30 min class + 30 sec gestures!

hey everyone,

i'd love to hear thoughts on my recent sketches...i've made it a new years resolution to practice gestures everyday and i feel like i've plateaued.

https://imgur.com/a/MWnmbeY

the first two images are 30 sec gestures

last two images are 5 min and 10 min

there's always something to improve, but i can't seem to pinpoint what to focus on exactly. any tips appreciated :)

thank you!!

HI

I Love your 5 min drawings! I think that you could improve by putting more effort into the hands, feet and face. If you further complete these features it will give the drawing a more finished impression.

That's a great point...I'll focus on those for this week! Drawing heads, hands, and feet are always a struggle for me in life drawing. Thank you for your feedback!

• Sjham edited this post on April 10, 2021 7:18pm.

Say, say, sjham, way to go on those 30 second sketches! And most importantly, way to go on those 30 minute class pictures!! I really love the amount of vitality and efficiency in those quick 30 sec scribbles.

Again, if I was to give you an extremely honest critique, it would be that the energy is really getting there, but I'm just not getting enough of the distortion of these lines of action of these sketches.

And as for another one, it would be that the proportions and silhouettes of those 5 and 10 minute rough poses are really falling into place, and my totally and extremely sincere advice, then why don't you please loosen up those edges and perception of spaces even more than further on your next goal.

For only the first critique, why don't please relax and grease up your action and movement of your doodles with 155 more minutes of 29 second quick attitudes of the figures?? (155 x 60/29 second, 9300/29=321 scrawls/4 days a week=80 rough and crude sketches a day, in one week) 29 seconds is thru our custom timer on the figure drawing sessions.

The reason why is because of two excuses: First to make your figure poses less rigid, and second to make your bodies more organic, flexible and plastic, and greasy-looking and -feeling in terms of your lines of action and rhythm.

If you wish to make this your current goal, then allow yourself to make that.

Good luck, and have fun with it!

Están muy bien! Por ahí deberías tomarte un poco más de tiempo y enfocar más atención a cada uno por separado, pero la anatomía está muy vien

Thank you so much for the honest critique!! You're right about me needing to loosen up...I'm finding myself being too focused on making the drawing look accurate, rather than capturing the energy. I'll focus on that this week :)

These sketches look great. The 30 second ones are particularly impressive for the time span!

One thing you could perhaps do for your longer poses is to really use the full range of possible values. Don't be afraid to really use some darker shades for the darkest shadows! It can really help add depth and make drawings pop a bit more.

If you feel like you've plateaued, perhaps switch mediums? For longer sketches perhaps try toned paper with charcoal and white pastel pencil (for lights). Or maybe try ink.