The Basics of Gesture Drawing

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Check out my course on Proko! www.proko.com/course/introduction-to-figure-construction/?af=543975

[@isabellef1663]

"Gesture is just for you" love this. It's incredibly freeing to realize that your art (in this case, gesture drawing) doesn't have to BE anything other than what you want it to be. It doesn't have to look like anybody else's work. I think many artists struggle with this idea.

[@triv4555]

This has to be my 3rd time watching this video and I never thought about this until just now...that's such a powerful quote that really brings gesture drawing into perspective for me ♥

[@vitormoraes8320]

It is safe to say that your gesture method is the only one that works for teaching gesture. With all due respect to other talented artists, their word soup involving, force, movement, energy, flow does no good to the beginner artist. You provide a recipe, a method that can be put in practice like an algorithm, with a predictable result. Before you I was stuck trying stick figures and curved shapes, after you I understand what I am doing and why, and I have a measurable result. Kudos to you for the stellar work educating people, professor.

[@DboyArt]

I can't agree more!!

[@glimmer8965]

thinking in limited strokes really gave me direction

[@zazik1872]

I have recently learned about you through recommendations from other artists. Your method and approach is very clear, systematic and easy to understand (speaking from a beginner's perspective). At the moment I am studying your book, and your video material helps to deepen or consolidate knowledge. I am pleasantly surprised that such lectures appeared here relatively recently, just at the moment when I found out about you. Thank you for your work)

[@joaovitormr471]

I think the same!

[@aushahid9510]

Exactly what I was thinking

[@balladstar]

I second that

[@email5for6casey]

🎉reading him today, at artist friends recc'. Fortuitous indeed! Cheers Michael!

[@JaysJinxed]

Now THIS is a true teacher for beginner artists. "Its not a contour" and all of a sudden everything clicked

[@TheAzhighwayman]

For years I was wondering how does Michael Hampton looks like! You were a mystery! I found your method so easy to absorb! How ever when I start with the head I end up with a small head compare to the body!

[@spec6032]

Michael Hampton in the flesh! I try to stay as varied as I can when it comes to books and lectures, but you're one of the few arts educators that I regularly come back to. Always concise, organized, and helpful. Thank you.

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Wow, thank you!

[@followyourtelos]

I find your gesture system to be the best. I'm all for "feeling" things out, but its nice to have an "analytical" or systematic approach to things.

[@damianzieba5133]

I'm exact opposite

[@user-oi5hc6pv9k]

@damianzieba5133 hi exact opposite

[@hanzflackshnack1158]

Two years ago I decided to stop drawing whatever felt fun at the time and focus. The books I drew cover to cover until I could repeat any exercise without referencing were Scott Robertson's How to Draw (and the companion How to Render) then Michael Hampton's Figure Drawing: Design and Invention. This year I'm studying watercolor with a confidence I never had before. It's quite satisfying. Thank you Michael Hampton. You're a legend and an inspiration.

[@josiah7312]

"I wasn't trying to lie to you, it just happened", going to start using this in arguments haha

[@CantonWhy]

You teach well, but you have a very dry sense of humour, and I really enjoy it.

[@ZainZebun]

Just got your book! Your channel is a great supplement! You're one of the best art teachers ever! Thank you so much!

[@slaznum1]

Thanks Michael, I have gravitated to this style because it's easy to remember and relatively fast. I add a horizon line always because I like to give a horizontal plane to help drive the perspective later. I've done hundreds of these and building a scene or anything around these is easy.

[@RaBoGen]

Reading your book and listening to your advice has really helped demistify gesture for me and even made me fall in love with the process. Thanks Michael!

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

That's so great to hear!

[@Rainn012]

Just wanted to tell the spine and its breakdown into thoracic and lumber did wonders to my gesture drawing😇😊

[@shepherd_of_art]

Amazing. I am realising that the more I learn about the details of anatomy the easier it gets for me to make aesthetically pleasing line gestures! Anatomy really is incredibly important to learn to create an intuitive weighting in my mind of the different parts of the body.

[@nothim8997]

this was so well put and easy to digest, those explanation for everything you were doing made me understand the things instead of just following them, i really appreciate you making this video.

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Great to hear! Glad I could help :)

[@TeamBradley]

Awesome stuff! Always loved your book-thanks for drawing me!

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Thank you for the beautiful reference!!! I'd be happy to post a link to your photoset in the video description if you'd like to share it with me.

[@spinom7204]

Amazing video as always! I have gone through almost all of your videos, and I have to say they are so easy to follow. I used to only be able to draw weird stickmen before, but after 2 months of diligent practice everyday, I can't believe how much I have improved using your methods! I want to start learning anatomy and move towards turning gestures to construction, but I am afraid learning this will somehow make my gestures stiff and rigid. Should I be concerned about this, and when should I learn anatomy and construction? Keep up the videos and thank you for everything you have done!

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Naw, that's bound to happen. You have to build up an understanding of all the parts and then work to balance them out.

[@SandraEpton]

I consider myself a gesture artist…all life has gestures and movement, I was taught to catch the “line of action”…in 2 minutes..exciting and challenging!

[@sunao510]

My gesture drawing so far has been like trying to quickly draw an outline of a character, even when I tried to simplify everything I was still unhappy with the final result. And with the effort it took to figure out what was wrong. Your video helped me a lot, now drawing gestures is easier. Thank you very much sir.

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

That's awesome! Glad to hear it

[@lucrecer]

That was the best explanation I’ve seen on gestures

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Thank you!

[@yendorimus]

Thank you for sharing this wealth of information in such a precise and easy to follow way.

[@dherokbattleborn]

I’ve been working on gesture using your book for a while now but I just wasn’t getting it. This video really hammered it home and made it click in my head. Heck I think I might enjoy gesture now when previously I hated it. Well we’ll see. I’ve still gotta do 100 more to really get it solid haha

[@prolinedrawing]

awesome points about gesture drawing!!❤🔥🔥🔥

[@raynaldoedwards-xd1mj]

Ok here's the funny thing I thought gesture drawing would be easier than perspective drawing but it's the other way around

[@JackCats0]

I like doing your gesture style during warmups it helps me build confidence :)

[@RobertWard3000]

Thank you for this. Is there any general "rule" about when an s-curve is desirable over the c-curve? Your book is the best I have found.

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

No, I don't think so. Good question though. I hadn't considered it ...

[@bharat5194]

Thanks, Michael!

[@zxcvbnm6669]

Great video thanks for sharing your knowledge

[@mudassar84]

i own your book and it worked the best for me

[@alexfreeloader4997]

Imagine my surprise when I wondered why didn’t name drop Micheal Hampton out of the figure drawing artists only to find out at the end of the video that HE’S ACTUALLY HIM

[@CRICKET-hm6jg]

he is alive?! omg!!

[@Trid3nt861]

Hi Mike. I remember messaging you on Proko and you responded very fast and cordial to my messages. Have to say I enjoy your book and use it here and there. youre definitely someone I would recommend to many others.

[@NinoMesarina]

Awesome video as always, thank you for sharing !

[@Inkingman-mb8ov]

Thank you so much sir, more power to you

[@celesiamigardine4903]

Holy shit i didnt know you had a youtube channel, i have your book and love it so much 🥹🥹

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Thank you!

[@einhasad7]

At the end of the video you said "Sometimes what is the simplest is what requires the most explanation" and I want to comment on that for a bit, because I believe that this is always the case regardless if you are learning art, language or anything else. Recently, I've been learning Japanese and one of the things that I realized, thanks to the language learning community, is that the most simple concepts are the ones that take the longest to build up an intuition for. For example, in Japanese they have this particle の (no) which is their possessive particle. If I teach you that 私(watashi) means me and 口(kuchi) means mouth, then if I say 私の口 (watashi no kuchi), I am saying "my mouth". That is very simple and easy. However, when I was leaning the language, every time that I saw の(no), my brain had to stop for a few seconds and think "What did の(no) mean again?", and that little pause meant that I did understand the concept, but I didn't really have the intuition to blaze through the sentences without slowing down. And I think that that is what happens with videos like these. I think that those basic art concepts are the hardest ones to explain, because you can't use logic to navigate around them. They are the building blocks that logic will later make use of. I used to not understand gesture drawing at all. In fact, I've watched this very videos many months ago, and I didn't get it. However, recently I saw a lesson on Proko about... doing it on Seals first. I drew a few Seals and now that I feel like I have a stronger understanding of gesture, and that has given me the confidence to come back and see this video again and I want to practice some poses again.

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

That's awesome. What an interesting point and comparison. Totally agree with your sentiment. Thanks for sharing!

[@jenova5157]

Great video, thank you

[@Agiranto]

These are amazing!

[@KillerTacos54]

Excellent video, thank you so so much!

[@georgerabbitearl]

Thanks, for that explanation

[@br42]

Thank you!

[@mickrozycki451]

"Anatomy tools" resin models. Nice.

[@ezQuietCh]

thank you for the video!!

[@joaovitormr471]

Thank you so much to open a lot of new doors !

[@thorneblackwood3834]

Good time for you, master. there are something of gesture in your book. and you let me tell you what its a good introducción.

[@Therealashachi]

Hi Mr hamptom I was curious if you could suggest some was to practice identifying the spine in figures and how to build up an intuition for it

[@SethFriedmanOrigami]

When you drew the thoracic curve you said it didn’t represent anything, but I’ve noticed in all your gestures that the thoracic gesture line becomes one of the contour lines of the rib cage. Is it always like that in your method?

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Not intentionally.

[@Sueer-vt4qe]

How to identify the rib cage please talk on that.i have seen your videos but can't understand where does the rib cage end

[@roger2599]

the advice i can give you is mark first the distance between the head clavicle the end of the rib cage and the pelvis, and add more landmarks that you feel that can help you measure the overall figure, and always remember that you will make mistakes and it wont always turn out how you want it to be, thats why its important to critic your drawings

[@Cmattalk]

This is a awesome breakdown Michael. Since getting your book my gesture and figure drawings have improved a ton. Do you have any suggestions on books or resources to learn rendering the human figure?

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Hmm. I'll have to think on that. None stick out to me immediately. Great question.

[@strike123456789]

How many lessons total are going to be in your class on proko?

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Somewhere around 42-45. Around 11-12 hours.

[@strike123456789]

Thanks, I've already purchased the class on proko and I wasn't aware if more lessons were going to be added later on. Good to know, thanks again.​@@stevenmichaelhampton

[@quandingleberry445]

Hey Michael, was wondering where you got those 3d figures on your desk! Thanks

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Those are from anatomytools.com

[@mahzie2x468]

Okay so I know about cervical, thoracic and lumbar but I’m confused on the stretch

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Then think of it as the abdomen if you're confused.

[@rudysterner]

I'm considering your figure drawing course on Proko. Looking at your lesson plan, I noticed that the gesture lessons are next to the end of the course, before rendering. This is opposite almost every other instructor watched. The others seem to indicate that it's important to understand the gesture of a pose, before conserning the structure. The risk being lifeless and dull drawings. I'm interested in why you put gesture towards the end of the course, instead of early-on. My guess is that the order of gesture vs structure is not as important as other instructors suggest. Am I wrong? Or is there more to it?

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

They are at the end of the course because the course itself focuses on how understanding fundamentals facilitates a solid grasp of figure construction. So while I do show gesture from the beginning as a part of my process, I don't go through a long explanation of it. The lectures added at the end I recorded as additional content. So, the lessons on gesture and rendering were tacked on to give a more complete idea of my workflow. You can honestly watch them in any order you like though.

[@edward222100]

This will probably get swept under all the comments but where did you get those desk models? they look amazing

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

They're all from www.anatomytools.com/

[@georgebruno5289]

Have been finding your classes and book super helpful but I have a question - how big would you recommend doing the figures when doing 1 minute gesture drawing of loads of different poses? (on paper with pencil, not digital)

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

It depends but maybe the size of your palm or slightly larger?

[@georgebruno5289]

@@stevenmichaelhampton Thank you so so much for the reply, wow!

[@flashrebirth3150]

Where can I find the reference models used in this video?

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

grafitschool.gumroad.com/

[@xto744]

While I adore your style of gesture drawings, it totaly doesn't work for me I've been looking at this thoracic for 10 minutes: while I just don't understand what it is suppose to be, it makes total sense somehow I can't get into the flow of your thinking and see the process the way you do. Good thing there is no right answer to how to do gestures

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

No worries. There are tons of other gesture videos and techniques out there. I have no doubt you'll find one that matches your sensibility

[@xto744]

@@stevenmichaelhampton Thank you but it would be a pity to surrender so easily After giving a little bit more thought to the process, I realised that I was too disctracted by the Analytical list, treating spine and bodyparts as strict guidelines. That's why the "displaced thoracic" looked off - I was looking for the skeleton, while it supposed to be a representation of a body within a movement It's just a bit confusing when we emphasize the importance of a spine for making a gesture, analyze position the ribcage and pelvis just to make them optional and not to build a figure around them. Feels like some step is missing - and this step is to sacrifice skeleton (sorta) for the sake of expression