I really feel welcome in the Steem community already! I was surprised by how many people up-voted my first post. Thanks so much!
I teach figure drawing part-time so I'll probably be sharing a lot of figure drawings on here. I wanted to share some insight into one of my favorite ways to improve my figure drawing and that is...... gesture drawing! (I often also call gestures Quickstudies)
I draw on loose paper but I spiral bind my favorite drawings together when I have enough.
What I consider gesture drawing to be is any drawing that is 3 minutes or less. Other people have different ideas about the length of a 'quick' drawing but the purpose is to give yourself a severely limited amount of time.
It's important to study anatomy and the body but I think that gesture drawing is one of the most important things to do if you want to improve your figure drawings quickly.
One of the most common mistakes that I see beginners make with gesture drawing is to have a completely different way of drawing gestures vs. drawing longer poses. My goal is actually to get as complete of a drawing as possible within the time limit.
Although it may be impossible to have a super detailed and fully rendered drawing at the end I learn a ton about how to edit drawings effectively when trying to accomplish the goal. By learning to use lines and shapes more economically I can take that knowledge and apply it to longer work as well.
I have a lot more to say about gestures but I'll save it for a future post. Hope you like the drawings! :)
These are wonderful. I had to go through them 3 times, I liked them so much. Thanks for sharing. I found you through the #payitforward contest. You were featured by @bengy. Congratulations. Wish you all the best.
I'm really glad you liked them! :) I hope to have many more gesture drawings to show in the future. It's one of my favorite things to draw.
Thanks for sharing these sketches! I am always in awe of people that can draw, I can only do sketches of blocky objects. The curves of a human body completely elude me...
I have featured you and this post in my entry for a curation contest.
https://steemit.com/payitforward/@bengy/pay-it-forward-curation-contest-entry-week-10
wowowowow these are very nice and fluids~ good contours * ___ *
Thanks! I usually focus on the linework first.
Nice post! Yea, you're getting a lot down in a really short amount of time. The bit of halftone to describe the forms is a nice touch too.
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Very interesting.
I'll follow to see what you have to say in the future about drawing.
I've never really done this type of drawing before, but I have done super quick sketches before and found it interesting, to say the least. I was surprised how well I could do pushing myself to draw quickly, even in only a few seconds.
I have no doubt that such exercises would be deeply beneficial for an artist.
When I first started the only feeling that I had was panic. I was actually drawing way below my ability at the time because I was paying so much attention to the clock! I think that the key with short poses is pacing. Not too fast, not too slow.
I never used an actual clock. I hate literally timing myself. I just tried to be quick as possible.
I imagine if I did use a clock, it would have upped the stress.
It is certainly more stressful at first but I enjoy pushing myself and if it doesn't work out it's fine. It was only a few minutes after all!
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STOPAs you know @bengy featured you for this week's Pay It Forward Curation Contest.
These figures are wonderful, such fluidity, and natural motion. You're students have a wonderful teacher. I can't wait to your future postings.
Thanks so much! I always focus on trying to capture a strong line of action. If I can't see a good one I will try to design the shapes to be very interesting instead.