3 Tips for Gesture Drawing

This video explains 3 simple tips that you can think about, and to try to achieve in your drawings. These 3 tips will dramatically improve your gesture drawings, and your figure drawing overall. Gesture drawing is all about recording your response on paper, and the way you approach doing these really short 1 minute or 2 minute poses is all about making sure you get that response down on paper as directly as possible..
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[@zainabanimation936]

I noticed that even when you are drawing poses rather casually, the knowledge of anatomy that you have- bones, muscles, tendons etc -shows through your lines. As a beginner I can't imagine doing that in my drawings atm. I love your drawings though. I hope one day I can be this good

[@Drawing-Life]

Yes, can! You can easily do it, I know that it comes with simple practice, but i wanted to point out, I don't try to draw the anatomy as such.... it's more like I'm hitting the important landmarks - I try to follow the anatomy but focus on drawing the flow that runs through it. Hope that makes sense!! Great comment to get, and I appreciate you watching thank you so much 😊

[@zainabanimation936]

@@Drawing-Life I saw your video about that and I learnt a ton from it. I really appreciate your encouragement. It means a lot. Thank you so much :)

[@Drawing-Life]

@@zainabanimation936 ah that's great! it's nice to have an animator in the house!! Keep drawing, it all falls into place sooner than you think!

[@zainabanimation936]

@@Drawing-Life On it! :)

[@lshwadchuck5643]

I'm a retired illustrator who specialized in people, worked my way through art college doing sidewalk pastel portraits. Mid-career, I used to go to a life class on Tuesday nights. Any work I did on Wednesday was my best. I'm old and retired, but often feel if I lived in a city, I'd find a life class. I had no idea there was a resource like line-of-action! I might just burn through that dusty newsprint pad! Thanks for posting this. Too many animators and comic artists present anatomy-based formulae for figure drawing. This is useful for certain illustration work, but it doesn't train your intensity of looking. Of drawing shapes, not things.

[@Thestripper1]

Thanks this was a great demo. There is something about using a strict timer that can be really helpful, at least as a beginner I think. Because if you have set your timer to 30 seconds you know you can't aim for capturing much more than the biggest line of actions and the bare essence of the pose. This is totally different to 90 second poses. I think this is something that is not touched enough upon and is difficult to grasp in the beginning. Thanks again.

[@Drawing-Life]

Yes, I definitely agree, it's great to have that experience of sticking to a time limit and discovering what you can say in 30 seconds versus, 90 seconds or even 2 minutes. Great point, thank you so much for commenting! and thanks for watching :)

[@ARTYCOATY]

Perfect artwork!! So beautiful. Great work as always!! Thank you for sharing this inspirational work. I support you. My friend.

[@Drawing-Life]

@artycoaty thank you so much!! I love your channel and your work, this means a lot thank you :)

[@lindakim9172]

SO helpful!!!

[@OzyIllustrates]

As with your storyboard courses, such a helpful teacher. ✌️

[@stellarstories]

Very helpful, thank you.

[@albertromero6575]

I hadn't realized how much I relied on your videos as an inspirational springboard for my own drawing regiment until, for some strange reason, I couldn't find your videos on youtube.... So glad you uploaded again. Beautiful work as always .

[@Drawing-Life]

Wow, thank you Albert,that's amazing to hear - certainly gives me motivation to upload more!! :) I'm aiming for 2 videos a month and if I can will try to build up to weekly uploads. Thank you so much for your kind feedback, so glad to hear these videos are helpful

[@katenicolecastro]

I love your dog, and your works too!

[@chekovrules]

This was really helpful, thank you! I really appreciate the way you explained what you were doing and why, and it was great to see how you work. I really liked the tip about drawing through the figure. I've been drawing regularly for years but have only recently starting doing gesture drawing, and it's so tempting to get stuck on the contours of the body, lol

[@Amanita._.Verosa._.]

This is the one of the best tutorial I've seen (and I've seen many). Thank you!

[@veronicadavila3180]

You are the expert🙂

[@user-mw7nc5gl9q]

omg…… this is absolutely the most useful video i‘ve ever seen….PLEASE MAKE MORE OF THEM!

[@eabeloth7035]

Absolutely amazing. You seem very calm so thats a bonus because it makes looking way more natural.

[@Drawing-Life]

Ah, thank you - that's nice to hear! I don't think I am that calm, or at least it always feels like a challenge 😅 but a challenge I enjoy. Thank you for watching and leaving a comment! :)

[@eslammohamedaziz3007]

You the best teacher l saw Thank you

[@user-rq3sk7in9g]

It's very helpful. Thanks alot❤

[@vijaykumarthorat4450]

Very good, easily guidelines 👍 many thanks 🌹

[@Schwaaaang]

This is so helpful in terms of mindset. When we start learning drawing it's so hard to break the feeling that each moment in your sketchbook is for the purpose of presentation- exercises like this reinforce what's truly happening: A synthesis of person and paper. Losing yourself in the joy of translating sight into expression. Thank you for the excellent reminder.

[@Drawing-Life]

Thank you so much! this is a great comment to get, really glad you found this useful. I totally agree, and I think the more you support that expressive side of the process, the stronger your finished drawings will get! Thanks again for watching :)

[@mac_dutchman]

thank you for your video, it helped me a lot!

[@Drawing-Life]

Glad to hear that :) thank you for watching!

[@cripsudroiid452]

Un saludo muy especial desde Colombia y felixitandola por su tremendo talento👀👽👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@user-hg6co2mj1i]

شكرا على عملك

[@KalpriArt]

Nice drawing ..✍️

[@alexnewberry2728]

Great advice, I have trouble with short poses. Many thanks

[@Drawing-Life]

Awesome, thank you Alex glad this was helpful! thank you so much for watching :)

[@draw9768]

really a great video and tips. Thank you!

[@Drawing-Life]

Thank you for watching! :)

[@musiceyes7]

Thank you! I was looking for a refresher on gesture drawing. I soon closed other videos as they were not truly gesture drawing. This was wonderful!

[@Drawing-Life]

Thank you so much Melissa! So glad to hear this was helpful, really appreciate you leaving a comment :) good luck in your work!

[@jbkhan1135]

Incredibly helpful! I'm just starting to really "learn" drawing at 43 years old, although I was a "doodler" all through my school days. There's a lot to learn but this was really helpful to grasp the concept of gesture drawing. Thank you for sharing your insights!

[@Drawing-Life]

That's awesome! I have a few more recent videos about gesture drawing, definitely check them out for more. This is one that explains how to "see" the gesture: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKmYlWuBeJ6MhZI and there is a follow up to that on exercises to improve gesture drawing. Doodling is a great method to draw instinctivly and intuitively so it seems you've been doing it all along!! I would encourage you to draw as much as you can, and if you are interested in drawing the figure, then try to draw from life, or go to a life drawing class if you can. It really doesn't matter when you start, it's a wonderful journey to be on! Exciting times, enjoy!! :)

[@jbkhan1135]

@@Drawing-Life Thank you so much! I'll definitely check out those videos and I will certainly keep drawing :)

[@bugrilyus]

I love your videos! I started doing daily figure drawings after finding you, got a new sketchbook for it, and now I have a growing love for graphite and charcoal.

[@Drawing-Life]

That is awesome! How's it going? that's going to really improve your work, by drawing every day, so glad to hear that

[@bugrilyus]

@@Drawing-Life Thanks, I am doing at least 5-6 poses everyday. I wish it was more but since I am not a full time artist, this is enough for my hobby. Keeps me from rusting! :)

[@Daily_Digital_Drawing_D.D.D]

많이 많이 배워갑니다.

[@stratovolcano7813]

I love your technique a lot 💜💕 Thank you for the video!!! It's instant inspiration lmao

[@Drawing-Life]

@knightly thank you so much!! Haha, wow, delighted to hear that :)

[@zainabanimation936]

I like how you make the videos. They are comforting to watch. That dog is lovely and your studio is awesome!

[@Drawing-Life]

Aww thanks - that's my dog Jessie, she's my indispensable studio assistant! ❤😊

[@rachelreed6061]

Thank you for this super helpful video! I’m relearning how to draw after a long hiatus and I’m starting with gesture drawing. :)

[@Drawing-Life]

@rachelreed that's awesome to hear!! That's exciting to be getting back into drawing .... it never really leaves you no matter how long you pause the practice! Hope you are enjoying the process. Thanks so much for watching this, that means a lot :)

[@KidIndia]

Found your class on Skillshare. You’re awesome and an amazing teacher

[@Drawing-Life]

@KidIndia thank you so much! That's wonderful to hear, so glad you're in my class, thanks for the comment! 😊

[@syamkumar3541]

Thanks ❤️❤️❤️❤️🌹🌹🌹🌹

[@Aritul]

Thank you.

[@Drawing-Life]

Thanks for watching :)

[@gianghuynh4143]

Wow they’re really useful tips 🔥 Now I know my problems. Thank you soo muchhh 🙏🏻

[@Drawing-Life]

@oasishoo so glad to hear that!! :)

[@mickyleachlover]

I really enjoyed this upload. Loved the way that your quick sketches conveyed movement and expression of form so well. Surprising what you can achieve in 2 minutes. I am quite inspired to give it a try as I have a life group session this week. Many thanks for posting.

[@Drawing-Life]

That’s so great to hear, thanks for watching ! Yes It is surprising what you can get down in 2 mins or less if you try to focus on the essential, what it is you really want to emphasise, rather than all the details you could draw. Hope you can get some good practice at life drawing. Let me know how you get on ! 😊👍

[@dees9502]

Wonderful videos. I’m delving into drawing from photography and painting. Your instruction is outstanding 🙏

[@Drawing-Life]

@deeS wow, thank you so much for saying that! :) thanks for watching!

[@b00gi3]

This is such an awesome channel Siobhan. Really enjoying this! You're highly skilled and knowledgeable, thanks for sharing.

[@Drawing-Life]

Wow, thank you so much!! hoping to get back to work now in the New Year :) stay tuned!! Happy New Year to you, appreciate your comments here

[@kalpanaartwork4230]

Awesome 👌🆒️🙌

[@themuls529]

Excellent

[@Drawing-Life]

Thanks so much for watching! :)

[@johannkraus7123]

The flow in your lines is wonderful. Thanks a lot for all these amazing videos.

[@pogz1]

its amazing how other people do things flawlessly yet mines not even i struggle endlessly.. even though.. ill continue pushing on no matter what.. even though my art really suck, all i need is a harsh and honest critique.. even though itll hurt.

[@satan8350]

@@pogz1 Relatable

[@gsdls]

Thank you for the instruction and demonstration. As a person who lives to draw and also works on CAD my brain gets conflicted. I can totally feel the energy in your poses.

[@Drawing-Life]

Thank you so much, that's great to hear!! I think this approach will actually really help your CAD drawing funnily enough! Drawing from life is also very supportive if you can get to regular life drawing sessions

[@KarenDodo9]

You are an exceptional teacher, explainer - I am learning so much with you, thank you - I hope to one day join one of your classes

[@Drawing-Life]

Wow thank you Karen, so kind of you, this is a really lovely, wonderful comment to receive! I hope we can work together soon too! I'm currently in Ireland, just taught a workshop. Will keep you posted when I am in your area for sure!

[@carpediem4508]

It's always a pleasure and motivation to watch you drawing figures

[@Drawing-Life]

@Denny_above_the_law thank you so much for saying that, it means the world! Really appreciate it :)

[@pogz1]

its always been my daily struggle in improving my art skills. ive been watching alot of videos yet i am not able to absord all of it. can you please critique my art video.. i need an expert opinion

[@chewher4171]

You make this look easy. Everyone else ended up with gingerbread cookie cut outs. Auto pilot takes over and we revert back to default settings and draw from memory rather than observation.

[@softtissuewheels]

We love you siohban

[@Drawing-Life]

❤️ Big love back! Thank you Alexis

[@darshanmarkeart]

Tnx ma'am , can we use gesture drawing to composing memory drawing in entrance exam ?

[@rihannacomesopen_]

I’m gonna try all your tips tommorow when I get back from school. Earlier I used to think that everything *needs* to be identical just like the refrence, like if the arm is in a specific perspective, I have to draw it that way, but watching you draw like that, with flowy lines and just capturing the feel of the pose while still looking real good makes me so motivated! I really suck at figure drawing relating things so it would be hard to be at your level anytime soon but I’ll hope I will reach around there in a year or two. Thank you mam. Edit: I couldn’t wait for tommorow so I just did some gestures now, and while they aren’t good and very beginner level like but they look somewhat better, I should watch this video time to time to see how you do your lines. I wanted to ask, is itadvisable to use an eraser? Also can you give any tips on capturing proportions/ have a video about it?

[@Drawing-Life]

This comment makes me so happy 😁I'm really glad to hear it makes sense that you don't have to try to be exact or perfect to the photo reference - sometimes that's what you want to achieve, but there's also a whole other way of drawing that can allow you to be expressive and dynamic in how you draw. Hope you practice this technique a lot, but it's also about how to think about drawing as much as it is a "technique". To answer your questions - I don't usually use an eraser for gesture drawing - all the lines become part of the drawing, and if you make "wrong" lines or marks, just draw over them, in the end the viewer's eye will see the correct ones! And about capturing proportions: well, it comes with time and practice! I will say, it does help to know a little bit about anatomy, but personally I started out just using my line work to find the figure, and that in itself taught me how to feel the proportions more instinctively. So, when you practice this expressive, flowing line work, don't be overly concerned with proportion and anatomy, it will come in time, and you'll learn more from observation. Hope this makes sense! I have more videos on this channel about gesture drawing, so let me know if you have other questions.❤

[@rihannacomesopen_]

@@Drawing-Life thank you so much for writing all the tips and such 💙:D I like the way you think, I think ive found a good teacher who suits my way of thinking about gestures on KZbin, I will keep practicing and hope to get better even though I need to focus on studies more, your way of drawing lines just motivate fuel'd me right now :)

[@Drawing-Life]

@@rihannacomesopen_ that's awesome to hear! Draw when you can, in between studies or after, there's no time limit on your art journey!! i'm very happy to hear that you found this channel 😊 always here to help if I can, just let me know!

[@catsrup123]

this was so helpful, i was wondering if you ever use conte sticks? I use conte sticks and I have trouble switching from the side of the stick (for shading or structure) to the sharp part for the outline or smaller details (the tip of the stick) its especially hard since the conte stick is so small ( I'm using the stick as I was advised to do so rather than the pencil for school) and I was wondering if you knew anythign that could help with this? I also draw on my desk and not on a stand since I'm doing all my gesture drawings at home (where i live there are no live sessions, atleast for now since its christmas) I'm fairly new to all of this and I'm just so lost

[@Drawing-Life]

Yeah I find using a conte stick for that kind of effect of drawing with line and tone is not so easy. Conte is a mix of charcoal and crayon, so it's not as soft as charcoal and therefore it's that bit more difficult to get those easy tonal marks. However it's better I find than graphite pencil. So, what I would suggest is that you could try experimenting with charcoal sticks and to make dynamic and gestural marks with the sides and the tip of the charcoal as you draw. I'm not sure if you have to use only a conte stick for your work, but if you can use charcoal it's a very good drawing tool. I tend to use compressed charcoal for gesture drawings, and willow or vine charcoal for longer drawings (compressed is much more suited to fast gesture drawing). And regarding drawing on your desk - that's fine, except that eventually you'll want to draw on an easel to get much more fluid and dynamic with your drawing style. You could clip your paper to a board and lean it against the back of a chair or a pile of books. The idea with drawing upright is that you have a better eye-line to your work, and that you use your whole arm, and avoid drawing just from your wrist. Phew!! that was a long answer, I hope it helped in a small way!! Just let me know if you have other questions. The main thing i will say: don't worry! There is so much to learn and experiment with and it's all part of your own process, no one else can really tell you what is right when it comes to drawing, until you've experimented with it yourself and feel that it's right for you. We can only give suggestions for you. So, you are doing great, and everyone feels that way at the beginning. Just keep drawing!! 😊👍❤

[@catsrup123]

@@Drawing-Life thank you so much for the answer ❤️

[@jeconquy]

The flow of your lines are incredible. You have a real sensitivity when drawing. love your short cuts on hands and feet. Would it be possible to get advice, a demonstration on how to draw short cuts for a beginner? Thanks . reallly enjoy your videos!

[@Drawing-Life]

Hi Jerome, thank you so much! It's a bit difficult to try to explain this here, and yes, I will aim to make a video about this topic.... Very briefly, my best advice I think that I would give a beginner is to make a big effort not to think of these marks as "shortcuts"..... that is the main pitfall. What you want to aim for is to experience a "response" as you observe, and to make a mark on the page that comes from that observation, or noticing. This is the difference between a gesture drawing and making a simplified drawing of a "figurine" .... So, as a beginner to build up your confidence in observing like this, just practice 😅 ...Not exactly the easy answer to get, but don't over think it too much! If you need further support, I highly recommend the book "The Natural Way to Draw" by Nicolaides, you've probably seen the video here that i have about it? He explains this approach perfectly.

[@jeconquy]

@@Drawing-Life thank you, I'll try that

[@jeconquy]

@@Drawing-Life yes i have seen your video on the book and I have ordered it. Maybe as you say I'm over thinking it. Many thanks for the advices.

[@jeconquy]

@@Drawing-Life Actually it's the best advice ("don't over think it too much!") that one can give to a beginner. I've noticed that after an hour of drawing one minute to 2 minutes poses, I'm able to shortcircuit my brain, and trigger a response, as you put it : "What you want to aim for is to experience a "response" as you observe." Thanks

[@jabir5768]

Im more impressed by her mark making Whenever I go with an overhand grip I feel like I have less control

[@its_randhir]

👍

[@andreamg2040]

I have a question. What is the best tool for figure drawing? Charcoal?

[@satan8350]

For me,Pensil(2B-8B) or a mere mechanical pen :D

[@NotAppIicabIe]

Is it okay to not worry or focus on getting the proportions and sizes of everything right in gesture drawings? I feel that's my biggest weakness and slows me down a lot in art.

[@Drawing-Life]

It's absolutely ok, in fact to practice gesture drawing it's better to simply draw instinctively and not try to achieve proportion and size - the point of gesture is to draw something different to the normal "rules" of composition - so you are drawing energy and movement and action. I hope that helps? Let me know! But definitely try to be more free with gesture and I think it will actually help you even more for drawing proportions in the long run. It helped me that's for sure!

[@user-ut4qg3ys5c]

Hey there! I'd really appreciate to get your response on my question. Art teachers and skilled artists tell that drawing figures from life is important to improve the skills. I believe life can teach me much more than 2D content on the internet but, alas, I'm out of time to visit a specialised place where I could draw bodies. So photos, 3D models and video sessions are the only things I can allow myself to study drawing humans. Is it possible for me to reach the level of Michelangelo or Rafael just using flat images?

[@Drawing-Life]

Hi there, thanks for this super interesting question, it's a very good one to think about. My advice for anyone who can't get to life drawing, and draw the model from life - is to at least draw other things "from life". You can draw people in a cafe, or in the park, or you can even focus on drawing landscapes, or objects from life. Make that a regular part of your drawing practice, as well as drawing from photos. The whole idea is that you start to "see" very differently than if you just study photos. I hope this helps! :)

[@user-ut4qg3ys5c]

@@Drawing-Life , oh, thank you! Yes, I already have a habit to draw different stuff at home + I've got a wooden dummy to practice figure drawing. It's stiff but atleast contains from simple forms :D

[@Drawing-Life]

@@user-ut4qg3ys5c the mannequin helps - but much better is if you can draw a person. It's fine to simplify the forms, but eventually you want to feel comfortable drawing something that is not simplified. So, even if it's a quick portrait sketch of a friend, or drawing people in a cafe as I mentioned. But, good to know that you already have the habit of drawing at home.

[@juancarlosalvaradolima885]

No matter how hard I try, I feel that when I draw the poses the model comes out very disproportionate or the lines of the bodies come out so straight that they don't look natural. What I can do?

[@kathleenclarke828]

otherwise great

[@PatrickTie]

There was no sound on my end 😥

[@Drawing-Life]

@synonymousart that exact thing happened to me recently when I was watching something on another channel, there was no audio playback at all, even when i refreshed, i ended up coming back to it later, and it worked again. Not sure, maybe a glitch in YT? There's definitely audio on this - hope you get to watch it with sound again

[@nellllo]

how about 30 seconds

[@Drawing-Life]

I would say try to make some marks that express the pose as a whole unit. You're definitely not going to get details down in a 30 second pose, but you can get line of action for the whole pose, or make marks that go from the top to bottom of the pose. I have a video here about how to approach 1 minute and 30 second poses: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnSVkKOvj7mnpLc But, essentially the approach is the same for all of these short poses - for 30 seconds, 1 min or 2 mins: follow the forms as you see them, but don't try to draw them accurately, instead, draw the movement and the "action" or dynamic quality within those forms. that's gesture drawing! :)

[@nellllo]

@@Drawing-Life thank you

[@kathleenclarke828]

music totally distracting

[@noah295463]

This is an amazingly done video. Very nice as always. I sent you a private email on Instagram. I hope you can answer to me.