Gesture drawing is a good start to get used to drawing the human form and animal forms, it is useful for getting comfortable with the human form and for getting used to three-dimensional space.
Gesture drawing is one of the foundations for figure drawing, it is the basis and where you should start, it helps by getting comfortable with the human and animal forms as stated above, but also just getting you drawing and trying to draw different things like hands, feet, faces, full figures, etc., another topic it helps with is your visual library which quite important to develop as a concept artist as this where you will draw your reference from and gesture drawing is a good way to learn this as you can ease into drawing something complex and instead of trying to dig into the complexities of the form of a person or animal.
Gesture is the best for practicing different techniques like going from a realistic style to a more cartoon or anime style. Gesture is also good for as stated above exploratory drawing such as anatomy study, and really just trying to draw different things and staying loose, with gesture if you mess up its no big deal. The best way to start really getting into gesture is take an action figure like a gi joe or other toy and just try to do 1 minute sketches of it and see what you can capture in that minute, if you have a friend that has the time, get them to pose for you and for every sketch have them switch to different poses and see what you can get then you could move onto hand and feet then the face and just remember to just stay loose and don't focus on the details, just draw.
sources:
Gesture Drawing as a Learning Skill Part 1: Introduction. (n.d.). Gesture Drawing as a Learning Skill Part 1: Introduction. Retrieved November 28, 2013, from http://www.mmwindowtoart.com/gesturedr
Hi Nick! I remember art teachers telling me to do gestures to become a better artist, but I have not kept up with it. However, I do have a pocket sketchbook that I use occasionally. Is there a wrong way to do gesture drawings? Is there a reason to draw something without looking at the paper you are drawing on?
ReplyDeleteto answer your first question no there is no wrong way to gesture, do what you want man go crazy, gesture is just a tool get warmed up and focus on getting something down on the paper, to answer your second question thats blind contour it will help with your visual memory and help in build observation skills, it mainly helps with observation.
ReplyDeletehope this helps.