Forumberichten van Syd O

Maybe you could try something where instead of trying to work with your head, you work with your muscles instead.

I also have trouble visualizing things, not to the extent of aphantasia, but I've never been able to draw a figure without a model or reference.

However, recently, when I've been doing gesture drawing warm ups, I've noticed that I finally have been able to scratch down some figures without any reference at all. No picture in front me, no Line of Action website, not even a poseable mannequin. They haven't been crystalline perfect figures, but they've been better than anything I failed to do in the past. And the thing about it is--I wasn't visualizing a pose in my mind at all. I was honestly just doing mindless doodles, curved lines and circles to get my arm ready for gestures. I was zoned out, head empty, listening to music, and I decided to try and turn the curves and circles into a simple figure, but that was it. I didn't picture a pose in my head, I didn't even let myself establish if it was going to be sitting or standing.

What happened was muscle memory. It wasn't my brain doing the drawing, it was my arm and my hand. My brain wasn't even there, it was a million miles away listening to the Skyrim soundtrack, it had no part in what I was doing. I realized that I've been doing so many quick gestures one after another after another that it's the muscles in my arm that now know where to place the parts of the figure and how to twist them to get a simple pose, not my head.

When you walk, you don't have to think about it, you don't have to picture yourself walking, your muscles just do it. You've been drawing for 13 years and you know anatomy so you're already over a big hurdle. My advice would be to use this site and many others like it to do a ridiculous amount of gestures and figure drawings, like hundreds. Draw figures from every kind of model and reference picture you can imagine. Build up an extensive catalog of poses not in your mind, but in your arm muscles. If your head isn't going to help you then kick it out and dis-invite it from the party. Teach your shoulder, wrist, and hand how to structure a body exactly how you want instead. Do something enough times and for long enough and your body will do it automatically without needing your head to provide a blueprint. Maybe it could end up being a great workaround to not being able to visualize something beforehand with your head. It can be a big shift in thinking but I think it's at least worth a try, good luck.

I rather like these, especially the second one.

To take it further I would suggest more study of perspective. On YouTube, Northern Kentucky University has a channel called Drawing Database where one of their art professors leads free college-level instruction on things like perspective, anatomy, figure drawing...this is what I've been using for forever and professor Marc Leone has a very good teaching style that's fun and easy to follow, he does a good job at making concepts and practices stick in your brain.

As for colors, I'm learning that when doing any kind of painting it helps to not think in terms of color but in terms of light. Color after all is just what we see in reaction to light. I'm currently reading the book "Color and Light" by James Gurney, but if you haven't heard of him just look up his artwork and you can see he absolutely knows his stuff. I'd suggest giving that a thorough read, it's available on Amazon but you might be able to find it in PDF form online somewhere.

I've been working on my gestures ever since first making this post and I had that aha moment myself just yesterday! I watched a video where the instructor was rendering the gesture in lines and I easily saw the difference in quality between just a few lines & me trying to scrape together a full figure. I remembered that identifying the action lines was actually how I started out with gesture drawing years and years ago, but I soon got discouraged that I couldn't bring out the form enough with just lines and that's how I fell into trying to make a whole figure. I'd gone through the tutorial on this site before but after that aha moment and now your post I believe I need a refresher course. Thank you for the advice!

That's great advice! Lately I actually have been thinking about the muscle memory aspect of it, and how a study of anatomy would help me fill in the blanks and maybe stop me from those scratchy lines that I make because I'm just not sure how the body would move. It's good to hear from someone else that the practice and repetition will help make it second nature in time. Thank you!

That's really helpful advice! I have been trying to do some slower gestures lately to give myself time to actually see and feel what I'm drawing, and I didn't even realize I'd been composing until you mentioned it but yes, I'm doing exactly that trying to fit all the figures onto one page. That was very insightful, thank you!

Hi! Thank you, it's very encouraging to hear I'm on the right track. I've definitely noted some progress recently but I get into the double-edged sword habit of comparing my work to others' & then I get unsure if there really was progress at all.

I always shy away from 30 second gestures, trying to avoid them at all costs, because as you mentioned my lines DO get a lot messier and shakier as I panic a bit racing against the clock and it gets discouraging for me to look at. But if you say it's ok and that sloppiness will get phased out with time I suppose I'd better finally get those infamous 1000 bad drawings out of the way sooner rather than later :)

Thank you again, my outlook is brighter now!

Hello,

I myself have recently come to these forums for advice on how to refine my gesture drawings, but seeing as you're starting out and I've been working at gesture drawing for a few years, I hope my advice can be helpful!

Gesture drawing is about finding and capturing the movement of a figure. This doesn't necessarily mean a model in action, even when someone's just sitting in a chair there is movement in their pose, i.e. the curve of their spine, the angle of their shoulders, the tilt of their head. But when you're just starting out what I suggest to avoid is getting too bogged down in the details of human anatomy--gesture drawing isn't quite figure drawing, the goal isn't to reproduce a picture perfect carbon copy image of the model. Do a quick Google image search of "gesture drawing" a note how simplistic they can be, some styles are merely just lines.

Line of Action itself has a great & quick tutorial here on how to capture the human form in movement with just lines and simple shapes, which is really all you need for gesture. Use this site and others like it (QuickPoses, SketchDaily) to practice your gestures. They are meant to be quick drawings to keep yourself from bothering with the tiny details as gesture drawing is about the big picture of what the figure is doing, 2-3 minutes is good to start. Give yourself a few seconds to study the pose, note the form and flow of it, and then spend the rest of your time drawing it in those lines and shapes. If you're using pencil, I personally find it helps to have an oversized drawing pad, the kind you need 2 hands to carry, as working big and giving yourself room to draw from the shoulder makes it easier to capture the curves of the human body. If you have to work small, use a pen, the ink helps you make bold and strong lines.

There is also a book I am currently reading called "Gesture Drawing for Animation" by Disney animator Walt Stanchfield. It's available online for free in PDF form and it doesn't just pertain to animation, Walt gives great advice and insight on the nature of gesture drawing and how to train your eye and your mind to quickly see the figure all in one go.

The anatomy of individual body parts might trip you up in the beginning, that is a problem that's plaguing me even now. When you're gesture drawing, your mind is essentially supposed to think "form", you don't want your mind thinking "head...arm...other arm...torso" because that can make your work stiff if you're focused so hard on acurately rendering the details. If you find that happening maybe save the more serious anatomy study for later, think of gesture as Level 1 and anatomy as Level 2--you have the cheat code to skip levels, but Level 2 will probably be easier if you go through Level 1 first.

My last bit of advice is to try and do gesture drawings every day. A whole page in a sketchbook, or a 15-20 minute session each day. Because gestures are done so quick, you need a lot of them to grind out that XP and level up, and working everyday is the fastest way to do that.

Sorry if I rambled a bit and sorry this answer is so long, but good luck!

Hello!

I actually do have a PDF copy of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, I got pretty far through it but now that you mention it I do seem to be in need of a re-read. The problem of the analytical brain overpowering the creative brain is exactly what's going on here. Thank you so much for the insight, I'm definitely due for a refresher course.

Hello! You can call me Syd-o :) I've been using this site for years now but finally decided to stop creating in a vacuum and get some real feedback from a community.

I've been attempting gesture drawing for years but even though I've seen slight improvements I still can't get to where I want to be. When I do quick gestures, my lines are scribbly, messy, shaky--even with pen. I have trouble not only SEEING the whole gesture but translating what I see into a drawing on a page. All I can see is the figure as parts of a whole ("Head...neck...arm...other arm..."), and not one single form, and with time constraints I suppose I freak myself out a bit and wind up with those scribbly and unsure lines in my haste to get something down. When I try to slow down to give myself time to see, I default into figure drawing, putting in uneccesary details and shapes *again* without being able to feel or record the emotion of the whole gesture.

Figure drawing I am halfway decent at. I've proven to myself that I CAN draw a human body, but I've yet to be able to capture the essence of a human body in gesture.

I'm currently reading Walt Stanchfield's "Gesture Drawing for Animation", as a career in animation is my endgame, but although the great Walt gives incredible advice and tips I'm having so much trouble applying it. I understand that gesture drawing is about "feeling the pose", but I just can't seem to switch into that kind of thinking--or if I do, I can't get my drawing hand to "feel the pose" either and scribbles come out no matter what.

It's a small sample, but here are some 30 sec-1 min gestures I've done today and yesterday. Any sort of critique, tips, or tricks would be greatly appreciated!