How to Simplify the Motion of the Torso – The Bean
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How to Simplify the Motion of the Torso – The Bean

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How to Simplify the Motion of the Torso – The Bean

78K
Mark as Completed

Draw the Bean

This week, practice drawing the bean from the pose photos at proko.com/poses. It shouldn’t take you more than 30 seconds to a minute for each pose. Look for tilting, leaning, twisting, and foreshortening. Exaggerate the motion and draw the two volumes, the skin in between, and the centerline.

Post your work and participate.

Newest
Cristian Reyes
Definitely need to work on my line quality. My biggest struggle as far as the bean is the extra details: the folds, the twists that make Proko's beans so descriptive. I really struggle to put these details in and make them aesthetic. Hope it's clear which bean belongs to which pose, Ill be sure to number them next time
Rachel Dawn Owens
Beautiful beans here. It is clear which one goes to which reference. You got it. You might just be overthinking the folds. Use fewer marks and keep it simple. It might feel weird at first, but give it a shot.
Cristian Reyes
sorry not a submission but is there a recommended pose pack? too many options and Idk i can only buy one rn
Quinn Ingram
If you're on a budget and need free poses, line-of-action.com is a good resource
Alek
15d
It lowkey sucks so bad :(( My arm refuses to follow what i wanna do
Rachel Dawn Owens
Drawing is a humbling thing. As you learn, you level up your eye, your hand, and your mind. It can be frustrating when your hand lags behind but, keep practicing. It gets easier over time. It’s part of the process. These beans are looking nice. You kept your lines long, light and loose. Nice work. Keep going!
@dropfeeling
First attempt at bean drawing. It's quite difficult figuring out the twists.
@elyusium
1mo
These are actually quite well shaped, good job. I would suggest you to now try to do them with cleaner, more continuous lines. Focus on big gestural motions, drawing them bigger overall. It will become easier to feel the gesture that way. And don’t forget to pay close attention to how you place the center lines, they will make or break your volumes. Best of luck! :)
Dave S
2mo
Bean practice.
Robert
3mo
Here are some beans I did. I got one question regarding tilt: When you got someone in profile and there is pinching happening, how do you indicate that. I usually draw the pelvis over the ribcage or the other way around but what do I do, if the ribcage and the pelvis are on the same level or the same distance away from you? Would appreciate some feedback
Rachel Dawn Owens
I would say, just pick one part of the bean to be in the front. The overlap will give the drawing more dimension.
Nicole Guz
4mo
Eric Birdman
Beans from the Proko Gesture Reference Sampler. I drew all of them, Please critique, and thanks in advice
W.I.M.U
5mo
Here’s my new approach to the bean ! Any feedback is welcome. I added a bit of shadow though I’m not sure if I’m supposed to do that. @Bob Ross is it any better then before?
Soul
4mo
Hi, I think it'd help if you drew them a bit bigger, like just having 5 ones done to the best of your ability covering an entire page, so that we can see it clearer. And also, this is sorta an extra step but using Canva to sorta group the references with the drawings could help, it's free too. Or maybe numbering them using the editing stuff in your phone with the corresponding picture could be cool too
W.I.M.U
5mo
I have been practicing the bean for a while now and I am absolutely desperate for help. It feels like I still don't quite understand how to deseing the forms or make them look enjoyable to look at . I've been trying to focus on making them accurate, but the lines and the forms don't come out very nicely. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Bob Ross
5mo
My first recommendation is to get blank paper. It's much harder to read the beans on lined paper. The other is to do them bigger and make sure your using your arm to draw. The final thought is to really look at the motion before drawing, for exemple in 1 there's no real sense of them stretching up in the in the bean and the twist is missing in the bean, based on the bean I'd expect them t obe standing upright.
@fruchtose
5mo
Here are some beans I've been practicing. I'd love a critique.
Soul
4mo
Hey :) Good stuff, but I think it'd be a more approachable to critique you if you did just a few poses to post, like maybe your 5 best ones.
Jocelynn Darlene
Here are some of my lil beanses
Soul
5mo
If you can, could you include the references too? To compare where you exaggerated and stuff too :P
Giorgi Karkuzashvili
Beans before watching demos and critiques. Was actually fun
Soul
4mo
Hi @Giorgi Karkuzashvili, I think you're off to a good start but it's a bit hard to see the photo. I'd recommend using a page dedicated to just a few poses, maybe 5 max, and then also posting it with the reference image as well. And then it'd be a bit more approachable to go in depth on the nuances of your beans. Best wishes :^)
Jocelynn Darlene
Nice! Let's see the after demo results. I just finished this lesson and found the beans fun to draw aswell.
Phil
7mo
More beans! Cleaner and more intentional on this attempt
Chee Rei Tan
These are some of my bean attempts. I used the poses from the videos without copying Mr. Proko. I struggled the most with foreshortening and twisting. (Foreshortening is quite hard because I wasn't sure how foreshortened the ellipse should be, twisting is hard because I'm not sure which direction is the pose twisting to exactly) Would appreciate any feedback given, thanks!
Rachel Dawn Owens
These look great! All I notice is this one bean is missing the midline in the front. I also added a line for more pinch to the side. This little extra overlap helps the beans pop Keep it up!
DrawYer
8mo
These are my beans attempts before watching the demo. I realised (after watching the demo), that I was following the forms that I was seeing a bit too much, instead of trying to simplify it. It’s part of the training I guess.  I often tried multiple variations of the same pose to see what I could improve or if something was missing. Some twists give me brain knots I won’t lie.  As usual, any comments or feedback welcome :)) 
@jensdawg
9mo
Here’s a page of beans. I think I struggle the most with bend its foreshortening. Any further feedback is appreciated!
Devon D. Yeider
Bean using the timer tool with @Gannon Beck and @Adam Davis
Gannon Beck
Good work Devon!
@yoyoy12
9mo
Gannon Beck
I did a few of these. I've done this lesson before and I don't feel like it's my strongest skill. Not that the ideas aren't useful, especially the idea of stretch and pinch, but I apparently am not great at drawing ovals.
Brando Gould
I agree! They look pretty good! but practicing ovals is something I also need to get better at, Sometimes I feel like the brush i'm using just isn't what feels right, but i know it's probably just me.
Fabian Ayala
These came out pretty good though. Good job
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Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.
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