Gestures, those pesky little exercise that students race through in order to get to the long pose. But the gesture can be an art form in itself, a record of an artists understanding of the figure and so much more then a "warm up" exercise. I often tell my students that what they dont understand in a gesture, they wont understand in a long term drawing. If you are perplexed by the shape of a knee in a 5 minute gesture, chances are you wont understand it any better given a longer pose. The gesture allows an artist to see where their knowledge of a figure is lacking, or generalized.
Gestures are a dialog between the artist and the figure, a system of short hand mark making that describes the form. Broad sweeps of value can quickly describe the under planes of a figure. Sensitive line quality can direct the eye around the contour. Its a delicate push pull between value and line to define the pose. If done with intent the gesture can quickly and expressively describe the strain of the pose or the grace of the model. The gesture should be so much more then a contour... for the contour is where the figure ends. The gesture is a record of the artist searching to find correct form... a catalog of the artist seeking the more accurate passage.
Consider these lovely gestures the next time you have the opportunity to draw a 5 minute pose, perhaps they will inspire you to push your gesture to the next level.
I didn't't realise they were called gestures... (clearly had my head in the clouds)
But I think you've made a very valuable point here. At a university art group I used to attend, wealways started with a three or four five minute sketches, before moving on to a lenghtier one, say 15 or 20 minutes, before taking our time at fuller piece. And it's like warming up before you start running or dancing -I found that foundation so helpful each time.
Thakns for posting this - and it's great to see that some people do post their gestures. I alays think they're some of the most interesting to see - because they can capture so much life.
I've done 2 kinds of gesture drawings: The typical ones where things are not often in proportion and they look pretty rounded I guess you could say but they convey the movement and action of the figure. Those could be from 20mins to 10sec. The other kind are also gestures but they're more technical. It's when you only concentrate on the big shapes and large plain changes. Those took like 2 and half to 3 hours. But you are still only looking for larger movement of the whole shape.
The more gestures you do the faster you will get at laying in a drawing and it will also make you realize what to look for first in the overall movement of the figure. They're still a pain in the ass sometimes though.
These have a lot of energy. Last summer I participated in a show of figures from my life group, mostly consisting of 20 minute poses. One member entered a graphite drawing with two or three gestures on it, asking price $1200. One viewer was indignant at the price, saying that it it only took him about 5 or ten minutes to draw, and it reminded my of the Whistler defamation trial. My polite reply was that it took him 5 minutes to draw, but 35 years to learn how to draw it!
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But I think you've made a very valuable point here. At a university art group I used to attend, wealways started with a three or four five minute sketches, before moving on to a lenghtier one, say 15 or 20 minutes, before taking our time at fuller piece. And it's like warming up before you start running or dancing -I found that foundation so helpful each time.
Thakns for posting this - and it's great to see that some people do post their gestures. I alays think they're some of the most interesting to see - because they can capture so much life.
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Make a worthwhile comment!
The more gestures you do the faster you will get at laying in a drawing and it will also make you realize what to look for first in the overall movement of the figure. They're still a pain in the ass sometimes though.
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I love gesture drawings, they are so pure.
My teachers always stressed
Gesture, Balance and Proportion
in drawings.
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