The Gesture Course
Intro to Gesture
Proportions
Learning Gesture
Difficult Poses
The Gesture of Limbs
The Shape Method
Beyond Gesture
Now that we've covered gesture drawing basics—focusing on ideas over copying—let's dive into proportions.
Newest
Huda Hijazy
17d
Tried to follow along with the proportions guide –
figuring out balance and spacing is trickier than it looks 😅
Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome! 🌿
Steven Voorhees
3mo
Here is my Proportion chart of 8 head model. Please critique.
Zander Schmer-Lalama
3mo
Here’s my attempt at the proportions. I did Mr. Hampton’s demo and did my own attempt from memory. I believe I did fairly well, even though I had some mistakes and some fine tuning. Advice and feedback is appreciated!
@thaihoch
3mo
Thomas Sperl
3mo
Very well explained. Love it so far
Mario Ulloa
3mo
Was just following along while watching to stay active
Stevie Roder
4mo
I know I'm a bit late to turn in the critique video for this lesson. But as I watched the video the other day, I slowly noticed that beginning-level gesturing is a lot of fun. I must admit I am having trouble with correctly getting the proportions and angles alongside the alignment on each body segment. But I plan on continuing with plenty of practice. This was a fun first lesson.
katherine
4mo
Still learning drawing, but your class is really helping me better understand the idea I want to get down on the page. Also, I think I may have too much of an angle on the side view of my chart. Thank you!
Martin Defensor
4mo
I still need to learn more about the directional angles of the upper body and the alignment of the spine. Thanks for the explanation!
Emily
4mo
“I can’t do math at all. It doesn’t work for me. My head’s never accepted it on any level.” Thank you for your relatable humor! A little late to this posting party, but here is my attempt.
Tara Smith
4mo
Great intro and first lesson. Here is my lesson. The rib cage is a bit thick so may try again.
@it0
4mo
There we go, easier seeing it than doing it ;)
@kthom4477
4mo
My first stab at the proportions
Ari a
4mo
So I tried to do it, but I think this doesnt look good
Michael Giff
4mo
The big ideas are there though! A few observations from my novice eyes:
I would say for your front view the larger hand size is correct! Beware of tiny hands!
Your femur joint (greater trochanter) seems to be a tad low. It should be 2/3 the way down the pelvis this looks like it's touching the bottom which will shorten the bone. (screen grabbed an example from the lesson for ya)
I'd advise to post your work on the project tab, that would give you a better chance for the teacher or more advance students to review your work. (I am a very, very, very, basic student and you deserve to talk to someone that knows what they're doing!)
Hope that was helpful, best of luck in your art journey!
Noreen Long
4mo
I used newsprint and pencil. Thanks for teaching this way of giving structure to the human form. It was new to me; I struggled and now feel much more confident. I have a system! thanks, Michael.
@yzz
4mo
I feel that my proportions are a bit off, especially around the torso
•
4mo
Nice!
Glenn Hughes
4mo
Really enjoyed this. I've always struggled to understand gesture so this course is really welcomed. Looking forward to how we build from here.
Allen Gordon
4mo
Can’t wait to get further in this course already! I’m also realizing why my older gestures looked like they were scrunched.
•
4mo
Nice work!
Sarah Rivera
4mo
I really liked the bit about just cutting the line at the bottom to make it 7.5 heads tall. I've always been so confused making shorter people because I don't know how to divide the proportions! Do you just keep chopping off the legs? When do you adjust the torso proportions so it doesn't look odd and how can you do it so you end up with a 6 head figure rather than a tiny 8 head figure? Should I try it for the critique video or stick to more conventional proportions?
Also really loved the comparison to the horse! I also love drawing animals so it was super interesting! Would love more tidbits like that further in the course.
@arylide
4mo
I feel like this is such important information, but I've never even really seen it or heard it before.
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About instructor
Educator, painter, writer, and art historian. Author of Figure Drawing: Design and Invention.
