Gesture Drawing | Tips for Expressive and Dynamic Poses

How to draw gesture drawings for beginners. Learn how to study a pose from life and draw anatomy through observation. By practicing gesture drawing, you can learn how to make stronger poses that express a feeling and show the figure in motion.
/ mikekoizumi
/ mikekoizumi
Stock photos from Pexels.com
music by Epidemic Sound
www.epidemicsound.com

[@toongamer2810]

I wish school wasn't killing my love for art by giving me so much work that I can't practice anymore so my skills are regressing

[@williamshin9096]

I feel like art is like riding a bike. It’s not something you get worse over a period of time in which you don’t do it, it’s more of just not progressing, and that you get rusty when u get back to doing it.

[@caboosemcgrief]

The trick is drawing on your homework

[@tinorandom]

@@williamshin9096 thats true to an extent, but lack of practice results in lack of memory of the certain ways to draw and to balance. The muscle memory is there, but you have to continue to ride the bike if you ever wanna get better.

[@rinowx5]

Work does this too it’s awful

[@kenishathelisma1216]

exactly me right now

[@pynkelia7137]

Him: * draws a line * Me: Woah WoahThere buddy sloWW DOWN IM NOT AT THAT LEVEL YET..

[@tinorandom]

draws a circle: …Breaktime!

[@perseusjackson]

@@tinorandom SAME HAAHAH

[@vvgoesinsane]

Lmao

[@MrGramcrackerZ]

@@perseusjackson SHOOOOTOOOO

[@a.moizart3485]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/haO5gamka8iKa68 ...

[@iliterallyjustforgotwhatiw4315]

I dont know but my "sketches" always look much better than my final drawing.. i actually hate clean line art.. im more on the messy side..

[@koizu]

a lot of times, sketches have a lot of energy to it. When we were doing clean up animation, that was a tricky part, sometimes the final line doesn't have the same feeling. It's a good challenge.

[@priscilamenjivar6741]

@@koizu Thank you for explaining it. I have the same problem too.

[@soul8087]

You could always play into your messy sketches for your art style. The line art doesn’t have to be clean. I think it would help portray a chaotic or energetic feel depending on what youre drawing. I think itd look cool but you do whatever you feel like doing.

[@a.moizart3485]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/haO5gamka8iKa68 ...

[@alicepetal5766]

it's good to keep that energy, and personally I find fuzzy lines more realistic whereas clean lines feel more comic-like to me. Still, it's good to keep a habit of the former because one day you'll come to a point where you need clean lines and you cant make em :/ I'm still trying to break out of the habit.

[@furiousphoenix5185]

*your drawings from high school are better than my art will ever be*

[@koizu]

ohhhh, I'm sure that you will surpass them!

[@pommedeter7407]

Nah man, I don't know your current level but you can always be better and if you stay determined i'm sure you can do better art that his high school drawings

[@pommedeter7407]

Never give up :)

[@koizu]

@@furiousphoenix5185 I visited your YT channel. Your drawings are great! Don't be too hard on yourself. I thought that your characters had a lot of 3D dimension to them and you're doing very difficult poses. IMO, they already look cool.

[@mushrambokinniku4900]

SAME :'v

[@SAM_ARTHUR_CL0VVNDOLL]

quick tips for dynamic poses: NO HARSH ANGLES!!! you are drawing a human, not a robot. i used to always draw 90 degree angles for arms, and it looked like a robot pretending to be a human, or vice versa. use curvy lines, not straight lines. don’t chicken scratch. i know it’s difficult, but try to draw one overarching line rather than a hundred little ones. it’s a good habit to get into, especially if you are a beginner artist, since it’s harder to get rid of that habit after a few years of practicing drawing with fuzzy mini lines. final tip from me: draw a line of action first, then build out from that. focusing on details first makes a weird looking drawing. it’s like a puzzle: it’s much easier to find all of the edge pieces and build your way inward. this advice personally works for me, but it’s most important to find a process that works for you, and to mess around with things and have fun with it. have fun drawing y’all!

[@koizu]

these are SOLID tips! thanks for writing them all!

[@vishalraval3344]

Hello Plz Can you critique My Gesture Drawing i Feel Like I am Doing Something Wrong I Don't Know i just need Little Help Can You ? Plz Reply it's Ok If You're not Interested

[@koizu]

@@vishalraval3344 Can you post it on Instagram? I'll try to take a look!

[@vishalraval3344]

@@koizuOf Course I Will

[@cindypats7693]

Thanks that was helpful too!

[@kackaurban6028]

tip for fellow artists : art is not easy! dont pressure yourself to draw something perfect at the first try. give your self as much time as you want. the art you see on the internet may look effortlesly sketched, painted, shaded etc., but we dont see the hours the artist spent on their art. this took me a long time to realize and I kept rushing my art, but now that i've slowed down to my own pace, I've actually started to enjoy the process and I'm also seeing some improvements!

[@koizu]

well said!

[@edidi5717]

thank u for this!! i feel like im too hard on myself sometimes

[@nanabinnn]

"give yourself as much time as you want" damn this is such an inspiring phrase.

[@a.moizart3485]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/haO5gamka8iKa68 ...

[@dontmindme3032]

Thank you for this!! Im seeing a bunch of cool dynamic art, and since i've always drawn portraits i never really learned stuff like anatomy or dynamic poses, o going back to the basics and learning those things without it looking how i want to is very challenging, but im gonna keep going to get to the point where im happy with my art!

[@user-hb4zz4gh5e]

“Ugh, I hate this wall” idk why but that made me laugh XD

[@chrisgooch6129]

Same though

[@a.moizart3485]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/haO5gamka8iKa68 ...

[@saundramadespecial8056]

It needs to be put on a T-shirt

[@h...........................]

"if you miss,you can just try again" this hit me like a truck.

[@aori583]

same, I was like "I'm allowed to do that?"

[@octocore]

Reminds me of something I heard from a designer (Aaron Draplin) that really stuck with me, which is "Pixels are free". i.e. don't be afraid to make a copy, make changes, repeat.

[@avon2033]

Him drawing squiggly lines My brain: is that magic

[@a.moizart3485]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/haO5gamka8iKa68 ...

[@koizu]

Would you guys be interested in a gesture video with timed poses? We could do sets of poses for 10 sec/30 sec/1 min. Thought it might be fun to all draw the same poses together and practice. What do you guys think? :)

[@kendallwhite7002]

That would be super cool and interesting to try and do it along side a video.

[@extremelyfungibletoken6903]

Uh yeah!!! Sounds amazing!!!

[@justinlin9008]

Yes

[@abstractvalley1184]

Sounds awesome!

[@Mikosha97]

Yes, that would be awesome!

[@MoBallin]

This Dude: *"How to learn how to Gesture drawing"* Me: *(Intensively looks at Jojo)*

[@part3dio35]

haha same

[@callmekreme8246]

Ah, a man of culture

[@hugo8989]

Where

[@noturaverage5846]

Nioce

[@user-lz9zo5ly5o]

jojo was certainly expressive with the poses kinda scary

[@indigosoldier872]

“I learned my anatomy from watching dragon ball” Same

[@adlyalraial520]

The muscle of goku is my inspiration

[@a.moizart3485]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/haO5gamka8iKa68 ...

[@Nino-pn4vc]

I learned anatomy from watching jojo

[@goofy_mf45]

jojo has OVER 9000 poses

[@eatingpizza2560]

@@Nino-pn4vc same

[@fakeatro3731]

I'm 15 and my drawings aren't stiff they are really great all thanks to you and the other youtubers

[@koizu]

sounds awesome, Naruto!

[@pallasrinivasreddy9315]

I thought you were bragging until you said thanks to koizu

[@sophiarodriguez5210]

Believe it!

[@chonaturallo5281]

Dude, aren't you already dead?

[@xin2842]

It's your ninja way after all

[@humandog3240]

My drawing aren't stiff They're just proportionally incorrect in every way

[@tinorandom]

duality of man- urm, dog.

[@thewitchsidekick3586]

This comment gives me strong “I’m not short, just vertically challenged” vibes

[@indorianshell]

My drawings go 🕴🕴🕴🕴

[@qwe_qwe6299]

LMAO 😆

[@jocelyntolang8480]

Well its both for me 😂

[@Nervous101]

I love how easy, messy but clean it all is at the same time! I wish I could just draw like that without my brain cells having to think about each line for 10mins. I’m gonna try this out but digitally

[@Luminsoldier]

I got into posing and gestures recently this helps a lot

[@koizu]

awesome! Gesture drawing is really fun. Glad the video could help :)

[@a.moizart3485]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/haO5gamka8iKa68 ...

[@BigDomski]

Love this. I feel like gesture is the first thing I should learn when I get into figure drawing. It's just like you said, it adds so much personality, movement, emotion and can be used to tell a story, whereas no/weak gesture makes it feel like you're just drawing forms. I will remember this video for future reference 😁

[@koizu]

sounds awesome, Domo. It's a great way to begin figure drawing studies, keeps things loose. You can always add in anatomy/form study to combo with it later.

[@a.moizart3485]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/haO5gamka8iKa68 ..

[@yurihime9739]

This really felt like a free art class... Such a nice explanation with examples thank you so much for this!!!!!!!!!

[@mattd1466]

Watching this made me realize Ive been overthinking gesture drawing, I think I can start having a lot more fun with this mow

[@koizu]

Definitely, Matt! Stay loose and have fun with the poses. It's all just practice so you can do many of them, no pressure.

[@needyhumanbeing4500]

never realized these type of drawings were called gestures, most of my art is super messy like this because i feel as if it brings more emotion, i might be 15 but ive already labeled myself as an abstract artist because of the line strokes my hand uses, congrats on being so good man!

[@ArlertsWife]

me: yooo this looks easy af lemme try *turns out to be a complete failure*

[@blackcitadel37]

First aid: in case of catastrophic failure, repeat it a hundred times.

[@a.moizart3485]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/haO5gamka8iKa68 ...

[@obito8507]

i dont know why i did an evil laugh at the end of this i think its cuz i finally figured out a way how to draw more dynamic poses!😂😂

[@a.moizart3485]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/haO5gamka8iKa68 .

[@gonkillua14]

He did the 1st one so fast. It'd take me at least 5-10 mins to do that

[@koizu]

5-10 min is ok too!

[@culperson_]

If you are drawing on Digital art, use layers to your advantage! Using layers can help when drawing groups by being able to make the scene less messy, and if one character is half in front of another character, you can easily change it. For just regular one person poses you can use layers for cleaning up the sketch

[@nidge6447]

this litteraly changed the way i look at drawing thank you so much

[@amadeus6747]

I swear i'm just gonna like every video you upload at this point

[@mizukii0781]

The way you show how you imitate drawing poses is very helpful. Some of us needs the full visuality on how you imitate them step by step. I think I'm more confident now on drawing poses thanks to you! I'll forever sub to you!

[@ceeyuh5002]

I honestly appreciate this video!! For months now I've been overwhelmed with the poses, anatomy, light, shading and all of that but this video has made me realize that yes I can just use books but I don't have to! I can have fun without trying to cram information into my brain! This seems like a way better way to learn! I know I'll still of course have to learn some things from books but I appreciate how you didn't overcomplicate the poses!

[@casual_anime_watcher7397]

"Line of action tells a story" this sentence helped me a lot tq

[@thepluto1711]

okay but like i thought watching to help my drawing skill is gonna be hard but when i actually follow your steps and draw the same model from your video by pausing it before it show your result (i learned the steps first) IT ACTUALY HELPS ME A LOT I'VE MADE A BODY THAT ALSO POSED (which in the past i always to myself i would never ever succesfully made a gesture sketch) Y'ALL, thank you so much!!!!!!

[@devonteharris5065]

Coming back to you videos always give me the that boost to draw again and the way you visualize and explain and execute is dope by far been one of my fav ever since

[@greta4573]

I really love how you talk with so much passion! I would have never noticed things like in the last picture where the guys in the back are somewhat leaning back.. really helpful!

[@priscilamenjivar6741]

I really liked this video. Your drawings were so good and you explained how you were doing them in such a clear way and still kept it lighthearted and fun. I couldn’t look away for a second. My fav was definitely the multiple basketball players drawing. Thanks so much I think this will definitely help me in my art journey. 👍

[@solfaris2062]

This actually helped me alot since i was stuck with poses and how to do gesture drawing but now it seems more clear to me now so thx a lot

[@koizu]

very welcome! have fun!

[@akarr1i]

*Im absolutely AMAZED AT HOW GOOD HE ISSS*

[@PavitrStan4Life]

i love how you simply and quickly explaind line of action, it makes so much sense now! And the way you explained adjusting poses was so nice and eased the pressure cause i used to think that changing a pose meant "giving up cuz its too hard", but your adjustments were so nice

[@annushkamehta3756]

Dude this is DOPE!! The way you place your strokes so surely and just the way your hand moves and never erases is so cool, I love it! As a 13-year-old who's trying to get better this really helped

[@alicepetal5766]

:D if you're just getting into art, I recommend using a ballpoint pen or a soft pencil to start with. Both have their advantages - ballpoints aren't erasable, so they'll bring you more confidence and precision in your lines, and help them be smooth. You'll also tend to have a lighter hand, which is also an advantage. You might hate everything you put down, but give it some time and you'll get used to the medium, and your drawings will significantly improve. Keep in mind a goal though, for what you want to accomplish. One thing at a time, but eventually you should try to cover anatomy, lighting, shading, perspective, gestures and colour theory. That said, if you're still not comfortable, go with a SOFT pencil, not a hard one. If you're into mechanical pencils it's time to kiss them goodbye for a bit (unless you/your parents decided to shell out for an hb led pencil AND you're already used to it). I recommend hb, and building up your lines slowly and lightly. Try not to erase if you can hold back. Just draw, layer lines over each other, and shade to bring out the ones you want. If you have access to 4b/6b/8b, I was always advised to use them for shading, but it's entirely unnecessary. Good luck!

[@AtaXeno_1]

Found you on my recommended, and I’m so glad I did! This video really helped me understand gesture a lot more. Definitely subscribing, keep up the great work man!

[@koizu]

Welcome aboard! Thanks for subbing Ataxoku. Glad the video helped!

[@gudetamalover48]

the first 2 minutes of this video have already improved my drawing so much. thank you so much

[@My_Treehouse]

i love how you added or took away to emphasize the pose, taught me that its ok to stray away from reference when studying, thx man

[@thatpersonyoudidntknowexis149]

I got used to watching timelapse videos that I got overwhelmed and couldn't finish any drawings nor fill my sketchbooks and I eventually stopped drawing overall for a long time. But since I watched this (which was a few days ago) I can't believe I filled out a bunch of pages in my sketchbook! Thank you so much! I'm excited to continue learning how to draw again!💜💜💜

[@koizu]

That is such wonderful news! Thank you so much for sharing. I'm so glad that you've found new excitement for drawing!

[@phinco8673]

Your a legend you explain it so well it makes me feel like I can just make it appear but I need to train

[@koizu]

time to train! thanks for the comment Elkan

[@nithyasreesathyanarayanan5611]

To think that I need both gesture drawing and perfect proportions to make my drawings easier and better…..it works! I am truly enlightened! Thank you for the video! ❤️

[@LinaLina-tu2ny]

I seen a couple videos of drawing in different poses none seem easy to follow till I saw this video. Thanks! now I'm ready to practice.

[@okdo5144]

Me after practicing drawing for like 1 day: HOW AM I NOT AT HIS LVL YET !!!

[@nickw5876]

Loving the frequent uploads

[@koizu]

thanks Nick!

[@CaseyFrazAnimations]

great tutorial, no loud music, nicely explained, demonstrated, and straight to the point.

[@kxppamo5943]

This really helped me, finally a guide that is clear and not sped up like most! Thank you

[@pastelpanta2966]

Thank you so much for this tutorial!!

[@koizu]

you're very welcome!

[@a.moizart3485]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/haO5gamka8iKa68 .

[@userseal]

i can finally draw different gestureeeess thanks!

[@koizu]

that's great news!!

[@himanibhatt500]

The best tutorial i had ever seen.....you not only showing one pose like that's how to draw you are showing different poses.... thank you 👍 🔥

[@srenz2802]

I really like this video. I’d say for the most part I’m pretty good at gesture drawing, but I rly love the tips of really emphasizing something in each of your drawings, such as emphasizing the expression in one of your drawings and the flows of the clothing in another one. That’s a rly helpful tip, thank you!

[@nemesis9261]

welp, i think im gonna try it. *at this point i dont even know were to start practicing*

[@koizu]

sounds great, Nemesis. To start, you could try going to pexels.com and finding some poses to draw and practice with.

[@tybacchus8842]

Nice I've been waiting for this one👌

[@koizu]

Thanks Ty! Hope you can find some tips in it to help your art

[@3stankeith]

I'm happy that you're back on doing tutorials again. I learned so much from you

[@shin1846]

i go back to this video every now and then, it's really helpful!

[@danteromanguerreno9659]

Nice video, just what i need

[@koizu]

awesome! thank you

[@tophatgeo]

This is some great stuff, would you aim to start with gesture or with more anatomy based stuff when drawing?

[@koizu]

Hi Geo, both are great and help you to reach the same destination. My personal opinion is to start with gesture. It is loose and fun and helps you develop your observational skills. You learn anatomy from the outside and draw what you see. You can also do a bit of basic anatomy study to learn the skeleton structure, just the basic big parts like skull, ribs, pelvis, and major bones for arms and lets. It gives you an idea of the structure of the human figure and can help you figure drawings become solid. So they work together. Gesture is good to draw the fluid motion of the pose and see the whole figure. Anatomy will help you to make things solid and fit together well. You can experiment with both and see which one is more fun to do. Then you can start from there :) Good luck!

[@a.moizart3485]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/haO5gamka8iKa68 ...

[@chiotic1594]

just from this little tip my poses got 1000000 times better, this guy is a ledged, thank you.

[@ye8148]

This video was so satisfying, the simple drawing of the lines and the calm commentary so good. Very informative too, thanks!

[@zephyr2456]

How are you so smooth at drawing 😭

[@trtr8549]

0:07 "These are my drawings from high school" Me: looks at my drawings and realizes they don't look nothing like those drawings 😢

[@blue_is_burning]

Insanely helpful video. I noticed my drawings were immediately better just by being able to draw along with you (and not from figure drawing websites where every model either stands straight as a board or is contorted into a human pretzel with no in between).

[@nothanks8406]

Oh my god...I’ve watched this video once and I’ve already improved so much...you are amazing. Gonna keep practicing with different pictures

[@TreyPDB]

Anybody else remember the 4-year hiatus

[@Unfazed1888]

I defintely needed to hear "Just try again." Sometimes I feel like I need to get things right on the first try, very fast. Thank you so much, koizu!

[@colepeyy_75]

AAAAAAA!! THANK YOOOOUUU!!! Im a Self taught artist and haven’t drawn in awhile so I’ve been trying to get back into it but I can’t draw dynamic poses like I used to! This method is perfect and helped me get back into my groove immediately, thanks so much!

[@tradesmanjaegs4992]

ive watched videos on gesture drawing before, but this one helped the most. Keep up the quality content!

[@laila6979]

Gesture drawing has helped me so much . When I see a pose I want to use. This technique helps me create it in my own art style. 😌

[@fiolioco1523]

this helped a lot! I tend to focus way to much on making sure my drawing looks exactly like the reference in terms of shapes and lines ect. This helped me to loosen up :)

[@unstopollous7403]

im so glad koizu is making vids again

[@primitivecg]

"if you miss, you can try again." inspiring and encouraging 🙂

[@MayvieYoutube]

i almost cried like 5 times trying to follow along! great video ☺️

[@annaple4159]

This is great! I like doing gesture drawings, it helps me loosen up a lot and whenever I open my sketchbook to draw but stuck on what to draw or the anxious to draw, doing gesture drawings helps give me a flow :D

[@b00gi3]

Fantastic videos and tutorials. I love this channel. Thank you for sharing your experience and insights!

[@lololelei8297]

I'm just found your channel and I'm learning a LOT

[@plaguedrsammy]

Just getting into gesture drawing recently. Don't know much about it. But this video of yours help me out a lot. Thanks man .

[@soupandrocks]

Seeing your technique has really helped me do figure studies quicker, cleaner, and simple! Thank you :)

[@everthon2457]

These are reeeeeeeeeally well preserved

[@STVRHAVEN]

Wow this was so amazing!!! I feel like I rlly needed to hear some of these tips

[@atten9306]

Yes mike thank you !!

[@hat_maker]

Loved that basketball quick sketch! Such a fun scene

[@corruptpasta]

Their sketching is soo satisfying

[@juli866]

OMG This video is pure gold Tysm 🙏

[@TheJasmine172]

Thank you so much for making this video. I've been struggling with stiff poses, I'll try out your method/tip. Thank you!!

[@averyspells9791]

i love how you did the lines

[@wihwuwgwow7989]

I love your attitude with art, I know some ppl have to get into grinding mode to improve but thinking about practicing stresses me out at this point, I like how calm you are compared loud get-better-skills-as-quickly-as-possible vid, nice art btw

[@teedeww5049]

im serious guys, this video is literally life changing for me, thank you so much bro, i hope this video have positive means not just to myself but to others, :D

[@dewapratama5740]

They're looks so amazing.

[@AppricotBlossom]

I followed along and it was so much fun, thanks for the video

[@ArtsyLadyCrafter]

Beautiful gesture sketches! Thanks for sharing. So helpful!

[@burntstaples4942]

This helped me so much! Thank you for this.

[@mrgee8447]

Ill be practicing poses in my new sketchbook!

[@ile2923]

This was the most helpful art video I’ve ever watched thank you so much!

[@josephgallardo1450]

I dreaded trying to do gestures but you made it so much fun! Especially saying it's okay to not erase. Just have fun like how art is supposed to be 🥰

[@iwontbesilenced2321]

thanks man, this made everything easier for me

[@loredelamore]

I am going to try adding gesture drawing to my comic. Thank you for the tutorial Koizu.

[@_Carmen_28]

This has been extremely helpful, thanks 🎉

[@legojjang]

This makes me excited to draw!!!! Thank you for inspiring me :D your voice is so soothing

[@sealdew5348]

He makes it looks so easy woahh