lot of life drawing years back during my studies, but never really learned the theory. So I thought it's about time to change this, and I'm happy the course started today.
I liked the first lesson and wanted to share my first results with you. Usually, I draw on paper, but decided to do this in Photoshop to improve my digital skills, too. Lots of other things to improve - feedback is very welcome :-)
maciek szczech
10mo
I like the sketch of the dancing woman. Have not found references for your sketches in this course video or in downloads section. Looking forward to see how it will influence how you draw. Keep studying and drawing!
Kevin Riedel
10mo
Amazing! Toll! Muy bien! Greeting from the other side of the alps :)
Kelly Ramirez
10mo
Excited for this course. Could we get jpegs or pdfs of the images in the lessons?
Rose Bernatovich
10mo
Me too!
Hofan
10mo
yes that would be amazing
Edith V
10mo
Me too! I hope the images are added as well :/
@paulozzimo
10mo
I like that brush you are using...which one is it?
Brodie Swift
10mo
Josh is using the Soft Strokes brush, it's named softsketchbrush.abr in his brush pack.
Grzegorz Gajewski
10mo
tutorial number 3 ???
Alex Reillo
10mo
You'll need to go to the overview of the course then click "Downloads" - https://www.proko.com/course/the-anatomy-survival-guide/overview you'll find Josh's brushes there ready for download.
Course by Michael Hampton
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About instructor
Senior concept artist and figure drawing instructor. I graduated from BYU and have worked in the gaming industry as a concept artist for 15 years.
