Gesture Drawing and Sketches

Gesture Drawing and Sketches

Gesture drawings help me make decisions when I'm doing artwork. I make little quick sketches of the main composition, and various sections of it, to work out the details. It is similar to doodling, but uses a much faster, more energetic sketching style. The point of gesture drawing is not always to create a finished work of art, but to study gestures, angles, poses, motions, and facial expressions. With gestures, I can capture a fleeting expression on a face: smiling, startled, sly, grimacing.

These three drawings show a man in a skulking position, carrying a baseball bat. The first sketch is a quick gesture drawing; the middle pose, a more detailed sketch. In it, there is a hint of facial expression: he looks more timid than angry. In the third figure, I changed the pose slightly and the man seems more threatening. I posed the legs in various ways, leaving several tentative poses instead of erasing them. In my paintings, I lay in light gestures with a pencil or brush, then finalize the work by drawing or painting over it.

These are from my other blog ~ I'm just transferring everything to The Talking Artist before closing the old blog...