A Simple, Stroke-Based Method for Gesture Drawing

What is the meaning of gesture drawing?

• Gesture drawing involves capturing the action, form, and pose of a subject.
• If, you will draw a model who adopts timed poses ranging from 1 to 5 minutes. The shorter the pose, the less information it will be able to capture. In the most primitive form, a gesture drawing could be nothing more than a couple of curved lines which indicate the gesture. For the longer poses, you can start adding more detail and tone.
• The purpose of gesture drawing is to primarily study human form and anatomy. It allows us to explore the way the body moves and is connected.
• Then, you will start to get a feel for the contractions, joints, twists, pulls, and curves demonstrated by the human body. As we do not have time to merely copy what we see, we must make quick and logical assumptions about how the body works. For example, instead of trying to draw  lines and shapes which make up the model’s arm, you will need to ask yourself… these questions
• How is the arm connected to the rest of the body?

Benefits of gesture drawing:

One area I have been interested in lately is gesture drawing. I have found it to be a fantastic way to improve how I e as an artist and train my understanding of form and anatomy. Over the past few months,s I have spent about 10 to 20 minutes a day doing some simple gesture drawings in the morning. As a result, I have seen significant benefits to my overall development as an artist. I am still primarily interested in painting, but sometimes to continue improving in one area, you need to explore other areas. So in light of this, I put together a complete guide to gesture drawing for those of you who also want to practice it.

Gesture drawing can be used to create more energetic lines and compositions. Lines in S and M shapes are considered esthetically beautiful and create a rhythm and speed in the drawing. Comic artists like Franquin used gesture drawing a lot to find the most comical pose for his character Gaston. He filled pages with gesture drawings and choose the one most suited for the scene.

 The Art Materials required for Drawing Gestures?

The drawing tool required includes this:

• Charcoal Pencils
• Sketchbooks
• Paper
• Brush or Stylus of some sort
• A Timer;
• Reference Material, either Photographs or a Live Model.

Some tip's for Gesture Drawing:

Start with the head first: Everything flows from the head and it helps to develop a consistent starting point. With each pose, we will look for the head and quickly outline it before moving on to the rest of the pose. By doing this, there is no hesitation at the start of every pose as I know exactly how I want to start. Also, try to make a quick note of where the head is looking (up, down, left, right). After you have identified the head, then observe how the rest of the body is flowing from there. A great reference point is a spine. If I am ever lost, I just follow the spine and try to build a form around that.

Always be thinking about the contour of the body: It is the body leaning toward or away? Where are the pinches and changes in direction? You can then use simple contour lines to indicate this. Not every line needs to follow the contour, but it is useful to have a few major contour lines as reference points.

Use simple and meaningful lines. Try to draw every line with some kind of purpose. Do not draw lines just for the sake of drawing lines. I usually make a few practice strokes in the air before committing to the paper. Kind of like how a golfer will make a few practice swings before connecting with the ball.

Working quickly does not mean working recklessly. Working quickly is more about making quick decisions rather than making quick strokes of your pencil/pen. If you watch some of the great drawers like Glenn Vilppu and Steve Huston, you should notice how slow they work, even when working with timed poses (there are videos of these two artists later in this post).

Don‘t just copy. Try to get a feel for the pose and action. This is the purpose of gesture drawing.

Embrace the curves. You should be careful with straight lines. Most of the time, curved lines are much more effective for rendering the human form. So instead of drawing a straight line for an arm, think about the action and pose of that arm and use curves to render this.

Try to capture what you like most about the pose. Usually, there will only be one or two things that you like about a certain pose. Focus on those aspects and try to emphasize them. It could be the pinch in the shoulder, the curve of the back, or the form of the chest. Sometimes you may even want to exaggerate the pose slightly to capture what you want out of the pose.

Conclusion:

• Gesture drawing improves your observational skills, understanding of the human form, line drawing skills, and hand-eye coordination.
• It’s also a lot of fun and can loosen you up before starting a detailed drawing. So why not give it a try? You will be truly amazed how much you can improve your overall drawing skills by incorporating gesture drawings into your practice routine