Gesture Drawing

It's time to sit down, relax, and scribble.  Gesture drawing is one of the best things to learn when it comes to drawing from observation.  It teaches you to look at your subject in it's entirety, instead of focusing on the details.

The best way to teach gesture drawing is to draw the human figure within a time limit.  Have a student stand in front of the class and strike a pose.  The rest of the class will have to draw this student in their entirety using only line.  Start them off with a time limit of 30 seconds, then draw another one in 20 seconds, and continue shortening the time limit until you reach 5 seconds.  This will show them that they have to be loose and quick.

The shorter the time limit, the more they will be forced to ignore detail and focus only on the pose of their model.

The Project

After the students have thoroughly explored gesture with graphite and charcoal, the next material should be pastels.  Each student should have 3 different colored pastels, one for each tone; highlights, shadow, and a middle tone.  This exercise will make them focus on the form of the figure but also shapes of light and shadow that fall onto the figure.  This should also be a timed exercise but much longer than the earlier drawings.  Around two to three minutes is best depending on how the students performed earlier.

The goal for the project is to contain the entire figure onto a large piece of paper, roughly 18 x 24.  First gesture the figure with the middle ground just like they were with the earlier drawings.  Once the figure has been established, go in with the the other colors to gesture the shapes of light and shadow.  Stress the importance of keeping things loose and quick.  Accuracy is not very important, but correct placement of light and shadow will be expected, as well as accurate proportions of the figure.

Student Examples:

Professional Examples: