The concept of gesture has been a bit tough for me because I find myself looking at the contours a lot, when I should be looking at the motion. I was focusing too much on perfection yesterday (the red pencil) wanting to make it look like a human. Today I am focusing on NOT worrying if the lines and shapes I am sketching look unfinished/wonky. I feel like it is already helping me to see more of the movement and less of the "I need to try to make this how a person is supposed to look" mindset. Learning more about gesture drawing, I am discovering that replication of the photo is not what gesture is about. Once I realized that its ok for your gesture to look a little sloppy (especially as a beginner), I felt a lot more comfortable going quickly through the poses and not worrying too much about it. Just something to think about for people like me who are worrying about their gesture drawings being too simplistic, this is a part of PRACTICING gesture, and we can worry about learning all the complex stuff later! Anyways, I know my gesture isn't exemplary by any means, but I just wanted to share that its ok to let yourself simplify and give yourself some leniency and freedom to draw "bad" stuff <3

For this project I sketched a pig. There were a couple more reference photos that I used, but I could not relocate them. I did use the photo reference to sketch from observation as I studied the pig. Then, I played around with a couple different ways I would like my character to look on the page. The third photo is my first attempt at drawing from imagination, which I dislike. I did not really try on this sketch, especially on the legs/hoof area of the pig. The fourth photo is a second attempt to draw from imagination, which I like a lot more. I feel that it has more character and interesting shape. I continue to struggle with feet and hands of animals/people, something about the small details get me. I also have trouble with loose sketching still, most of the start of my drawings start with light chicken scratch and it will take practice to develop a new habit. Also, I am still learning to grip my pencil correctly, I have held pencils in an incorrect grip all my life and still find myself doing it sometimes when sketching. Anyone else have this issue?

After completing this project I realized I did not follow instructions very well for this one. I got caught up in the small details smaller instead of freely sketching shapes. I also feel that I struggle with drawing clean lines, mine feel a little scratchy and smudgy. When doing the spider hand sketch, I realized that I definitely need more practice with human anatomy. Animals are easier right now for me since it seems you can be a bit more ambiguous and abstract with their forms.

First drawing is first attempt before demo, second is following along with demo. I am level 1 but decided to do the camel since I found it the most interesting. I struggled with keeping a steady hand when using CSI, I think because it is so new to me. I attempted an elephant after this project as well. I struggle with drawing fluid lines and simplifying the subject.