ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER: Gesture, Forms, and Animation

[@thecentralscrutinizerr]

I'm 54. Started drawing 50 years ago. I finally got the action line down. Now on to the next step. ✔

[@Ronno4691]

It's never too late.

[@flamethrower194]

Slow and steady.

[@user-lb3tg2qx8b]

So you think now, wait a week.

[@manmystery8804]

Never give up!

[@Ificationer]

it took me 100 years to learn how to draw the armpit. It's never too late.

[@dks6515]

i have been stuck on anatomy and poses for a while, i was learning about the muscles and bones etc. but my stuff still looked fundamentally wrong. Then i remembered this video a friend send me once about how i should watch this. This is exactly what i needed! Thanks MDJ for helping me again with one of your amazing videos, you're channel is just one big art book that can help everyone!

[@smashypeople]

Kenzo from LoveLifeDrawing also has plenty of good pointers.

[@andrewjohnson6716]

I'm fascinated by how, when I started with an action line, the figure decidd what it was as I drew. I start with the thought of "I'm drawing a ballerina doing a jette" and the figure said "no you aren't" ended up as a man slipping on a wet floor.

[@marktovstyga5460]

Why are you underrated? YT algorithms, why he underrated? This is university level stuff, better even.

[@moderndayjames]

Thank you sir! Hopefully less underrated by the day, the growth has been increasing steadily :D

[@marktovstyga5460]

OH, OF COURSE THIS IS UNIVERSITY LEVEL STUFF, THE DUDE IS A FREAKIN' TEACHER

[@ipotatosenpai7002]

Ikr

[@oxgene91]

It isnt anymore cause youtube is forcing le to watch it since a week ^^

[@danielalan1077]

哈哈哈，这可能是基础，但是很多人并没有这个能力

[@irissalls4265]

Very thankful for this, you showed some exercises that I’d never considered before. Learning to chang the perspective of a pose is so great for when you can’t find that perfect reference!!

[@kevin-lancheros]

Man this video is actually pretty damn good haha, I was already tired of seeing the same kind of videos about gesture drawing, with the same stuff repeated over and over again. But your video is different and actually has a lot of quality, so Thanks a lot!

[@keepyourshoesathedoor]

Kevin L I feel you.

[@butterscott9214]

Ok this guy is really talented but damn does he have nice hands

[@JayAyers]

2:30 That's interesting how you draw the legs! It makes a lot of sense to use the "S" shape there. 3:30 I love how you draw the feet here. Gonna try this in my next practice sessions!

[@TheAster3]

Seriously, you're really good, in my opinion. Like, I can imagine you being one of the designers for the Wicher 3's concept art studio, or at least helping design the Nilfgardian stuff. Great stuff, I aim to be able to naturally draw good poses like you. I quit long ago, felt like my stuff was too stiff and extremely distorted, it was a heap of trash. It still is, but it's slightly better than before, so I aim to continue practising gesture everyday and develop my forms. I don't intend to quit this time, I hope.

[@wokeupina]

What's up? Any news?

[@Maxer110]

Any news yet?

[@TheAster3]

@@Maxer110 I improved gradually, but I stopped practising a long time ago because I've pursued architecture design as my main area of focus. Regardless, I' can share some important things that I've learned if you're interested, I hope it helps you to continue working hard and stay fixated on your goals: 1) When they tell you to practice for several hours a week, it is absolutely true. You need to gain experience and a sense of comfortable/familiarise yourself with your craft on a deeper level. 2) Push yourself to achieve things outside of your comfort zone. You have to be in these states in order to grow, and even if you fail you must attempt to learn from your failures. A skill to develop with failure is being able to isolate *what* you failed, *how* you failed it and *what* you can do to prevent the failure that you've isolated. Achieve the three. 3) Study from many, many experts. There's a lot of ingenious tricks that they employ, the path to learn is seemingly never-ending because they also have some unique twist of their own in their style. 4) Ground the fundamental design concepts that formulate the building blocks to design. Some key fundamental areas that helped *tremendously* with posing/gesture was a stronger sense of *perspective, mass forms (breaking forms down into 3D shapes) and basic human anatomy.* These are three basic ones, there are others, but when these online teachers emphasise the importance of these building blocks, it's not without good reason. From my journey I've come to realise that if you neglect these important aspects, and expect to achieve greatness, then you've set yourself up for failure/disappoint. Grind these concepts out, and along the way try to *enjoy* the process as much as you can. Hard work, discipline/consistency and commitment is one thing, but desires/enjoyment towards the craft is another. This is important because you may potentially run the risk of burning yourself out, and it's okay (you may need a break), but if you want this to be your future, then make sure you try to secure your passion. You'll definitely understand the significance of this as you grow.

[@TheAster3]

@@wokeupina Sorry about the extremely late message, but I've given the news to Nicolas. Feel free to read, if you're interested.

[@Maxer110]

@@TheAster3 I really appreciate the time You took to answer me, and thanks for the various tips!!

[@ti2218]

I just spent the past year focusing mostly on gestures and poses, so this video is really good review to help me check up on myself, my mistakes, and what I should be improving on. Thank you!!

[@SerohYoon]

2:50 You know I had to do it to em

[@Mello.]

Hahahah

[@cocorosh7295]

I don't get it

[@SPACECOWBOY705]

@@cocorosh7295 it's a meme

[@cocorosh7295]

@@SPACECOWBOY705 what's a "meme"?

[@happygolucky8016]

Batter Wottle yr nan

[@polyxin1817]

I somehow love the way you draw poses, your drawings are kind of stylish, unlike most drawings I see in books that all look the same. The video has a good dynamism, it was very enjoyable to watch.

[@radioactive_angel]

Thank you so, so much! This is helping me out of my creative slump. I've been having a hard time loosening up, and getting my ideas on paper. Thanks!

[@richellechen2178]

I've never studied art before but I really enjoy drawing despite having a lot of struggles with technique. Thank you for sharing this content!

[@kimguir303]

okay I think I found my favourite art channel that's more technical focused

[@user-lu4fn9pe4y]

i really liked the music u used, so relaxing

[@katconley2787]

Im absolutely adamant its the gwent music from the Witcher game in the first part 😍 i love it

[@user-lu4fn9pe4y]

@@katconley2787 thanks 4 sharing

[@TheSketchBookCafe]

4 years later and this video still holds. Timeless information! Thanks James!

[@shadowkiss777]

your background music is actually one of my favourite soundtracks ever, recognized it instantly lol

[@unncomfyy]

A cool material to also work with for gesture drawing is charcoal. I find it forgiving and it flows nicely.

[@keepyourshoesathedoor]

fruit That’s all we did in art class and I disagree.

[@gregorycomey]

@@keepyourshoesathedoor How can you disagree?

[@smallartist4945]

@@gregorycomey Cause not every medium suits everyone

[@kristopherinfante1206]

Hell yeah I like the content! Not only does the instructional part help me get a sense of how to observe then apply, but serves as motivation when I can see you working traditionally on these exercises.

[@MOOEMAN]

"everything traditionally from now on"....music to my ears, thank you so much!

[@papyanose7657]

Merci beaucoup de nous aidé à la compréhension du dessin.

[@levyschultz6589]

Amazing content as always James. It helped me a lot. I wish we had a syllabus to know what levels of art to study, for how long to research before practicing, and how long to practice before moving on to the next stage...I.E. basic shapes/forms, shading/hatching, gesture drawing, poses, perspective. It would be a time saver and a life saver.

[@smashypeople]

I find one of the hardest part about self teaching all this stuff is figuring out to build your own cirriculum.

[@hueihuei3033]

This is great! You made it seemed so simple. I love the free hand drawings!

[@lttrickster5643]

I had started getting too used to drawing 2D icons of muscles instead of 3D, my proportions were off and my gesture was wonky. You’ve helped me so much! Thanks

[@mind-wont-ize9702]

videos like this are saving me a lot of money

[@shannontomlow4506]

This came in my recommented

[@beanliker]

broo this is so helpful! I've seen so many art channels say 'just do ur research, take (expensive) classes, etc 😇😇' and I just can't do that. Its way easier to digesting it In this video, and has taught me so much

[@mathieuwindsor3449]

Why did this not make it to my recommendations sooner! Your video has been the one I've enjoyed the most and learned most from since ive started learning!

[@christinekoper2407]

Okay you’re super concise and easy to understand, but unrelated, I love the background music you’re using!

[@luxmanbruv9624]

Love the channel mate! keep on doing what you're doing!

[@jalcomics]

Thank you James.

[@dexterstudiosaaoi7630]

BEST GESTURE DRAWING VIDEO ON KZbin 🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣 thank you 🙏

[@posthumously]

never really saw the point in using basic forms (cylanders, etc) until I saw this video, so thanks

[@tomforsythe7024]

Motion capture can really help. Carnegie Mellon University has a huge mocap library available for free download. Just search CMU mocap.

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

This was insanely helpful. You explain concepts in a way that is easy and fun to learn.

[@mateodonet4707]

hey I'm french, I didn't know your chanel and damn that's some good teaching skill you have here. Hope to see more video like that ;)

[@nicolle2126]

These exercises seem really fun, thanks for the video ^^

[@user-ef8vb5bb9i]

so magically smooth line work. envy you

[@luizabegotten2214]

My biggest problem is how to add the perspective of the clothes on the dynamic characters. Tips on how to di it?

[@TheOneAndOnlyKittyCat]

1:23 Took me a minute to realize that I have those exact same markers

[@RichtsuSan]

w/ different lvl

[@TheDanEfranChannel]

Ten-second gesture drawings seem very useful! Any tips on how you do them that fast?

[@simpletown323]

Dan Efran the point of 10 second and 30 second gestures is to get rid of all the unnecessary information that a final drawing has. It makes you simplify and draw from instinct and makes you develop confidence in what you're drawing. The end result is something very simplistic but at the same time has a strong sense of dynamism, character and personality!

[@moderndayjames]

Agreed, you just have to boil it down to a line of action, the masses and lines for the arms and legs. It's less a matter of trying to be super expedient and moreso a means of just studying the positioning of the body. You'll find that when you do this, the studies will naturally become very quick

[@Team6OWG]

8:10 the previous 2 figures have the right arm of the figure punching but now its the left arm in the 3rd figure?

[@joaquimraphael4875]

Excelente o curso que estava faltando gratoo Joaquim raphael

[@VaishaliVijaybabu]

You are amazing. Your videos make my helplessness come down. Thank you so much! I wish I knew your channel before!

[@NoName-zm1ks]

I’m on the spiritual enlightenment journey that will ultimately allow me to think “draw” and it automatically happens.

[@edwingodinez3702]

Thanks James Really helpeld Alot!

[@amuerta3041]

You make drawing looks easier than it actually is

[@ManikinApp]

Wow great exercises to consider for working on your gestures! Great video and channel!

[@ramakrishnagodugunur195]

Many thanks for your wonderful tutorials. They are valuable to me.

[@maddiehad]

boston dynamics just subscribed.

[@littlepinkpebble]

such a genius, glad i subbed ! sigh the more i learn art the further i seem from my goals

[@paulogaviola5522]

This is awesome, I never should have slacked on this part, and I am regretting it

[@KreativeHogwartsLegacyGUIDES]

6:36 every skater be like, yeah that dudes knees really hurt after that jump

[@basicsyphilis8]

Happened to find this by chance. Really helpful especially for a warm up. 👍

[@Dark67inside]

This one's smooth James! and really educational, thank you soooo much buddy!!!

[@biavieira1694]

amazing video, thank you

[@joaquimraphael4875]

Muito bom não há esse conteúdo no youtubee eo youtubee tem muito conteúdo ..grato Joaquim Raphael

[@keylupveintisiete7552]

Man, you should write a book that would be great to give more structure to your teaching

[@ELPlop]

One word, GOAT!

[@unsunoryu]

Short but very complete

[@vijaybhaskar8195]

Nice Tutorial

[@duykhaitran9492]

thank you!

[@Knoeppii]

Very motivating!

[@Scindere]

Those basic parkour movements were unexpected. Awesome video man :D

[@youceftarzout8297]

Formidable ! Comme toutes tes vidéos ! Merci beaucoup

[@GiuliaBuvoli]

Exactly what I was looking for! Congrats and many good vibes to you!

[@arunchandran4841]

wonderful Tutorial ,, which Covers all the aspects of Anatomy , of people in motion as well as in static in micro level in an easy manner and helps us very much..... Thanks a lot for Sharing of Such valuable Masterpice Videos...Expecting more from You Master....... Good Luck And best wishes.......,👍

[@samuellouis4940]

This is the quality ive been searchin. Thanks, mate!

[@joaquimraphael4875]

Excelente gostaria de ver mais e sempre joaquimraphael

[@diegoacosta8550]

Wow, I've never seen glass mannequins like those before.

[@venven5257]

Ty bro

[@modern3llusion573]

Best vid

[@dillonkolk6310]

I found this video for the stand poses Bc I stuck i drawing the poses for jojo stands

[@d.m.p360]

Sir your quick sketches are amazing

[@Shka_maru]

ANimals next please!

[@moderndayjames]

Animals are coming very soon, I'm going to do a series at the LA zoo and it will be including some real life footage

[@RSidd]

moderndayjames That's awesome to hear!

[@biglyair]

Wow! That help me so MUCH with drawing , thanks so very much

[@agni9250]

I love this class, thanks bru

[@allantoston4306]

The content is more than enough! Kudos!

[@dazzlybird]

OH GOOOD! THANK YOU!!!!

[@cesarrebolledo8802]

Yep

[@fatflava6317]

Nice! Thanks a lot, James. Keep on sharing your knowledge. Traditional or digital you rock!

[@shimi_ek]

I kinda think gesture and animation are the same thing. One's happening in time, the other on a still image, but both are merely the changing relationship between forms.

[@owenkemp9741]

Best arg video ever

[@owenkemp9741]

Art

[@bryaaanfrk]

so simple and so amazing!! greats from brasil.

[@theinking]

How did I not find you before? Good stuff man.

[@DennisCNolasco]

Yup, excellent tutorial James!

[@gabecox7776]

The anatomy is awesome 💯✍🏽

[@ryusaranyawut7913]

1 minutes in and I'm already wanted to sub you. Oh wait, I already did. Keep it up!

[@FluffyJackie]

Well, you definitely have a subscriber in me. Got a lot to learn.

[@paweuuu27]

Really helpful

[@GabrielCiccariello]

Damn, you are good. Drawing AND EXPLAINING HOW TO DRAW.

[@jabellz3380]

Great video! Good explination of the principles used!

[@Alim0808]

I’ve been trying to get into drawing for a few years now but I just can’t start anywhere I rlly want to do Character Design and want to do art more than anything. Any ideas on what to do to start (books, videos, exercises etc)

[@davidthomas4325]

Your strokes are effortless and effective. Nice vid, good knowledge being shared here. Subd.

[@10418]

Thank you for everything, very useful x

[@LucasSweden]

Very useful!

[@BrandochGarage]

Good job!

[@TravelAndEntertainment]

Talented work. I'll try it.

[@hattorihanzo_htx5752]

Amazing work! Ty so much!