How to Draw Gesture
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Figure Drawing Fundamentals

Gesture

How to Draw Gesture

4.6M
Mark as Completed

How to Draw Gesture

4.6M
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.

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Kevin C
Hello! Would greatly appreciate a critique. Attached some of my better ones here. Honestly feeling quite down on myself about these. Believe it or not, I would say I’m actually quite good at portrait drawing where i spend hours taking careful measurements and proportions, so these timed figures are kind of kicking my butt. To critique myself first: I feel like my proportions are just bad. Like i said, don’t do much figure work (hence the course), so I feel like my mental model of how long any given limb or section should be is totally off. I know that’s not the point of these drawings, but I feel like it’s dragging down the gesture of everything, specifically in the limbs. I feel like they’re constantly either too thin or too wide. I also feel like my lines are too hesitant and I suffer from going over the same line multiple times. Some of my better two minute poses were when I committed myself to only doing one line and just taking what I get (such as my ones in pen here). Very hard to strike the balance of proportion and fluidity on such a tight timetable. Would love to hear a critique. Hoping that my sense of proportion will get better as I move on with the course, thus increasing my sense of gesture. But as of now, feeling a bit deflated.
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egusisoup
Good afternoon. I've been busier this week and have noticed gesture drawings have started to become one of the more enjoyable parts of my day (go figure).  Lately, I have been trying to capture the more of the volume in the poses. Has been difficult but nice to try out. Any tips would be appreciated.
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michael gilbert
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Martha Muniz
Nice, you've definitely have good flow and curvature throughout. I think it would be interesting if you started incorporating more variety with CSI lines, so in this case, more straights. Having a variety with curves vs straights can even help you bring in energy by having the two in contrast with each other. Usually where there's a straight, there's a curve on the opposite side, so keep an eye out for areas of counterbalance to further exaggerate.
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Brandon
Um this is not my first time to draw figure gesture. I ve been drawing spaghetti for 6 months, after the seal exercise in the basic course and mike and proko 's lecture. I think I have drawn spaghetti with better shape language. But sometime something seems missing . Could some one please help me with this? Normally I draw from naked ppl, but copyright is my concern if i posted here .
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Fat Squirrel
Hi there. here are a few pointers that I could shoot, hopefully they help. 1. Shape design & Appeal. Proko explains it well in his video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID8r0OhiYe0 1. You want to avoid asymmetry like the plague in every shape that you draw. It makes it stiff. So no snowmen. 2. You want to offset the apex of a curve against the other side's apex / pinch so that there is a flow going through the entire form. For example: 1st row first figure from the left, a tapered shape is used to describe the left leg (our left). It can be made more gestural by making it more asymmetrical via adding curves on one side vs straights on the other. Third figure from the left first row left leg also has a similar area of improvement. Bottom right figure's torso can use more asymmetry. First row 2nd figure from the right has good asymmetry in the overall figure. Symmetry is broken up by the butt, the torso has a pinch and stretch, and the legs have rhythm to them because you've drawn the curve of the quads flowing into the hook of the calves (look at the respective apexes of the curves -- they flow into each other) 2. Exaggerating the gesture You want to exaggerate the pinching and stretching as much as possible so get a good read. You want to make sure that there is flow going through the entire figure and that the lines of your figure indicate so clearly. The force series explains this very well : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtaBjtAGsk0 I recommend reading the books and the Youtube tutorials by Mike. 3. Wedging Try to wedge your forms together, so that you see the line overlap the line from another body part. The result is having internal lines within the contour of the figure that indicates form, instead of just a 2d contour silhouette. James describes wedging well in this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FupeKX4NQsQ First figure top left can use improvements in the arms. Wedge it more into the torso. 4. Drawing through the forms and the figure Don't be afraid of drawing your gesture lines through the figure. It's okay to have your lines overshoot where it's supposed to end if that means you maintain the gesture, flow, rhythm, and power of your line. Mike Mattesi does this a lot in his gesture drawings. Stopping your lines and not following through will cause rhythm and flow to stop abruptly, which causes interruptions in the flow of the eye, making things look stiff. 5. Become aware of landmarks and exaggerate their position and tilt to better describe gesture. It's best described here: https://youtu.be/-TqKd2XB844?si=_AJaLAvix8VeXSM6 For gesture drawings, it is good to look at good examples of people who draw good gestures. I recommend Josh Black https://youtu.be/eiNbRRIyX1g?si=8UzLT8Y50PzBokc2
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h3art
Definitely gotta practice this more, specially getting proportions right quickly. Wasn't getting good taper so I tried using another brush in order to get better lines like Proko said in the feedback he gave me in the seal gestures. Gotta work a bit more on handling pen pressure quicker to also get more varied line weight in thickness and value.
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Stan Prokopenko
ooh youre gonna love the rhythms lesson coming up next in the basics course :)
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Ren
Hello! Around 2020-2021 I attempted this figure drawing course, but unfortunately I never made it through. I'm back again for another attempt and decided I'd start at the beginning since I was really out of practice! Spent a little over a week studying mostly 2 min poses, so here's a few of them. I tried to share the most recent ones since that feels most helpful in terms of addressing what I could work on now. I apologize that the image quality isn't the best; it is a little clearer if you click the original image option! I also have a bunch more that I did (starting around the end of August?) posted in the 2023 figure drawing album on my profile page, since I figured (pun??) there were too many to share in one post. Any feedback/critique is appreciated and would be very helpful! This week I think I'm going to move onto adding the bean into my practice. I'm also hoping that I can be more active on here, so I look forward to seeing others' work! And good luck to everyone! (:
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Jesper Axelsson
Hi @Ren, really nice work! I don't know if there's much I can critique, but I'll try ;) It would be interesting to hear what your goals are. If animation, then I'm sure there are things to consider that could help with the story of the pose. - The rhythm is really nice in these drawings, but the structure and proportions are falling behind. You want your drawings to have proportion, balance and rhythm, all working together. Try this: Do some more where you start with drawing the structure, rather than rhythm lines. So the lines you put down establishes things like the lenght and width of the body parts. But as you do, your main focus is gesture. You try to feel the pose, just like you would when drawing rhtymical lines, but you express that gesture, by the placement of the structure. If you put the shoulder line and the asis-to-asis line, in opposing angles, you will have an implied c-curve rhythm in the torso. And depending on how they relate to eachother vertically, you can shift the weight. I'm not necessarily suggesting optical accuracy; it's about getting the proportions right. You may tilt and foreshorten things to tell the story more clearly, but you try to make sure that the proportions feel right in space. Be especially aware of corresponding parts, such as right upper leg and left upper leg. The idea with my suggestion, is to help with improving the structure and proportion in your drawings. Keep in mind that this is something I'm working on myself, so take my advice with a grain of salt. You might find another way to improve the proportion and structure of your drawings. A drawing process that might help: -Start with the shape of the head -Find the pit of the neck -drop a vertical line that gives you the lenght of the body and something to refer to when establishing the weight -Place the foot that takes the most weight (the one closest to the vertical line) -Draw a line for the angle of the hip and a line for the supporting leg. -Draw the shoulder line Now the main structure and weight has been established, and within that the rhythm. I hope this helps :)
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egusisoup
Hello again. I spent the last week focusing on shorter gesures. Here are some of the recent drawings I completed. Would love to hear any feedback.
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egusisoup
Hello everyone. Here are a few of my gesture drawings. I can tell there are areas for improvement, but as a beginner, it's hard to discern where I should focus. Would greatly appreciate any feedback.
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emanuele85
Hey Hi! I agree with you, there are certainly, always, areas of improvement. The good thing is that you got the goal of the exercise. I especially love the faster ones because you restrained from drawing the details and it gives a stronger sense of motion. I suggest you to slowly increase the drawing time but to stay in the 60-90 seconds range for a while
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Marco Sordi
2023/9/9. Good morning everybody. Here’s some gesture drawings I made as warming up exercise. Thanks and have a good weekend.
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sharron barnum
These are awesome. You’ve captured the movement and proportions. Keep refining. You did great.
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Jesper Axelsson
Hi @Marco Sordi, nice studies! There are many nice rhythms and in the design I can tell that you've been into Patrick Jones's course. - If the art you want to make involves telling stories with figures acting, you might want to study drawings by animators. There are many nice things about you're figure drawings, but they could be strengthened in terms of balance/weight, structure and attitude/storytelling. Maybe I'm noticing this because it's something that I'm working on myself. I was recommended a book called Drawn to Life (Walt Stanchfield, edited by Don Hahn), and I'm really enjoying the books. I've only read 40 pages or so, of the first volume, but I feel like I'm learning a lot from reading the text and from analyzing and copying the drawings by old animators in it. Just the very first pages, that introduces the principles of great animation drawing, really helped, giving me something high to shoot for. - Related to the above, you might want to try an exercise, that I'm working on at the moment: Study a figure, and break it down into simple forms. Then pose that mannequin into a story, trying to keep the pieces consistent in proportion. Also study drawings of an animation character, and break it down into simple forms. Now pose that mannequin in poses, telling a story. Maybe try to pose the animation character like the figure reference, and vice versa. I didn't think of practicing this at first, since I've done the mannequinization exercise in the figure drawing course, but trying to keep the proportions consistent is difficult and I still struggle. As a final note, keep in mind that I'm working on the things I've given you tips about myself, so take the things I say with a grain of salt :) Cheers!
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Marco Sordi
2023/9/2. Good morning everybody. Here’s my today’s warming up exercise (plus size model study). Thanks and have a good weekend.
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Martha Muniz
Hi! I love the fluidity and twisting of your gestures, you can really see the motion. I do think it could benefit from more straight lines to indicate the squash of the volume, not just the stretch. So wherever there's force/weight pushing against something, that could be a great opportunity to enunciate it, adding more believability to the form and space of the object.
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Samuel Sanjaya
Did a longer session of gesture today. Any feedback/critiques will be greatly appreciated
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Marco Sordi
2023/8/31. Good afternoon everybody. Here’s some gesture drawings I made today. Thanks for any comment or critique.
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Peter Tinkler
Nice loose work. Maybe vary the thickness of your line a bit more, particularly in areas suggesting weight, pressure, or strain.
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Samuel Sanjaya
did some more gestures as warm ups for the mannequin excersise. Any feedbacks/critiques on these and way I can improve will be greatly appreciated.
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Dwight
I'm back with more gesture. This time around, I tried to work on the forms of my figures instead of jumping right to contours from gesture. Not only did this help make my figures less wonky, but also slowed me down so I could correct proportional issues ... for the most part (DSC04199 looks awful). It's fun to look back and see where I didn't make volumes first, such as the hand for DSC_2965. I used a mechanical pencil instead of a colored pencil for erasing and exactness, which also helped a lot. I can also see big gaps in my anatomy knowledge, especially in the legs and feet. I didn't try faces this time around, as I've realized I can't draw them at regular size. I'll probably post some portraits to get feedback on those as well. If you'd like the reference to compare any of my drawings to, let me know and I'll whip it up. - Dwight
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frankipp
They look great! Where do you get your references from?
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Marco Sordi
2023/8/15. Good evening everyone. My summer holidays start tomorrow. I'm going back to my birthplace for a couple of weeks and enjoy the Mediterranean and the local cuisine. So tonight I'm relaxing with a few gesture drawing exercises. Obviously I will bring my sketchbook with me. See you in a few days.
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Samuel Sanjaya
Some gestures drawing and a longer figure drawing. I tried to draw bigger on the longer figure, but it makes it somewhat harder to get the proportion correct. Any feedback on this would be welcome.
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Jesper Axelsson
Hi @Samuel Sanjaya, nice studies! I'll do my best to help you further: - I wrote this reply a few days ago https://www.proko.com/s/XqsK and I think it applies to you as well. So check it out😎👍. What I think you need to focus on now for your figure drawing is gesture. Gesture, gesture, gesture. Draw lines that represent the flow that you want to run through and between the forms of the figure. You could think of the lines as a stream of water flowing through the body. The next step will then be to dress the flow with forms. But for now, focus on the gesture. Glenn Vilppu is a great role model for this way of drawing Drawing Demo by Glenn Vilppu. You might want to try doing some flow studies on some of Heinrich Kley's drawings. His drawings have a lot of gesture. I've attached a study I did, for your inspiration. When doing mine I found that every form, even the smallest ones, had a flow. And all these flows are connected like a river, leading your eye through the drawing. I started with the flows for the major forms, then broke it down to smaller and smaller flows, trying my best to connect them all with a back and forth like rythm. I hope this helps :) Let me know if you have any questions!
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charliev
Trying out this platform, let’s see if I get any feedback! procreate, 60 sec poses from first lesson on how to draw gestures.
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George Jelito
I'm just starting out myself, however I think they look pretty good. In several poses I think you could exaggerate much more, even though the figure you are drawing is very static. I think people tend to under exaggerate rather than over exaggerate. Hope this helps.
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Dwight
I haven't posted in a while, so I'll put some of my practice here. I've been trying to get better at inking, and doing this is sooo relaxing that I often spend all day "warming up" instead of learning something new. As I look back to previous drawings each day, I try to correct something I did wrong previously. Big feet, small hands, etc. I felt were improving as long as I was consciously trying. Faces, however we consistently bad. I'm not good at faces at any size, but as I'm drawing smaller than usual, they've turned out far below my standard. I guess I'm asking if there's any advice for anyway to draw the face when small. I was trying to draw only the darkest parts such as eyelashes and brows, but it still didn't turn out that well. Of course, if you have anything else to add I'd also like to know. I didn't add the reference as it'd take a bit, but if you're curious about a few I can find them and post them. I also understand that because of my laziness, it makes it a lot harder to critique. If this post doesn't get a lot of traction, I'll be sure to next time. Thanks! - Dwight.
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Jesper Axelsson
Hi @Dwight, nice studies! You've put down a lot of work! Overall I feel like these look pretty strong. They are carried by strong gesture and clear form. - How often do you copy artwork that you admire? I think including that into your practicing will help you improve faster. You'll learn a lot of things that you probably wouldn't have discovered on your own. (I also think this is the answer to finding out how to draw faces on a smaller scale) - As mentioned, the gesture and dimensionality look pretty strong, but the design of the forms of the figure are a bit wonky. The proportions are inconsistent, and sometimes parts are missing or attaching at the wrong spot, making the figures feel a bit broken. This is something I'm working on improving myself, which might be why I noticed it. In your next set of drawings, build the figures out of clear pieces. They don't have to be mechanical and boxy, they can be round and organic. It's your choise. The important thing is that you think of the body as built out of clear pieces, to make yourself conscious of the design of the figure. With clear pieces you can compare proportions. When you've drawn the upper leg on one side, draw the other upper leg, and make sure both upper legs are mirrored versions of each other; attaching the same way and having the same size. Having clear pieces can also help you avoid missing anything important, such as the waist piece for example. I hope this helps :)
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Samuel Sanjaya
did a longer 5 minutes poses. Any feedback or critiques on how I did will be greatly appreciated
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Tony Jung
day 5 of gestures. i think im starting to get the hang of it :) ( sorry for the horizontal photos )
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