The Basics of Gesture Drawing

The Basics of Gesture Drawing
Course: proko.com/cour...
Book: www.amazon.com...
This is an upcoming lesson from my Fundamentals of Figure construction course on Proko going through the basics of gesture drawing.
This is part 1 of 5 on gesture, there will also be a lesson on rendering longer drawings, as well as some new assignments.
Follow me: / stevenmichaelhampton
Head drawing:
• Head Drawing Part 7: D...

[@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.

[@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

[@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!

[@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!

[@supahjadi8944]

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

[@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.

[@ZainZebun]

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

[@josiah7312]

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

[@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.

[@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 :)

[@CantonWhy]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@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!

[@yendorimus]

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

[@lucrecer]

That was the best explanation I’ve seen on gestures

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Thank you!

[@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 ...

[@mudassar84]

i own your book and it worked the best for me

[@JackCats0]

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

[@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

[@br42]

Thank you!

[@zxcvbnm6669]

Great video thanks for sharing your knowledge

[@CRICKET-hm6jg]

he is alive?! omg!!

[@bharat5194]

Thanks, Michael!

[@jenova5157]

Great video, thank you

[@Inkingman-mb8ov]

Thank you so much sir, more power to you

[@mickrozycki451]

"Anatomy tools" resin models. Nice.

[@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 !

[@KillerTacos54]

Excellent video, thank you so so much!

[@joaovitormr471]

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

[@Agiranto]

These are amazing!

[@georgerabbitearl]

Thanks, for that explanation

[@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.

[@ezQuietCh]

thank you for the video!!

[@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.

[@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

[@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

[@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/

[@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.

[@quandingleberry445]

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

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Those are from 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!

[@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

[@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

[@flashrebirth3150]

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

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

grafitschool.gumroad.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.

[@celesiamigardine4903]

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

[@stevenmichaelhampton]

Thank you!