Gesture Drawing- Studio Art

8/18/2019 Gesture Drawing- Studio Art

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Studio Art-P7

Drawing the Figure: Gesture Drawings

Most gesture drawings are sloppy, inaccurate, and for practice only. That's whatthey are meant to be. They are to help the artist loosen up and not obsess on

details so much. !hen an artist obsesses on details, they don't always get the

animated, "uid pose of the model.

#esture $rawing is a great way for anyone interested in learning to draw at a

beginner le%el and an ad%anced le%el. &ou don't need to now a thing about drawing

the (gure to mae great gestures, but e%en if you ha%e some e)perience, the

practice will only help to train*e)pand your obser%ational sills.

Action $rawing-#esture $rawing

#esture drawing can e)ist on two le%els - action drawing, and gesture drawing. +oth

in%ol%e the principle of mo%ement. owe%er, action drawing deals with physical

mo%ement and gesture drawing in%ol%es not only physical mo%ement, but a deeper

concept of essential identity, as well. &ou are not capturing what the (gure or obect

loos lie, but what it is doing.

Practice /- #esture $rawing Tutorial

The gesture drawing focuses more on the representation of the action of the form,

not a literal transcription of what is taing place. Practicing 0uic gesture drawings

will train your eye-brain-hand co-ordination to pic up on dynamic lines in forms and

understand basic structures, foundations and limitations.

#esture drawing is many things1 a way to see, a techni0ue of drawing, an

e)ercise, a de(ned scribble, and a (nished style. 2n the se0uences of pages that

follow, gesture drawing will be demonstrated in many of its facets.

2f you3re thining that gesture drawings are only e)ercises, thin again. Some of my

best (gure drawings were gestures4 A gesture drawing is far more liely to capture

the tension and mo%ement in a body than a tightly controlled, realistic rendition.

The mars are 0uic and deliberate. &ou loo at the subect and try to sum it up with

a few mars, as you might describe it in a few words. +ecause you don't ha%e much

time, each word - each mar - a gesture drawing must say something signi(cant

about the subect.

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#esture $rawing1 5ld Master 6)amples

#esture drawing is a great way to impro%e your art. 2t eeps your drawing loose and

helps get the o%erall pose. Also, since they are done with speed, they impro%e your

ability to see shapes and proportions 0uicly. The foundation of most artistic

endea%ors is proper drawing sills. &ou can build these sills by learning gesture

drawing and by setching -dimensional shapes.

Thoughts on #esture $rawing

A sense of purpose and direction is important in e%erything in life, and it's no

di8erent when it comes to gesture drawing. 2 got to monitor the gesture class today

for /9 0uic minutes, and waling around helping others draw really made it clear

how important it is to be committed to a direction - to ha%e each of your drawingsmae a statement.

Mo%ement* #estural $rawing $ance

The 5pposite Style, but still 5bser%ation - :nlie contour drawing, gesture drawing

does not start with an outline. 2t starts from the center ;the core< and mo%es out to

all the oints, the e)tremities, emphasi=ing mo%ement and action as it rapidly colors

in the (gure. #esture drawing is the opposite of slow and careful contour drawing.

#esture drawing is from obser%ation, but it is done %ery fast--not slow and

deliberate as contour drawing needs to be.

>ecogni=ing Tension

?oo for areas of tension, that is, where the most acti%ity is going on. 2t is also not

necessary to do a complete outline of the form. &ou can sometimes represent an

arm or leg with one line that describes one edge of the (gure. This form of drawing

encourages faster drawing as well as good obser%ation. 2t is also a great way to

catch a moment in time.

The drawing acti%ities below can help in mastering the art of setching in 0uic

time. Techni0ues and tips presented below should help in understanding and

practicing this form of art.

@Action in $etail

The action of a (gure is usually e)pressed as gesture. 2t means the mo%ement and

attitude of the (gure. 2t is body language and all of those subtle di8erences that

characteri=e indi%iduals, whether they are human or animal. 2n this regard, when 2

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refer to the model, 2 mean not only a model posing for short poses of thirty seconds

to three minutes, but also people who are not posing and are in real life situations.

!e use essentially the same learning procedure in what is referred to as the 0uic

setch. 2t will be assumed that for the sae of learning, at this point, they are the

same. 5ther terms used for what we call gesture are attitude and body

language.

#esture $rawing with Sharpie Marers, or Pen and 2n

The mars are 0uic and deliberate. &ou loo at the subect and try to sum it up with

a few mars, as you might describe it in a few words. +ecause you don't ha%e much

time, each word - each mar - in a gesture drawing must say something signi(cant

about the subect.


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Dharcoal #esture $rawing

The techni0ue is reinforced by limiting the time spent on drawing, using broad

sweeping gestures with the charcoal. The body structure, stance, mo%ement, and

proportions of the model*(gure are 0uicly assessed as soon as the material hitsthe page. As you do this, try not to lift the charcoal from the page as much,

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repeating the "uid, sweeping motions across the paper.

Eocabulary- @Attitude, +ody ?anguage, Mo%ement, Action, Motion, 6mphasis,

Tension

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Gesture Drawing- Studio Art