A question regarding gesture drawing

[r4fay]

Right so after wasting time mindlessly following tutorials on deviantART, I finally started looking into more serious tutorials. After searching for some time on the internet, I came across the name "Glenn Vilppu". So I picked up his drawing manual and DVD of the same name.

I went ahead and watched the first lecture (twice), read the manual and this question came up to me: Should a beginner really be doing gestural drawings? I mean, they don't know anatomical structure, proportions and stuff. I started doing some gesture and they came out bad. Torso too big, legs too short, etc. I am a total beginner.

Here's the only satisfactory gesture that I managed to do...

[LightandDark]

Shut up and draw... when you made a 100 of these come back and we'll talk .

Gesture is about movement not about structure.

If it bothers you that you don't know stuff like anatomical structure, you go and learn anatomical structure and keep drawing, if Vilppu doesn't talk about it then get Loomis, there is no right and wrong, its mostly just do and keep doing.

Every artist eventually falls into a 'Am I doing this right?' pitfall but to get out of this the key is not to get too hung up about it, search for knowledge when you think you need it but do not stop creating and enjoy yourself, even if what you do doesn't seem to cut it by your own standards at first.

[tarzan4496]

LightandDark - What an amazing post!


r4fay- I have experienced similar insecurities. I started drawing figures long before I knew what proportions and anatomy actually meant. Your gesture drawings will look like ungodly scribbles when you're just starting but thats alright. Gesture drawings are supposed to capture the 'action' of the model, not really the model itself. Proportions and anatomy will automatically find themselves into your gestures as you get more and more experience drawing them.

Draw quick loose lines, don't aim for pinpoint details. I am still having a few problems with gestures myself and am prone to get caught up in details. A way I try to avoid this is by immediately moving onto another body part when I notice that I've spent too much time on the current one.

It's an exercise for giving you a sureness with the pencil all the while allowing you to depict the 'essence' of a pose in a few seconds. Measuring proportions and checking anatomy are stages further along the road so don't worry!

[r4fay]

Thank you for such elaborate replies guys! Much appreciated.

So I should keep drawing gestures to get a sense of the human figure without worrying much about the "other" stuff, that is what you guys are suggesting.

[mickeymao]

Yes, keep doing them. They're fast, so you will have time to do the other types of study as well. But do not abandon gestures. Try drawing things that move too -- you will really start to appreciate how long a few minutes is!

[jinny]

You should read Walt Stanchfield's two Drawn to Life books. Great for gesture drawing.

[Heyriel]

It varies from person to person...since gestures are only meant to capture the motion, you probably don't 'need' knowledge of bone structure. And there probably are amazing artist who can draw figures without knowing what hips look like, nut for my part, I found knowledge of skeletons and muscles to be very helpful for drawing from life and simply vital for drawing from mind.

[manlybrian]

Participate in the Spartan Camp threads if you want to get in some good gesture practice.

http://conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=74