So last we left off on this series for drawing dynamic figures, | said that one of the most, if not the most, important thing to practice is gesture. But how exactly do we study gesture? What are the best exercises for studying gesture? Well, I'd like to share with you the things that | personally did to study gesture, as well as a few things that | wished | wasn’t so concerned with through hindsight.So, really quick, like I said ia %\ before, a gesture drawing is : — simply a drawing that captures the feeling of movement, action, — SN Ys hae or form of a pose. We're not focusing on how My N correct the anatomy looks, just on the essence of a pose. The reason why gesture is so important to practice is that it essentially trains your “sah hand, by repetition, to draw = what you've already seen. In 4 other words to draw from J ¢ a imagination! Which in turn j \ will help in drawing dynamic a figures. CC ———If you’ve ever looked into gesture drawing then you've probably come across the phrase “action line? or “line of action” before. This is one of the primary ways to practice establishing the gesture of a pose both by seeingit ina reference, or by putting it down on the page. The purpose of an action line is to give you a jumping off point for the sense of motion or flow you'd like to convey in a pose. In the drawing to the right, the line in red is my action line, and with that I'm able to draw a pose that follows the direction, the flow of that line. ~ \ ~ ~ } SY ae NN 4 _ ~ wit < =.There can be Si more than one 1 Sometimes there can be as action line! 1 many as three action lines a Ss = pose may be following. There rN can be one for the arms, and another one for the legs. It’s up IN to you. j What is the flow that you ; want to achieve? Once you have an idea, use as many —— action lines you think will help you in capturing that flow.Take a look at this photo here. How do we spot an action line in a reference? Look at the flow: the body is conforming to. There are actually quite a few action lines in this pose!For starters, there are three primary lines used in a gesture drawing. ( Ss | C curve § curve Straight line These three lines are the foundation for any gesture drawing.For example, 2 this c curve can be used to represent a shoulder! While this one can be used to represent the lower leg! aThe gesture drawing below contains a few examples of these three lines in use. a ~ WN > bes pees \_ S cumeEvery line that you make is a variation of those three lines. Practice drawing a pose with a reference or through \ imagination and actually tell yourself in your head the next line your going to put down. Get familiar with making these marks, and the \ i more you do, the faster you will get. exThese are two examples of gesture drawings that convey the same gesture, but one is made up of primarily lines, while the other is employing just a tiny bit more form.One thing | said previously is that you don’t need to know the human anatomy to study gesture, and that’s because the idea of gesture isn't exclusive to the human figure. It’s in everything! (63 \ ouetl \dYou can practice with 9 Or with stick WgIf it reads, it ey works. &) a Py ob oe \ )Don’t worry too much about being good. This might sound counterintuitive. Isn't the point of study and practice about getting good at what you're studying? Well... yes. HOWEVER, in this particular stage of study, being so concerned with making your gesture drawings look good, in my experience, will stall your progress. $o why? Well because much of the point in studying gesture, at least in the beginning, is training yourself to draw not by thinking too hard, but by feeling. Capturing the essence of a pose quickly and conelsely. \ ; SixHave you ever takena pencil and just scribbled all over it? Just a whole page of nonsense? If you have, were you thinking diligently about every curve, dip, and dive in the marks you were making? Chances are the answer is no. You just did whatever you felt like, right? That is one of the keys to gesture drawing.Just another example!So for my closing statement to this part of drawing dynamic figures, study gesture. Don’t be so concerned with getting it right the first time because the truth is is that this will take time to become intuitive to you. Allow yourself to take as much time as you may need to grow comfortable with capturing a gesture. Don't stress about it, and have fun!Okay, so I wanted to talk about dynamic figure drawing. I love dynamic figure drawing, and while I'd really like to just tell you the one answer you need to know in order to immediately be able to draw super cool figures, thing is, it may not be as simple as that. l often get asked, “How do | draw dynamic figures?! | can never get the anatomy right!” And that’s where I feel a lot of beginner artists may have trouble in their understanding of what dynamic figure drawing is, and how you develop that skill. So | wanted to say this one thing first and foremost: Dynamic figure drawing is not the study of human anatomy. Studying human anatomy and studying dynamic posing are two completely separate practices, in my experience.So, what is dynamic drawing? What makes a figure drawing dynamic? For me, it just means a drawing that is not “static” In other words, a drawing \ that conveys a sense of ) motion or movement, or even personality. The drawing on the left may typically be the kind of — drawing one would call “dynamic” High energy, exaggerated action, and Cc while yes, that drawing can be considered “dynamic? it’s also a pretty extreme example of what dynamic fF can be.The one on the left is what I'd call a “static” pose — no movement, mannequin-like, and no personality. A “still drawing” pose. Now, there is no “action” really in this pose. Hell, there isn’t even really any movement either. However, this pose contains personality. The er is not standing still like a robot. There is a feos within this figure. There is movement in it’s energy, in other words: There is GESTURE. Je \ The one on the right is what I'd consider a dynamic t Take a look at these two drawings. Cs < a Ly ( Ny (Gesture, in my opinion, is the lifeblood of dynamic drawing. There is no better place to begin your study of dynamic figure drawing than with gesture drawing. Like I said before, dynamic drawing is not the study of human anatomy. When someone says to me “I just can't get the anatomy right? in regards to dynamic drawing, | feel like their priorities are not in the right place. Frankly, the fact the you may know how the shoulder connects to the trapezius muscle will not make your drawing dynamic, The knowledge of the human anatomy Is simply a tool, a well of a resource to pull from that will amplify your knowledge of posing, but that study I feel like should come after you study gesture. \ And likewise, gesture is not the study of human anatomy either. Rather, it is the study of the flow of it. The rythm of it. The pushes, twists, and pulls the body may conform to. And the best part is, you don't need to know an ounce of human anatomy to practice gesture. I f aN PS , ALook, if all you can draw is this? —> Fantastic. That’s ON all you need.