How to Draw Gesture
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Figure Drawing Fundamentals

Gesture

How to Draw Gesture

4.8M
Mark as Completed

How to Draw Gesture

4.8M
Mark as Completed

In the next lesson, I’ll show some examples of gesture quick sketches and guide you step by step through the process. But, I suggest you attempt to practice these concepts on your own before watching the step by step video. You’ll have an idea of what it’s like and will be able to pull more information from it because you know what to look for. You’ll have questions you can focus on, and you can compare what you did with what I do. If you need reference photos, I have some pose file sets you can get in the proko store.

Newest
@dropfeeling
First day of gesture drawing, it's much harder than I thought. 😆
Rachel Dawn Owens
Some students asked me about gesture this week. I love gesture drawing. So made this to explain my thoughts a little bit. Posting it here to hopefully help more students.
Ivan Calitz Crockart
This is fantastic, thank you!
Jason Lankford
This is my first two days of attempting gesture drawings on my own (I've only watched the first video); I'm using YouTube videos for timed poses. I haven't drawn in a long time and I've never drawn people. I'm looking forward to learning techniques.
Makeda Sylvester
It will definitely feel more fluid over time. Good to share them and not be afraid.
Melanie Scearce
Nice! Learning to draw people is a challenging and rewarding endeavor. These are looking good. Your lines can sometimes get a bit scratchy -- try to practice using longer, lighter strokes when making gestural lines. It's a good habit to get into and I believe you end up drawing how you practice, so establishing good habits when starting out is the way to go. I really like the figure in the bottom left on the first page. Good luck with the course :)
@labuge
16d
Hello Guy, here are my first try at gesture drawing… as you can see few shapes seem to be closer to BodyHorror than simple gesture 🤷🏻‍♂️😆…. A lot of work ahead to improve all of that…
Ian
24d
Gave myself 5 mins per pose but I still struggled. I feel like I take a long time to analyse and find the right line to use. I think they end up looking stiff in the end, and my proportions seem way off. Do you guys have any tips to improve? Thank you
Dave S
26d
Really struggled with the two minute time limit but felt better after doing a handful of them. Critiques welcome.
Rachel Dawn Owens
Nice gesture drawings!
Rima Das
1mo
Robert
2mo
Back to making drawing a habit again. I have attached 5 sample 30s (in reality it takes me 1 min) gestures with the corresponding reference. I am not really content with them because I feel that I approach the poses the same way every time. Would appreciate some feedback. Some things that bother me: - I approach the rhythm for the legs the same way every time - When I do the legs the only thing that looks "good" is when I use the rhythm of the outer leg and not the inner one if that makes sense (See 4 for this one) - When I have time left after doing my stickfigures I don't really know what to add. I usually want to add some kind of mass like torso or pelvis but I don't really know how to do it Am I ready for 2min poses or should I stick to these until I can do them in 30s?
Melanie Scearce
Doing 2 min poses wouldn't hurt at all. Try them out and see what you're comfortable with. Before you move on, practice finding the line of action of these poses. The line of action is a line that usually connects the head to the toes -- it shows the energy/movement of the pose. Don't be afraid to push the exaggeration a bit to really get your point across, since we are only using a few lines in a 30 second drawing. Then, like you have done in your drawings, estimate the placement and angles of the shoulders. You can then use other rhythms and curves to help you find these landmarks. For example, in #4, I found the line of action in green (the s curve), and another important rhythm in orange that travels along the entire front of the model's body through the back leg. There is an argument to be made that the orange line could be the line of action. The reason I chose the green line is because it highlights the twist of the torso, which I think is a key aspect of this pose. The purple lines represent a curve that I would use to place the elbows and the knees so that they relate rhythmically to each other. Adding in a representation of the torso is a great idea! Starting out, the bean is an easy way to lump the ribcage and pelvis together. It's coming up soon in this series but here's a link to a tutorial to get you started: https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/how-to-simplify-the-motion-of-the-torso-the-bean/assignments Good luck :)
Harry Green
It's been a while since I properly did some technical drawing and since I'm not happy with my art at the moment, I thought it would be good to go back to basics and refresh myself on the fundamentals. Here's some 1 minute gesture drawings I did this morning. The main thing I picked up on during my session is how sketchy or scratchy my lines can be, which I believe I can improve on by limiting myself on the number of lines I'm allowed to use. Is there anything else I can improve upon with my gesture studies?
Soul
2mo
These are great! You already pointed out what I was going to say, how the line quality could be given some attention, but in terms of expressivness and body language these are pretty good. There's no end to improvement
Carlos Javier Roo Soto
How big are this drawings? Are you using your whole arm when you draw? If you use your whole arm you can get more fluid and cleaner lines, but that also takes practice. I would suggest that for your line you practice some line exercises for like 10 minutes before each session, use you whole arm. Also, when drawing gestures try to push your simplification, even thou these are really simplify, I think you are getting caught in contour in some places. When drawing 1 minute or longer poses before the actual drawing, ask your self: "What is the main idea of this pose?" Or "What is this model doing?" And "How can I best represent that idea?" Or "How can I simplify this pose?" Just by answering these 2 questions you'll see an improvement.
Melanie Scearce
Maybe instead of framing it as limiting your line count, think about it as each line representing a conscious thought. I think you can use as many lines as you want to, as long as each line supports the form and function of the pose. You have really nice rhythm in these :)
Abdallah Farah
so I've been practising gesture for the past few days and I would really appreciate it if someone could critique/give me some advice on things to look out for,improve moving forward. thank you
@culhwch
2mo
You're doing well -- nice work practicing gestural lines that aren't overly contour-y or anatomical. I'll recommend a few things. You can look at some of my sketches a few posts below yours to decide if you want to take my advice. I have found that figuring out whose advice to take and whose to avoid is a big part of the battle in learning to draw. For your thirty second poses, you don't have to do this all the time, but I would recommend practicing drawing limbs and even bodies with a single, gestural line. I spent a lot of time rapidly drawing gestural sketches with bodies and limbs that were full enclosed, and while that's all well and good, I think working on single, flowing lines is good practice to make your sketches more gestural and expressive. Secondly, take a couple seconds to analyze each pose for the line of action -- ideally a single line that runs through the entire pose. For example, the bottom pose on the left image of a figure reclining with the arms outstretched behind them -- you could have drawn a single C-curve from the neck down and curving to the left all the way to the heel of the outstretched leg. The bottom left figure on the second page, the figure with one arm over their stomach and one above their head, you could have extended that line of the neck down all the way to the figure's right (our left) knee. You were almost there, but you drew two lines instead. It's okay sometimes to discard one of your trusty, go-to rhythms to accommodate a fluid line of action. Most importantly, keep it up. You'll be glad you did.
YumekoArtz
2mo
Alright, I haven't properly studied in months, let's see how this goes. These are 1 minute each.
@culhwch
3mo
This month marks a year of daily gesture drawing. Phew. Here’s a sample of my digital and traditional sketches. Lately for my 2-minute poses I’ve been “rotating the camera” in my mind’s eye and drawing the model as if seen from a different angle, so they might look a little funny. One of my most important discoveries in doing these is the immense expressive power of the tilt of the head and its attachment to the torso. Don’t neglect this! These aren’t the cleanest or most elegant drawings in town, but I think I have made them expressive.
Gannon Beck
These are very nice! You should post more of these as you go. I’d love to follow your progress.
matt barton
Todays gesture studies. tried to limit brush strokes and stick to the CSI rule
Rachel Dawn Owens
These are really nice!
Yascir Correa
well i think this is not that bad despite of being my first time
Abdelrhman Shawkat
1 minute gestures hope its a good first try
Abdelrhman Shawkat
30 seconds gesture drawing
Art Stark
4mo
1 minute Gesture 7 & 8. 2 minute Gesture 1
Dudts Draws
these are the most dynamic drawings you've posted here so far, practice makes perfect ! Longer action lines bring more liveliness. To further enrich your gesture knowledge I suggest you also watch a couple of vilppu's gesture demo videos - it could give you insights into the mindset - ie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa_2rL1K1mg
Art Stark
4mo
2 minute Gesture 3 & 4
Art Stark
4mo
2 minute Gesture 2
Melanie Scearce
Awesome lines. I think that C shape of the hips pushing forward and away from the twist in the torso is really nice. I'd like to see that emphasized even more!
Art Stark
5mo
Gestures 4, 5, & 6
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Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.
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