Project - Gestural Torso Boxes

Lesson by

Project - Gestural Torso Boxes

Lesson by

Level 1

Imagine the body with the limbs, arms, legs, and neck removed, focusing on the boxy area from the shoulders down to the hips.

The goal is to turn, twist, and lean this box to mimic poses. You can also bloat certain areas to represent the rib cage or hips. This exercise helps to practice intuitively drawing dynamic forms in perspective. Draw these simplified torso boxes from your imagination. Believe it or not, doing this from photos can actually be more challenging because of the anatomy that can be distracting and hard to interpret.

Fill multiple pages with these simplified forms.
Aim for at least 20 different torso boxes.
Experiment with various angles, twists, and poses.
If you struggle with certain poses, try them again with slight variations.

Level 2

I've attached some photos for you to work with, that you could find in the downloads tab. You'll notice each photo is numbered. Please label your drawings with the corresponding photo you're drawing to help me and the community give you a critique. Otherwise it would be very difficult to know which box matches each photo.

Draw the same dynamic torso boxes from the photos. Focus on interpreting the overall shape and gesture rather than copying anatomical shapes. The goal is to capture the essence of the pose in a simplified form.

Exaggeration

If you'd like to make it even more challenging, you can exaggerate the pose. Exaggeration can make your poses more dynamic and interesting. To exaggerate effectively imagine a baseline or neutral pose, observe how the actual pose differs from it, and push those differences further. Be careful not to overdo it. Subtle exaggerations often work best, maintaining believability while enhancing the dynamism of the pose.

---

Deadline - submit by July 9, 2024 for a chance to be in the critique video!

Luke

•

11d

I definitely started running out of ideas by the end of the imagination boxes. I was also experimenting with line weight and quality. I think I started to get the hang of it by the end, but I also tended to make the torso not wide enough for how deep they were. I also think I possibly moved too far away from boxes at some times, I usually focuses on the hard(er) forms of the pelvis and rib cage, then connected the two with a softer section. To end on a positive note, I do like how most of them felt tangibly 3D. Some were pushed too far, but as they say, if you have an omelette without broken eggs, something probably went wrong.

Carlo Julian

•

13d

This was a lot of fun. The first two pages without numbers were from imagination. The rest are from reference. After torso number (9) I watched the critique video. From 10 to 18 I tried to exaggerate the gestures.

@osa

•

16d

Here are my attempts! I redid some of the lv 2s that I didn’t like. I think that I found it a bit hard to do the lv 2s at first but, I feel like focussing on shape initially helped me make the form look good.

Angelica

•

17d

Here is some Imaginary boxes. Not always sure how to connect the boxes but I did my best to try to figure it out.

@nasim_alchemist

•

27d

Since I have limited practice experience with torso drawing it was easier with reference photos. Cool exercise

@aubrey

•

21d

These look great!

I did not Want to see that

•

1mo

Here are my level 1 one level 2 assignment for the project. I could have made these a lot cleaner, so I will keep taking that criticism into account each time I notice it. Overall, there is room for improvement, but I don't think I did horrible. if there is any criticism to be given, I'd love to know!

John Edgeworth

•

1mo

I thing your lines are spot on, if this is your first attempt, you should be on the right track each and every step.

J. Menriv

•

1mo

Project - Gestural Torso Boxes

Amu Noor

•

1mo

This was challenging. I definitely got confused with some of the poses.

@joh48

•

1mo

U did amazing

Aleksander Steinsbekk

•

2mo

Did some drawings in level 2. All feedback is appreciated.

The guy from BluishDot

•

2mo

Here are some attempts at level 1 and level 2. Critiques are highly appreciated.

Melanie Scearce

•

2mo

These look great. The only one I see differently is this one, I would reverse the S curve to match the curve of the spine since he's hunching over.

Jack H

•

2mo

Here are my attempts. Level 2 are the labelled ones. Weirdly enough, I found level 2 easier than level 1. Maybe it's because I don't really have the visual library to confidently draw the torsos from imagination. My L1 ones look a bit weird, and number 10 on level 2 is a bit confusing to find the center line. Any feedback/critique will be appreciated!

@josephl

•

2mo

Here are my level 1 and 2 attempts after each video. Definitely felt like I improved a little bit, I think I had the most trouble with some of the photo references and then just thinking of new torso poses from imagination that I haven't done was hard too.

Rachel Dawn Owens

•

2mo

You did great!

Zeev

•

2mo

I was feeling to dependent on refs, this exercise was very fun and good to learn reference on a more free way

Biruh Abadi

•

2mo

wow, so cool

Vili

•

2mo

I found a funny way by drawing a box (torso) trying to catch a ball haha it helps me to draw a new posture from imagination (foreshortening, twisting)

Biruh Abadi

•

2mo

very nice.

Vili

•

3mo

I tried 2 more before the next lesson ! ✌️

Melanie Scearce

•

3mo

You definitely have the right idea! I think the next step is to see how far you can exaggerate relationship of the forms. Push the pinch and stretch of the torso in these poses and you'll add a lot of energy to your boxes.

Scott N

•

3mo

Level One, before watching demo videos. Great exercise, very challenging. In some cases I ghosted in a 'straight' box and then drew the twisted shape over the top, that helped me to figure out where to place corners etc. On some of the forms, that had a lot of rotation, I had trouble working out the placement of the contour lines as they disappeared and reappeared from view.

Yves Malan

•

3mo

I can't figure out what's wrong about the drawing that make me feel like the person isn't turning its torso! Thank in advance for the comments

Angiev

•

3mo

Hi Yves, I gave it a shot. I emphasised with some line width and darker lines where I think the issue is on the torso alon with the perspective try with the legs. You're picture inspired me. Now that I think about it not sure if the perspective in legs is quite right and my head is alittle off. I think I got the angle of his shoulders. I saw that right away in yours.

Vili

•

3mo

Hi about the reference one, i would have some advices before i do others references i tried first with only one boxe, then i watch the demo, it looks easier with 2 boxes, so i tried Wich one of mine is the "best" for the exercice ? Or some advices/explanations pls 🙏 Thank you all ✌️

Rachel Dawn Owens

•

3mo

These are great! I like how you added some character to the boxes. I love to see some creativity added to these projects. Keep doing that. For the second page with the model, I made these drawovers- Hope it helps. You did awesome! Can’t wait to see more :)

Zeev

•

3mo

I guess sometimes I kinda more did gestural torsos than gestural boxes, for habit. But it's a nice assignment, to remember to keep in mind the planes changes/perspective of the body.

Melanie Scearce

•

3mo

You nailed it!

@writedrawface

•

3mo

I could really use some guidance on twisting the boxes. No matter what I do I just can't seem to get them right. I marked all the ones I wanted to twist with an X above them. If anyone could provide some feedback I'd really appreciate it. Thank you