Gesture drawing

Hello,

Little presentation of myself : Name's Nicolas, I am 24 and will going for artistic studies this year. I've been interested into art for a long time and as I am going for improve myself with the studies I'd like to really nailed it. So I try to practice a lot more these days. I think I'm starting to be better at gesture drawing, but obviously I am still a freshman ... I'd like to have some critics, I m sure there are plenty of mistakes...

Every drawings as been done in less than 2 minutes and the focus is on capturing the energy of the pose.

Thanks for having a look at my work and many more thanks for trying to help me out.

http://dhaimadoshi.deviantart.com/art/2014-07-19-7-469271327?q=gallery%3Adhaimadoshi&qo=0

http://dhaimadoshi.deviantart.com/art/2014-07-19-6-469270643?q=gallery%3Adhaimadoshi&qo=1

http://dhaimadoshi.deviantart.com/art/2014-07-19-5-469270625?q=gallery%3Adhaimadoshi&qo=2

http://dhaimadoshi.deviantart.com/art/2014-07-19-4-469270597?q=gallery%3Adhaimadoshi&qo=3

Your budy,
Dhaimadoshi.

These look awesome for quick gestures! It's hard to judge, but on some of the crouching gestures (in your first link), they look a little floppy in the spine. I'm not sure if that was what the photo looked like, or it's just weird to draw people crouching. But other than that, I'm super impressed!

Well, they arent perfect by any means, and I think the crouched position is the hardest to get right ..

Although, I'am not sure what you mean by floppy.

Thanks for the compliment btw !

I did published a tumblr billet in order to be easier to browse the different pictures. Also add some other ones I did so far. Please point out any reccuring mistake I would not be aware of.

There's the link :
http://dhaimadoshi.tumblr.com/post/92444670261

These are dont in 2 minutes for the most, some took me a few more to get right but never more than 5.

Hello Nicolas, welcome the site!

I can tell you'll be doing just great with your studies, you certainly have the talent for it!

Your gestures look good, but I also notice some errors in anatomy. Have you tried to focus on 30 second gestures instead of 2 minutes? Some of the errors are about proportions - e.g. a torso that is misaligned or has a much too long midsection. Forcing yourself to draw in 30 seconds forces you to focus on the basic shapes, which make a better foundation for refined pieces.

https://line-of-action.com/gesture-basics-1-line-of-action/

https://line-of-action.com/gesture-basics-2-torso-and-hips/

https://line-of-action.com/gesture-basics-3-joints/

These articles explain what I'm talking about very well. I strongly suggest you spend about 10 minutes regularly doing 30 second gestures - it's an amazing warm up, and it will benefit you with your foreshortening difficulties too.

I think the reason the crouching positions are hard for you is because you don't break the bodies down into basic shapes. Foreshortening is a matter of envisioning stacked shapes (such as cylinders and blocks) from a different angle. Building the body with these blocks before you flesh out is helpful in understanding how a leg/knee looks when crouched from the front, for example.

I hope this makes sense! If you'd like more help with that please let me know. :)

Hey, thanks for the comment, really appreciate it.

This makes sense, dont worry. I already read those articles and more, I think I pretty much get it in my head, but I still need practice to put them down on paper (or rather on computer). I have some problems with the size of the different body part, I guess I should take time to re learning it again.

Currently, I'm watching http://www.proko.com/ which explain things really well.

It is true though I didn't spent much time on the 30' drawing ... I'll try to stick to the simpliest form of the body to capture the proportions in my mind.

Lately I tried experimenting with "the bean" and I think I already improved a lot. Check it for yourself : http://dhaimadoshi.tumblr.com/post/93119517326

Please tel me what you think :)

(note : thumblr doenst necessary post the pictures in chronologic order

I did the exercice of 30' gesture capture. I realise now that I have some issues understanding the action line for the torso in some positions. Do you have any tips to find the action line easily ?

You can see in the following link the work i did :

http://dhaimadoshi.deviantart.com/art/2014-07-29-2-471641677?ga_submit_new=10%253A1406660000

I guess I should just practice more and it will come naturally, but in case I did some huge mistake I prefer to post it so that someone can have a look :)

My main tip for the action lines is to avoid drawing an s-shape for it. C-shapes only, because action lines only curve once! Other than that, don't be afraid to be dramatic with your lines. It's okay if the lines are longer than the spine and go through the head entirely. They're intended to help you place the rest of the body parts properly on the spine after all.

Thanks for the input, good tip ! I'll keep it in mind.