Michael. Thank you so much for holding this class in gesture. Came at the right time for me. I was stuck in your figure drawing class at gesture and jumped at the chance to take this class so I could focus on gesture only. I’ve learned a ton and see a lot of improvement in my drawings. I’m returning to the figure drawing class and can finally move past the gesture stage of the drawing process.

My attempt at shape method. Need practice.

Fantastic stuff! It's really great to start to see more complete picture of where this sort of thinking is meant to take us. I especially enjoyed the leg breakdown into anatomy-by-overlap-wrap. Having started with the figure construction class before this one was released, it really helps cement the lessons from there. Another comment, I notice some Force Drawing acolytes in the mix of this critique/preview lesson. That last one was definitely using the Force Gesture brush if I'm not mistaken. Mike also really emphasizes that shape comes AFTER understanding what you're looking at from a structural and force-rhythm point of view because it tends to push towards contours rather than the function and structure of what you're looking at. I try my best to incorporate forceful lines to define the gestures here, as it helps push the references from what is given and helps ensure story really comes across strong. With the little rubric for self-critique, I think I can see where I'm successful and where I'm not.

Wow! So excited to see a couple of my drawings mixed in there. The section where you are building anatomy on top of the gesture really helps reinforce why you want us to draw the gesture inside the figure. For me your methods are a very sculptural approach to drawing. I kind of think of the wire armature representing the beginnings of gesture. Boy I could have used this course 20 years ago. As a sculptor I struggle with line and composition quite a lot. Poses are always a little stilted. I'm hoping this course will loosen everything up for me and I believe it already has. Fantastic job!!!!!!

Phew!

No doubt. These are very hard poses. First couple:

Actually working on a partially bent over pose now. I’ll try these techniques out. Good stuff.

Freestyle

Beginnings of Gesture Assignment

Can't do this exercise too many times. Really excellent way of expressing the proportions of a figure. I tried to construct this step by step as I progressed through the lesson.