Forum posts by Patient Monkey

Thank you for the video, it's quite helpful and I've noticed some improvement already by trying out the technique described in the video, you've also helped remind me that gesture is less about creating a perfect human being, but more about creating an depicition of one that is exaggerated to emphasize movement, feeling, and story, gesture is only the first step in drawing the figure after all. Thank you for your time.

Hey Legacy55, I'll let you know if I need anything else, thank you for your time.

Hey Legacy55, I know of some of the bones, though mainly around the ribcage area (which is the same as the thorax I believe) but am unaware of what bones there are in the arms and legs, which you seem to put a lot of emphasis on for drawing the figure, I'll definitely see that I work more on growing my knowledge on bones, a good understanding of the skelton seems essential for drawing a figure that has weight and good proportions. And what you've said about using perspective grids in drawing is insightful as well, just by thinking about how to incorporate it I feel like my understanding of drawing the figure laying down is already growing, though I of course still have to study and practice. Rotating and imagining parts of the body in a 3-D space is something that I struggle with as well, and the idea has troubled me as well since it seems to rely on a strong understanding of the body which I lack, any elaboration on the topic would be helpful as well. Your input has been instrumental and I'm very greatful, I feel like I have a clear goal, which is to study skeleton, I know what results to expect and I know where to go to learn more. Thank you for your time.

Hey Legacy55, thanks for the tips, the bits about adding how to make my figures feel more solid are helpful, so is your insight on drawing laying down figures. About my second question, I see how my phrasing might be odd, I'm talking about drawing figures or certain limbs that look like they are coming towards or away from the viewer, like if someone is reaching thier hand out to you, I believe that's called foreshortening? Hope that clears it up somewhat. I have a very basic understanding of perspective, I'm aware of horizon lines, vanishing points, and somewhat of perspective grids, so I understand what you are saying, but not so much on how to implement it. I've seen perspective grids used often for drawing figures, though I have struggled understanding why or how it helps gives the figure more dimensionality. I have not dedicated much time to learning perspective though, if you don't mind answering, how useful is it for drawing believable figures? and how much of it do I need to know? If it is important, then I will dedicate some time to learning persepective as well, I plan to get to it anyways since it is a art fundamental. If you have any other wisdom to impart on me, I would appreciate it, thank you for your time!

Hey Aunt Herbert, thanks for the excellent comment. I used a basic phone scanner to take the pictures, but next time I'll definitely focus on taking a higher quality image so that people can critique the pure drawing. I've done mostly smaller gesture drawings so that I could fit more on a page, but it makes sense that larger images are a better test of my artistic abilities, I'll do more of them next time. And don't worry about Michael Hampton's teaching methods, he also puts focus on using fewer lines to develop a gesture drawing, he says to make lines that you can explain as essential to the drawing, it's just my fault that my drawings are messy. Gesture is the human body broken down in its barest components, so I'll focus on using further minimizing the amount of lines in my gesture drawings, maybe limit myself to a set number of lines? I'll work to implement everything you mentioned into my art, thank you for your time!

Hey Itopal, thank you for the critique! Next time I do figure drawing, I'll make sure to be concious about using more asymmetry and keep the flow going through the entirety of the body. Thank you for also bringing to my attention Michael Hampton's youtube channel, I'll be sure to check it out. Thanks for the compliments as well, they're really encouraging, have a good one!

https://imgur.com/DIue1lv

One didn't send apparently, let me try again

https://imgur.com/DIue1lv

https://imgur.com/qJkTLoY

https://imgur.com/RqH4Gtx

I am using Figure Drawing:Design and Invention by Michael Hampton to learn how to do figure drawing, far I have learned mostly of how to use line with asymmetry, repetition, and wrapping lines, ideas of skeletal landmarks and volume, I still struggle to implement ideas of gravity and weight.

Here are my gesture drawings, as said in the title, I spent 4 minutes on each for an hour, plus additonal poses. My process was to stare at the pose for about an minute, trying to discern where to guide the eye and what types of lines to use, where to place the major masses and such. Then I worked to implement the plan I developed, I work slow and tried to be concious of line placement since I want to be as efficient as possible. I start with the head, then try to get my way down to the foot, then I add in the arms.

Please point out any flaws you see, and give me your process for drawing the figure, lastly I have some questions.

How do I make my drawings more solid, add a sense of weight to the figure?

How to draw wrapping forms better, I have difficulty drawing limbs and images in general that look like they are receding or coming towards the viewer.

And how do you draw figures that are laying down on the ground, normally when I try to draw them they end up looking flat.

Once again all critique is appreciated, and if you have any other books or videos for me to check out, let me know, though I am more preoccupied with getting what I can from the book I already have, thank you for reading!