5 minutes poses critique

Hello everyone, first post! I've discovered this amazing website a few days ago and it's really helping me!

I'm currently working on the dynamism/gesture of my figures to reduce stiffness and I would love to get some feedback!

I think I have a bad habit of focusing too much on anatomy, which kills the flow of my drawings...

https://imgur.com/a/U28DYoF

• Zenlaeth edited this post on December 17, 2022 9:13pm.

There is a lot of detail in your drawings when it comes to defining edges/curves around your figures. They are very well done in that respect!

One of the toughest things like you said is to get too detailed too quickly. I believe that you can work on the flow of your figures better if you simplfy the drawing process even more than you already have. If you start your drawing sessions with very simple shapes for the arms, legs, etc. you can focus on direction more! By doing this you take your focus off the small details that eat up most of the drawing time; you'll see the figure more as an object in motion! This method works wonders when I'm warming up, so by the time I want to work more detailed figures the fluidity comes together first before focusing on details.

Keep up the good work! Looks amazing!

Simplifying the shapes, I got it! It's true that I always go straight ahead into complexity, I'll rework that. Thank you for your advice!

Great sketches! They really communicate the emotion well, especially in the figures that are hunched over.

Try "readign" more and "writing" less, for example, try a blind gesture drawing where you only look at the reference while drawing and never look down at your sketch (it's supposed to look crazy). In the middle piece, see the circles you indicated for the knees? To me, that's an example of you thinking "legs are like 2 cylinders joined by a sphere". Yes, that's important to help us sort out our visual ideas, but too much of it and you risk losing/ignoring the reference. What's the point of reference if you already know what's there?

Welcome to Line of Action! I hope you enjoy your stay here and a learn a lot along the way. You will find that gesture drawing is a simple, yet complex concept to grasp.

I'm with you on the overcomplicating bit. The main principle behind gesture drawing and capturing realism in general is to design what resembles reality, and not capture reality by default. I can't tell you enough about how I spent countless hours studying anatomy and wondering why my figures still didn't feel locomotive- and ironically anatomically rich.

The human body is an interlocking network of muscles, and can be molded into one harmonious idol of anotomical goodness. It's not necessary to capture every hair and vein to communicate that drawn figures are animated, vital beings.

It's important as an artist in general to start thinking like a designer. You could easily be a more pragmatic thinker, which can stifle your creative hand and thus your imagination overall. See if you can create the bridge between logic and creativity!

Although I did veer a little off topic from your initial sketches, a little word of mouth goes a long way. I hope this helps. Good luck on your gestural journey! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

• heliganreigns edited this post on December 22, 2022 4:13pm.

So If I recap what you two shared with me, I should paid more attention about the essence of the human body and also, think like a designer with a nice balance between creativity and logic... I got it!

Thank you both for sharing your inputs, there were very interesting to read!

Nicest work on your anatomy, Zenlaeth, but I'm not getting enough of the cartooniest and exaggerated flow in your drawings. Please would you free up your range of action and animation drawing with 30 minutes of 1 minute poses? (30 drawn figures) As a result, you'd be able to look at the models the hardest than the average person as you could and draw out the humor and feeling from the gestures. And while you're at it, please click on this link right here, for you to bookmark and download all the images from.

Hope these pieces of advice will be the most important and pivotal to you and your progress and myelin.