Life Drawing
Lesson I
Gesture -- The Foundation of Figurative Art
Importance of the free-going mark
Interesting
The short gesture pose forces the artist to work fast. Being
perfect with fast marks is so unlikely, a better strategy would be using
several trial marks for the subject parts. That could be the ovals, the
center lines, the exterior contours, whatever you decide to focus on. The
resulting drawing displays an evolving thinking process unique to the artist,
which happens to be interesting.
Adding potential
Trial marks add a vibration that effects movement, tension,
atmosphere, strength, delicacy, etc. The marks are seminal traits in your
visual concept that can be used like idea pathways, suggesting direction
as the drawing moves beyond the gesture phase.
Gesture Intro Page 
Skeletal
Foundation
Stick: The following
are the key elements for organizing a "stick" figure:
The line of action Three
ovals -- Head, Ribcage, Pelvis Pivot
points Long bones
Tilts and angles Contour
center lines of front and back torso, and face
Projection
and volume augmentations: While good as a foundation, the stick
figure does not adequately express projection of form, volume, or relative
position in space. There is more you can do to express these important factors
in the posing model:
The shortcomings of the stick figure
Showing projection Application
of the projection concept to the stick figure Simple
volume solutions Relative
position in space
Loosen up:
Using the stick figure foundation with the projection and volume augmentations,
you can loosely organize an expressive gesture sketch:
Compare the "contour" method to the
stick-start method Importance
of the free-going mark The line
of action and stick are construction lines Adding
relationship and rhythm
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Rebecca Alzofon
can be e-mailed at rebecca@art.net
This page created February 14, 1998
1998 by Rebecca Alzofon. All rights
reserved.