This post was originally buried deep in another section so I am reposting it here for those that might have missed it :-) These quick-sketches were made while watching an old black & white movie for reference. They are all about 3-to-4 minutes each. I was going for overall gestures and major visual masses with little or no details. I did these by pausing the movie playback whenever I saw something that visually struck my fancy. Also, I wasn't wearing my glasses, which did kind of help my goal. I'd glance at the television eight feet away, which I could hold focus on. Then I'd glance down at my drawing paper eighteen inches away, which was slightly out of focus (I am far-sighted). This kind of made me concentrate more on overall shapes and not so much on details. Of course it also gave me a splitting headache :-) . What do you think? Are these kind of exercises of any benefit to you also? Comments and critiques are always encouraged and welcomed, thank you. Be excellent to each other. Cheers!