Gesture Drawing Class Work (anyone want to post their work with me?)

[LauraA]

Great job naming your poses, as usual! I think the silhouette ones are particularly nice! And I like how we were doing the same poses and came up with different ideas.

And thank you for the cupcakes, even if you dropped them! I really should have been quicker with my cupcake net, though.

Here are mine interpretations of some of the same exercises, but I went out of town yesterday so I'm a little behind. You know one thing this course is making realize I need to do? Study folds!

[TessaW]

@LauraA Oh my gosh, these are amazing! I love the distinct characters you created.

I'm currently trying to do assignment 2 , people as shapes. I'm a little confused. In her shape drawing demonstration she advised making a bounding box shape for the whole character to fit in, but in her examples for the actual assignment, it looks like the character design itself is based on the shape, instead of the bounding box idea. I'm a little confused as to how to approach the gestures/ characters. Design the gesture to a shape? or design the character's features/costumes with a shape in mind?

[LauraA]

@TessaW I think from the examples that maybe it's a sort of overall shape, like body type. I don't know about the gesture aspect, but I get the idea that it doesn't count so much in this one as general shape. At least, the examples aren't of grand gestures.

[Lovsey]

I’m on my last assignment for the gesture drawing course so I won’t post but I love seeing the way you have both approached the exercises, especially the way you have pushed the gestures progressively further into storytelling, creating characters. I plan to redo the course in a few months or so when I have gained more of a flow in my digital drawing (I don’t know how you manage to make such gestural lines @LauraA!?) and I’ll definitely push the boundaries a lot more - thanks for the inspiration!

[LauraA]

@Lovsey How are you working? It is usually more difficult to work gesturally in digital media, and even more on an Intuos.

As for developing a freer line, I have had a lot of experience, during various periods (but unfortunately not now), with real life gesture drawing, down to 15-30 second poses, with a fat charcoal crayon on a big newsprint pad. It absolutely forces you to let go of precise ideas! If there is a life drawing group near you, see if they will let you join them!

[Lovsey]

@LauraA Thanks for the tips I’m working on an iPad Pro and it’s my first experience with digital drawing. I have done lots of life drawing in the past but I’m finding it difficult to translate those type of large sweeping lines to a 12.9 inch screen and an Apple Pencil..I wish there was a small, lightweight charcoal-sized version of a stylus haha. Maybe I should try holding it towards the end like a paintbrush...

[LauraA]

@Lovsey I have a 12.9" iPad on order right now, so I'll soon find out how difficult it is to translate the gestures! I do think it would be hard to get sweeping gestures on such a small surface. But I think the main thing is whole arm movement. If I'm not mistaken, Brooklyn even says just that at the beginning of the course! (If not, I heard it recently elsewhere on SVS.) I wonder what would happen if you stood the iPad up at eye level and tried drawing while slightly farther from it? And why not try it like a paintbrush?

At the risk of being a bit ridiculous (and showing how messy my workspace is), I just tried thinking about how I hold my pencil. The first photo is how I would hold it to draw on a newsprint pad. The second is how I use it to draw on my (slightly too small) Cintiq. In neither case does my hand touch the surface during the gesture stage. It does for the fine details, though. So take that for what it's worth! Who knows but that I may have my grip all wrong!

[Lovsey]

@LauraA Awesome! Thank you so much for sharing the photos of your digital pen grip. I have experimented and have found some gestural lines using versions of both of your examples.. I also notice a nice natural pencil-like effect by using the side of the apple pencil tip which I can do more readily with these looser grips.

I think I might have been working too small on the page for these gesture exercises and I definitely have developed of gripping the Apple Pencil too much, as if I am writing. I think I will try sketching bigger, with a bit of bodily distance when not working on the detail, and then resize as needed or just zoom in more to sketch smaller elements

[TessaW]

@Lovsey Ah too bad. Thanks for stopping in though! How did you like the class?

Ok, I did assignment 2. It was really hard. I definitely have room for improvement in this area and I'm hoping the character design class can help me with character shapes when I get around to taking it.

[LauraA]

@TessaW Interesting! I see that in the end you did it both ways--shape of pose and body type. I especially like your square ones, the pointing boy and the woman in the shower. And in general I like how the definite shapes have added interest to your figures. Just curious: Why does bored reading have a bored-er?

[TessaW]

@LauraA said in Gesture Drawing Class Work (anyone want to post their work with me?):

@TessaW . . . Just curious: Why does bored reading have a bored-er?

Lol. I somehow didn't catch the pun at first. I covered up a drawing that was extra ugly with a scrap of paper. The character design was over exaggerated but it had a generic head/face and the combo was just so poorly designed I couldn't stand to look at it. As a general rule I tolerate my ugly drawings, but sometimes their ugliness is just too extreme,

[Lovsey]

@TessaW said in Gesture Drawing Class Work (anyone want to post their work with me?):

@Lovsey Ah too bad. Thanks for stopping in though! How did you like the class?

I’ve loved it! The exercises had just the right balance between making me feel so challenged but also pretty successful because I was learning such incredibly useful new skills. I kind of had an a-ha moment about what I need to do to take my art into the illustration realm.

You’ve ended up finding some lovely characters in assignment 2. I love the hairdresser scene I am anxious for them both

[LauraA]

@TessaW Ah! I can understand that. We are artists, after all, and if something rankles, it really rankles!

[TessaW]

@Lovsey That's awesome! It's a good place to be- when you feel challenged but it's not defeating!

@LauraA I knew you'd understand.

Exercises and assignment for section 3. The waiting one was tricky.

[LauraA]

@TessaW Ooh!!! This batch looks particularly nice! I love the stripey "tornado" ones! I got a bit behind while reworking portfolio pieces, but I'll try to rejoin you when I get back from vacation.

[Georgy Rock]

@TessaW Golly, these are terrific!!!

[Kat]

Just read this whole thread - you guys are awesome! I've been trying to work through this class, but it's going in fits and starts. Too much going on with work and whatnot, I'm just mentally and creatively fried lately. But thanks for posting your work, it helps to spark a little bit of motivation to keep going and hopefully catch up someday.

[TessaW]

@LauraA Can't wait to see yours!

@Georgy-Rock Thank you so much!

@Kat Thanks! I think one good thing about this class is that it's in short little segments, so you can potentially do an exercise here and there. I think we can all relate to being mentally and creatively fried! I hope you can get on the upswing soon.

Here's section 4:

[aska]

I really want to do this class now! Such an awesome thread. I love the name of the poses @TessaW super funny and the poses look great and how do you find patience for so much practise??? Amazing

[LauraA]

Hi @TessaW! I'm finally back in here with you. I got stuck on assignment 2, got distracted with other projects, and finally yesterday I just went on to lesson 3. I want to do the whole class!

I took your lead and got a little looser with the comments, because I thought it helped with the storytelling aspect. I find that I start playing around with the drawing and then decide what the story is. (Maybe that's cheating?)

My three tries tended to get a bit away from the original, but I was finally pleased with the third one.

Also, the tornado drawing is a lot harder than it looks! And I misspelled despairing.

Please join back in! I'll try to spur you on!