More "Gesture"
9d
Dan Blodgett
After suffering from a massive dose of inspiration to draw, I decided to do some more gesture studies!
I put "gesture" in quotations because the more I dig into this concept for my own drawings, the more I'm realizing it almost doesn't even exist. It's like penmanship... everyone's handwriting is different despite using the same alphabet (assuming we're all using the same language, i.e. line is the alphabet, and gesture is the distinct handwriting). There is no definitive gesture drawing method or style or means or anything, no way it's supposed to look. All it is is expressing the figure in as few of moves as possible before going into the rest of your drawing. How it looks for you, how sloppy it is, how it shows up... it doesn't really matter! As long as it allows you to spot your figure and get it on the page, it's fair game.
Although I wish I could tame my sloppiness a little bit... but again I blame the fact that I'm working so small in a travel sketchbook. It's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! At any rate, I usually begin my drawings sloppy anyway to find my lines, then once I've located my shapes, I come back and emphasize what I like with darker, more deliberate marks. In charcoal this is super easy to execute without having the drawing turn into a gross mess, erasing plenty and ghosting in light swiping lines... but in pen... Oh heavens does it show off the bad habits haha.
These are 5-minute "gestures" done in ballpoint pen, after Julliette Aristides. I'm continuing to spot and draw in the line of action and really trying to feel things like contrapasso and proportion and straights, curves, etc. I like this style of gesture better than my previous Glenn Vilppu studies, too, even though I find that style more beautiful. I'm partial to the envelope method, and this speaks more to that than Glenn's free flowing form feel, which I find almost too poetic to turn into something accurate enough for my taste. I also chose to do it in pen because I really wanted to force myself to commit. To go for it and stop getting too uptight about it all. I'm still not super happy with these. Too scratchy, too indecisive, wonky line choice... But the rusty old cogs in my head are turning!
There's always this point when I'm drilling myself on something that I consider a weakness. It starts off super frustrating, then gets more frustrating. Then, even though I'm still frustrated because I can't do what I want yet, I begin to understand what I need to do to change my hand. I think I'm at that point now. Once I can start working larger again, I'm confident I'll experience the leap into enlightenment that always follows this frustration period.
But for now, this will have to do! Again, let me know what you think, Proko community.
I like the shading method you used. The single direction hatching kind of adds to the sense of motion.
I've been doing a lot of hatching / cross hatching practice lately, so I find this use particularly appealing.
Hatching, cross hatching, shading, and basic forms are things I can practice at work if it isn't busy. Drawing nekkid people, even minimally detailed abstract figures can be an issue if the wrong person wants to see what I'm working on.
Thanks Aaron! I wish I could say that was intentional! I just do that when I'm laying down large shadow shapes in the initial block-in. Didn't really even think of why until now... But I think keeping a consistent hatching direction and uniformity of tone in the initial steps helps me keep the rest of my hatching from going too far off the rails later. I'm a very loose (i.e. sloppy) inker (probably something else I need to work on), so I think it helps build the foundation so the scribbles I end up with as I go don't destroy my image.
Of course, this was just going direct with a cheap Bic, so if I actually took my time it might be a different story haha.
I'd love to see some of your work! After going through your awesome list of favorite artists the other day, I have a feeling you're a superior inker!
Fun value stuff. Hopefully I'll have some incorporated into mine after this mentorship thing. Here's a five minute quicksketch I just did. I've been hitting the gesture pretty heavy for a week. Not sure this is particularly gestural though.
Looks good, Tim! If this is your style of gesture, then that's how it expresses itself from your hand.
I'm really finding it's like learning cursive. No matter how much you learn and try to copy the flourishes, the connecting marks, the angle of tilt, etc., it still comes out as uniquely your style of cursive. Gesture can be contour; it can be central to the form; it can surround the form; it can be rhythmic, flowing, blocky, whatever. It's the purest expression of what you see, as you see it in the model.
Personal side note: this seems like more advanced concepts that should be taught later, even though this is typically how beginners are started off with figure drawing. To me, it's more complicated than just drawing accurately, which I believe should be where we all start. Putting down exactly what you see, not trying to interpret or mystify the process. This stuff is abstract! Especially for someone who's just starting out. People look for the practical and end up with the magical, and I think it might deter those who have trouble conceptualizing the abstract.
Although it is the nature of the arts to be feminine and esoteric to a degree. But it is a lot for a beginner. I don't know.
