Please review my 2min gestures! I feel like i'm not truly "feeling the form" and struggling to fully capture the gesture
1yr
@tbrown
I just started studying figure drawing using a combination of Glen Vilppu's Figure Drawing Course on New Masters Academy and the free proko courses (considering purchasing the premium figure course soon). Prior to this i completed Drawing on the Right Side and Brent Evistons Art&Science of Drawing courses.
I understand the concept of gesture, to capture the movement and feeling of the pose - emphasizing stretching and pinching, etc. But when i try to do 2 minute poses they turn out messy with no form at all.
I've attempted the first weeks assignment 4 times. It consists of five 10-second poses and ten 2-minute:
* Attempt 1 https://i.imgur.com/CPydP7O.jpg
* Attempt 1 Page 2 https://i.imgur.com/Z6YQTWu.jpg
After my first attempt i watched Glenn's approach video and i was flabbergasted. I couldn't believe how much detail in form i could see in his 2 minute poses (picrel https://i.imgur.com/P2HLIbY.jpg). For my other three attempts i tried to mimic his approach but everything fell apart each time. I just am not doing it at all. I try to use the circles to convey form, i try to do a quick 10 second poses before going into more detail. Every time it seems to devolve into me attempting to salvage the terrible gesture drawing... I switched to ballpoint pen to mimic Glenn because i dont own a fountain pen, trying to draw very lightly with the pen for the early gesture then pressing hard to convey form, pressure, and stretch.
* Attempt 2 https://i.imgur.com/KjiUYSr.jpg
* Attempt 3 https://i.imgur.com/Gk8IX6u.jpg
* Attempt 4 https://i.imgur.com/LhwjJJE.jpg
I did all those attempts in the same day then i moved to try.using my ipad + procreate since it was more convenient and less paper waste:
I started doing a page full on the ipad each day
* Attempt 5 https://i.imgur.com/cyH3s45.png
* Attempt 6 https://i.imgur.com/hvIPzg8.png
* Attempt 7 https://i.imgur.com/YBLaNJB.png
* Attempt 8 https://i.imgur.com/pBPKYYl.png
* Attempt 9 https://i.imgur.com/m9EJU2t.png
I clearly am getting better each day, but i don't feel like i'm "Feeling the form" as Vilppu says.
I feel like i can represent the basic pose but not the pinching, stretching, and twisting involved the same way I see Vilppu doing in his amazing 2 min poses.
My proportions need a lot of work, i feel like when i get lucky and get the proportions right the 2min pose comes out much better. I am using those circles to capture volume, but i still really struggle to represent pinching, stretching, and twisting.
1yr
Hey tbrown, I understand your frustration. I've recently been infatuated by Vilppu's figure drawing as well. It ALWAYS humbles me to know just how far I have to go, but at the same time, keep in mind that he's a master and you're a student. You forget that he's been drawing for probably 6 times as long as you have, so don't beat yourself up over not becoming great overnight.
What's funny is that Vilppu made me want to try pen gesture as well, only it happened last week. And at the risk of overstepping my bounds by critiquing someone who may be better than me, but I'd recommend that you stick with pencil / undo-able mediums for now. I say this because, as you correctly identify yourself, proportion is a struggle for you (and me).
To be more specific, you're standing poses are relatively fine, but when foreshortened or near the edge of the page, they get wonky. I've had this same problem, and I don't really have any advice except to be aware of it and try not to do it. And as a side note, I remember in one of Vilppu's figure drawing demos that he only uses cross contours when the form is going away or towards us in space.
Another thing I've noticed is balance. If you were to try and replicate some poses you've drawn in real life, you may find it hard to stay in that position due to being off balance. And compounding on that, I've noticed Vilppu will exaggerate where the weight of the figure is being place, to show a grounded figure.
Notice in your Vilppu picture how if the weight of a figure is on one leg, the pelvis is pushed up on that leg. If the weight rests on an arm, that shoulder is elevated. When you take into account where the weight is placed, I think you'll be one step closer to where you want to be.
My final point is under the big umbrella of shape design. Now, I hate when instructors just say, "design better shapes!" and move on, so allow me to explain. Look at Vilppu's drawings not as figures but as lines. Notice how none of his lines are symmetrical. I know it's hard to break from this idea, but a video that helped me is Mike's Force Drawing here on Proko (I believe it's this one, but all of them are good https://www.proko.com/s/z6sT). Although I don't use the force method, I like his way of explaining things.
Lastly, I've posted my pen drawings so if you'd like, you can critique me :)
- Dwight
