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About instructor
Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.
LESSON NOTES
Download the free reference images and try it for yourself!
Drawing shapes is easy, but making them dynamic…that’s another story. In this lesson, I demonstrate my process for identifying the gesture of your subject and then designing dynamic and interesting shapes to support that gesture.
Get the premium demo, way more lessons, assignments, and critique videos in the full course!
RELATED LINKS:
Shape Hacks - How to Draw Interesting Shapes
7 Ways Simple Shapes Can Improve Your Drawings
DOWNLOADS
demo-dynamic-shapes-from-reference.mp4
1 GB
demo-dynamic-shapes-from-reference-transcript-english.txt
31 kB
demo-dynamic-shapes-from-reference-transcript-spanish.txt
31 kB
demo-dynamic-shapes-from-reference-captions-english.srt
51 kB
demo-dynamic-shapes-from-reference-captions-spanish.srt
55 kB
COMMENTS![]()
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Let’s give the Level 1 “Dynamic Shapes” project a try. In this demo, I show my process for finding the gesture of a subject and then designing dynamic and interesting shapes that support that gesture.
This was a fun exercise. Not quite sure if I did this right. Gonna watch Proko demo now to check. I find it difficult to leave the outline "alone". Also drawing fluid lines needs attention the first time but also when I want to darken them by a different pencil (a 4B for instance) and it loses its character. Well keep practicing will help me further.
I tried to do the assignment before watching the demo first, but I was having waaay too much trouble on my own, so I decided to get some help from the demo. And it definitely helped a ton!
Here’s my notes for this demo and follow-along drawings, and my very first attempt pre-demo.
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11d
You’re doing exactly what you need to for this assignment! These are all great examples of dynamic shapes and the little notes will serve you well as you learn.
If you want to add more, these drawings could look even more dynamic with some perspective as well. I know it’s not part of this specific assignment. This could be a good exercise for you too:
https://www.proko.com/s/6i8h
The first six drawings were a copy of Proko's demonstration. Then try drawing the photos again and capture the gesture.
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2mo
I really like the group of them. Well done!
Second attempt at drawing those Seals as I rewatched Stan. Trying to adapt the mindset of energy and gesture in these drawings. I know it will take more practice.
Personally I find it quite hard to focus on the gesture alone and run with the flow. Keep getting distracted by the outline. However, once I started to put down more sketchy guide lines it became a whole lot easier to build gesture lines on top.
Hi,
The demo was very helpful. What stood out to me the most was the note about the supporting gesture, which really gave me a lot to think about. I'm sharing some sketches I made after watching the demo. Any feedback is more than welcome 😊
Drawing Basics- Shapes- Dynamic Shapes from Reference-Seals Demo:
HaHa- Well, when I submitted drawings under the previous lesson: Project-Dynamic Shapes, I used photos from a 45 year-old "Book of Sea Mammals" because I didn't realize there was a whole pack of seal reference photos included in the lesson!
So I drew these while Stan was Demo'ing this lesson.
I'll draw more tomorrow, and then try some from memory/imagination.
FYI- Sea lions have the big, flexible, dynamic front flippers and external ears. Think- "The circus has performing lions and sea lions."
This time I started with a more fluid gesture, refined the structure, then tried to exaggerate or alter certain lines to make them more interesting. I’m not sure how successful I was, but I think I’m starting to understand this exercise a little better.
i defenitly feel the structure , however i thik the gesture could be more focused on the shape the animal has
Here’s another one. I tried to be mindful of how the viewer’s eye moves through the form but I’m not sure whether it actually makes sense or I’ve just been staring at it for too long, LOL! I’m still having a hard time designing the shapes in a way that’s different from what I’m seeing in the reference.
yeah , the shape has and invisble force leading the viewer's eye . Your looser attempt looks more fluid .-
Maybe I should have started with something much looser, like this? I think I’m on the right track now, given how rigid my original sketch looks by comparison.
I’m finding it challenging to sketch without cleaning up my lines! I’m going to try a few without allowing myself to erase anything.
