Good From Any Angle

"Good from any angle" is what I call a great pose. My drawing class circles the model stand...a great pose looks good to everybody. Sometimes those poses can be difficult to hold for 15 or 20 minutes. The drawings shown here are gesture drawings..2 minutes each but sometimes we try to recreate a good gesture pose in our longer poses. Alex P did that for us for us last night with the 2nd sketch above. These gestures are drawn on newsprint with graphite...two per 18x24 paper.

Surely you Gest(ure)

Sometimes my favorite drawing from the Monday night life class is one of my gestures. On an average night, we do 1/2 hour of 2 minute gestures and then 3-4 longer poses...15-20 minutes each. This was one of the gestures. I did it on nicer paper than I usually use. Medium was graphite. 2 minutes. Model- Erin.

Alex the Cat

A couple of sketches from last nights drawing class. One is a gesture drawing, 2 minutes each figure. Drawn with a "fat" sharpie on newsprint. The other is approx 10-12 minutes, conte. Alex P posed as a cat and did a wonderful job. October is "costume" month and we try to have a different character each Monday evening.

Merle Haggard and Hobbits

I didn't think about it at the time but Merle has a little hobbit in him...a little on the short side. He's the man though. We listened to part of his "Down Every Road" boxed set last night while Ashleigh posed in hobbit attire, complete with pointy ears. Here's a 15 minute conte and pastel and a 2 minute gesture drawing. I decided to really go wild on the gestures and draw in marker instead of lead or conte.

Yippee Ki Yay...

October is costume month at the drawing class. Alex P came tonight as a cowgirl. 2 minute gestures shown. Drawn with a 6B lead on newsprint. 18x24 paper.

A Mad Mad Mad Madeleine Night

Dance model Madeleine saved the day for us by filling in for a model that was unable to make it(we've got a lot of flooded roads around here). Nice poses and a beautiful black and pink costume made for some nice drawings. Shown here is one of the 15 minute conte and pastels and a 2 minute gesture drawn with a 6b lead.

Drawin N Cryin

Actually, we listened to some Drivin N Cryin while Erin posed for Monday night life drawing class. I liked my angle on the seated pose where she's sort of balled up in the chair. This particular drawing started with the head and hair.15 minutes...conte and pastel. I guess it does look a little like she's "cryin"?? The gesture drawing started with Erin turning and asking, "What pose should I do next" ...or something like that...she was stretching her arms... I told her to hold it just like that! It has nice lines with her weight on one leg and I liked the challenge of roughing in the unusual position of the arms and hands in the 2 minutes allotted. I photographed this pose with the thought that I may do a painting of it later on. Conte on newsprint.
Drawing- $225

Monday Night Amy

Talented and beautiful dancer, Amy, posed for the class Monday night. Sometimes my favorite drawing of the night is a gesture drawing. I've posted a blog earlier about the importance of gesture drawings and can't emphasize that enough. This one is on newsprint, drawn with a chunk of lead...9B...very soft...gives a nice, smooth, dark line. Approx 21" tall....2 minutes.

80's Night?

The always fabulous Erin posed for tonight's class in a purple top with black pants and an animal print belt...cool look. The sitting pose was a 10 minute conte and pastel. Nice lines to the pose...the right arm and hand have a nice expressive quality. The standing pose is a 2 minute gesture drawing that captured a nice twisting pose. Drawn with a 9B graphite stick.

Gesture Drawings

I'm often asked about the importance of gesture drawings...usually 1-2 minutes sketches of a model. I'm going to include here what wikipedia says...yes they have an article on gesture drawing! What they say is great and all true but I would add that for me, it helps me to better draw longer poses in proportion. Under most of my longer studies, there is a gesture drawing...sometimes lightly sketched and barely visible, sometimes visible and sometimes, the gesture drawing, or parts of it, are visualized but not rendered. Whichever the case, it helps me get a look at proportions and placement of various parts of the body before working on the finished drawing.
Wikipedia says:
The primary purpose of gesture drawings is to facilitate the study of the human figure in motion. This exploration of action is helpful for the artist to better understand the functions and exertions of muscles, and acts as a foundation upon which more sustained observations may be based. The practice allows an artist to draw strenuous poses that cannot be held by the model long enough for an elaborate study, and reinforces the importance of movement, action, and direction, which can be overlooked during a long drawing. Thus, an approach is encouraged which notes basic lines of rhythm within the figure, which may be expressed through contour (line) or mass (value). The rapidity of this routine suggests an aesthetic which is most concerned with the essence of the pose, and an economy of means in its representation, rather than a careful study of anatomy or form.

For the artist, there is a calisthenic logic: just as an athlete warms up before exercising or participating in sports, artists use gesture drawing to prepare themselves mentally and physically for a figure drawing session. Because drawing (and especially figure drawing) is generally performed using the full arm, it also serves to "loosen up" the arm so that it won't tire as quickly during a life drawing session which may extend for several hours.