hi there welcome to my studio thanks for checking out this video my name is Siobhan on
this channel i share videos about a dynamic and expressive approach to figure drawing
at the heart of this approach is gesture drawing and last week in the comments i was asked:
"how do you see the gesture in a pose and what is the difference between the gesture
and a line of action"; so in this video i'm going to break it down and i want to give you
one simple tip or one piece of advice that will really help you to see the gesture in any pose
So, I'm really passionate about an expressive dynamic approach to figure drawing especially when
you're drawing the figure from life because for me gesture drawing isn't just one aspect or one part
of drawing it really is a way that can unlock ALL of your drawing. On the one hand gesture is how
you make marks on the page it's your mark making it's really the two things are very intertwined:
how you draw across the page is your unique and distinctive signature. And on the other hand,
the gesture is also the MOVEMENT or the dynamic quality that you see in the model. So,
really your marks or your gesture should match the gesture that you see in the pose the easiest most
basic way to see the gesture in any pose is to look for the movement so i'm going to pull up some
images that i just did a really quick search on Pinterest for "gesture poses" and there are loads
here to choose from but let's just start with this idea of movement as a basis for finding the
gesture. Gesture is often described as the energy or the essence of a pose but it's really helpful
to look for movement so first of all always ask yourself "what is the direction of the pose"
that's going to be the most obvious pointer to the gesture. And the most obvious way to capture that
is through a line of action a line of action will give you one overall basic movement of the pose
but the thing is is that it's just one line it's not a drawing it doesn't really say
enough and it doesn't fully describe the pose; it simply tells you the direction of the pose.
It is useful as a starting point, but to continue the drawing you need to start to look for movement
throughout the whole figure. The entire figure is always going to have various movements the legs
form one movement or direction the torso forms another the arms also form their own movements
And then within each of them the anatomy plays a rhythm that you can look for and describe as
movement or direction as well. So look at anatomy not just as a still life, but as movements
think about those anatomical features that are actually built to move and especially if you if
you're in a live figure drawing session that sense of how the forms move how they're built to move
you're much more aware of it. So looking at key anatomical markers like the muscle shapes or the
underlying bone structure you know looking at the round volume all of these aspects are going to
show you the rhythm and flow of the pose so that's my advice if you're really stuck on how to get
started with gesture look for that rhythm flow and movement it's as good a place as any to start from
And then to draw the gesture use your marks in
a way that matches that flow or that rhythm that you see
In other words let your marks be much more free-flowing than you normally
would draw allow them to go outside the forms allow them to go around the form and don't
restrict yourself to drawing neat outlines or to trying you know to get the proportions
right. And whatever you do above all else don't use a gesture line to draw a flat,
2d outline - try to incorporate a sense of volume into your drawing.
If you have a problem with the idea of free flowing if it sounds a bit too abstract and
silly just try it as a disciplined drawing drill see this as nothing more than a drawing exercise
you don't have to keep the drawings you can just use it to try and develop your mark making
and just see what kind of dynamic range of marks you can make in one drawing.
It's also a good exercise to see if you can draw instinctively and if you can draw intuitively
and that can be a really nice counterbalance to very carefully studied, detailed anatomy drawings
Overall i think this is a really good starting point, as i said, and i think the more you work
with this approach or this exercise let's call it the more connected you will get to your drawing.
And you'll start to see that gesture really is a unifying aspect throughout the whole pose
You know, you can give it any definition that you want that makes sense but ultimately gesture is a
cohesive unified expression of what you see. It definitely comes as practice maybe it can
develop over time for you or maybe it's an instant breakthrough for you, once you start to work with
it but it is an approach that is going to help you fully understand your own drawing language.
Gesture will teach you not only how to draw but how to learn to draw and because of that you will
always have a method for discovery through your own marks. The true nature of artistic
creation isn't a set of rules that you apply to your work it's really a process and your job as
an artist is to uncover that process. I think the fastest way to do that is through gesture drawing.
so thank you so much for watching this video and i hope it was useful or helpful to you
please let me know in the comments your thoughts i'd love to hear your feedback thanks a million
for being here give the video a like if you think it's worthwhile and don't forget to subscribe to
this channel so that we can stay in touch thanks for watching and i'll see you in the next video
you