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Hi imokay! Thank you for uploading more of your gestures.

You're definitely on the right track! Practice is key, especially with gestures. Your drawings are representing the depth and perspective of the poses really well. There are a few areas I would give some advice on, and I hope you find it helpful.

If I may I would recommend working on creating lines that are more fluid. By this I mean using long, light strokes instead of many small, bold ones. To get this effect down, I'd actually recommend sticking to the shorter gesture times. Since there is less time to capture detail, you end up with a much more simplified, almost abstract form.

If you can, experiment with drawing in pencil! For gestures, it's easier to get that fluidity, since with a pencil you can create different thickness of the strokes by increasing or decreasing the pressure on your pencil, and not by going over the same spot multiple times.

You might be too focused on the outline of the figure as well. With gestures, it is less important to make the figure look completely accurate in their shape (proportion is still important but not the first thing to worry about here), and instead focus on what the figure is doing, what they are expressing through their movement. Think about the folds and stretches of the skin as the body twists, or the portruding tendons when someone is straining their neck and how it effects the muscles around it.

I'm sorry if I'm not explaining very well. Here is a copy/paste from drawpaintacademy which might be more helpful:

As you do not have time to merely copy what you see, you must make quick and logical assumptions about how the body works. For example, instead of trying to draw the lines and shapes which make up the model's arm, you will need to ask yourself...

How is the arm connected to the rest of the body?
Where are the joints?
Are there any twists or pinches in the muscles?
Is the arm facing toward or away from me?
What is the contour of the arm?

( Here is the link )

I also find a lot of help studying gesture drawings by the masters, such as Rembrandt's, which you can find with a quick google search!

I hope any of this was helpful for you, sometimes I struggle with articulating things. Anyways, keep it up! Hope to see your next set of gestures.

-Hannah

Here is my gestures, 30 seconds and 2 minutes.

What can I do better? Is there anything specific I should focus on? Thank you in advance!

Hey Starriser,

You're definitely on the right track. as for getting the "skeleton" down, I think it is just a thing of: what works best for me? Or what comes most naturally? It seems like you're starting with circles, and so i would stick with that. However, it doesn't hurt to try new styles, so I would suggest doing 8-16 30 second gestures with each style (circles, triangles, etc.) and see what feels best.

I would absolutely recommend doing gestures in pencil or charcoal. With pencil, it's easier to create a more expressive line, since varying pressure on the pencil will create a range in the size of the lines, leading to more depth and motion. For being new to figure drawing, you are doing amazing. In your five minute drawings, you said that the proportions are off, when they are fairly accurate and just need more practice.

I would also recommend studying and observing the anatomy of the human body. Everyone learns differently, but for me the most helpful exercise has simply been drawing hands, skulls, feet and the foot bones etc. There is a book I recommend called Human Anatomy for the Artist (I put a link at the bottom). There's always google though.

I'm not very good at explaining exercises so I copy/pasted this (website here.) This is an exercise we did with real life models in my figure drawing class:

Measure with your Pencil

-Hold your arm straight out, without bending the elbow. Bending the elbow will bring the measurement closer to your eye and increase the size. The measurement will be consistent if the elbow is locked.

-Tilt your head to bring the eyes as close as possible to the pivot point at your shoulder. This is important to keep the measurements consistent throughout the whole subject. If you dont do this. When measuring around the top of the pose, the pencil will be closer to your eyes and when measuring around the feet it will be farther from your eyes. This difference in the distance makes the measurements inconsistent. Keep your eye near the shoulder to minimize this.

-Close one eye.

-Use the tip of the pencil as the top point of whatever you’re measuring and put your thumb at the bottom point.
Now that you have the unit, you can compare it to another part of the figure.

Overall, you're doing an amazing job though. The most important thing is practice, and you will definitely get there if you stay confident in your ability! When it comes to gestures, don't focus too much on the accuracy of subject anyway. It's all about expressing the movement of the form. I'm sorry this was so long, I just hope this was helpful at all!

Here's the book I recommended: Human Anatomy for the Artist

• Hanpb edited this post on January 9, 2021 9:40pm.

Hey Nekorea, you're doing great!

Your portrait here doesn't look too stiff, and also not too fluid, so a happy medium. The only areas that look a little choppy to me are the ones where the lines are thicker, for example around the thighs. It looks like the lines there are made up of a lot of short strokes, which can definitely make the lines rough, and harder to correct later on. (It's hard to tell on my small computer screen so please excuse me if I'm wrong!) In order to reduce the choppiness of the thicker lines, consider increasing the pressure with one large stroke along the thigh instead of drawing over the same areas in shorter strokes.

Overall, the form and proportions look fantastic, and accurate. You are capable of amazing art and realism!! I hope this was helpful input!

-Hannah

• Hanpb edited this post on January 9, 2021 8:08pm.