Rude Gestures

When drawing people, it’s easy to get lost in the little details that make up the form. Unless you’re working on character design sheets which usually call for neutral poses, you want your illustration to tell a story. Shifting your focus from details to gesture will greatly improve the readability of your character making for stronger illustrations. This week, we focus on the gesture.

The Gesture of It All

So what the hell are we talking about? Without trying to get too academic, the gesture communicates the overall form of a figure. That’s probably a bit general and imprecise, but it should be enough to get you thinking in the right direction. Gesture drawings can also help us visualize the overall motion of a form, something doubly important for comic and character work.

Rider kick!

I’ve drawn in some major gesture lines to help visualize the general movement of the figure. The strongest gesture is the kick. Your gesture drawings should center around the major movement of the figure. For such a strong pose, elements like the head or arms are secondary, almost superfluous. You don’t need to draw in a head to read the action of this pose, but the line of the kick is essential.

It’s easy to find the major movement in action shots. So where’s the movement in a figure standing still?

Michelangelo’s statue of David is a classic example of contrapposto or “cointerpoise.” Most of the figure’s weight is on the right foot which raises the hip on that side. The rise in the right hip causes the shoulder of the same side to dip slightly which gives us a strong curve gesture through the center mass of the figure. Even if a figure is standing still, you can still achieve strong readable gesture.

Loosey Goosey, Baby. Loosey Goosey.

Gesture is meant to convey the impression of the form so keep your drawing loose.

On the left we have an extremely tight drawing (my contribution to UDON’s Street Fighter tribute book). Little details are rendered like the scratches in the bracelets, folds of cloth, muscle outlines, fingernails. It’s easy to get lost in the detail. But the illustration isn’t about detail. It’s about rocking out.

On the right we have a more loose gestural interpretation. There is hardly any detail in the sketch and yet, you can instantly recognize Chun-Li rocking a microphone. That instant read is essential in gesture drawing.

Gone in 30 Seconds

To train your eye to see the gesture of a figure, the 30 second exercise should serve you well. This exercise works best with a nude or semi-nude model. When you’re drawing gestures, you don’t want to be distracted by folds of clothing or ornamentation. You want to see the figure in its natural state so you can concentrate on the gesture. Okay, your model can wear the underwears if they are shy. But it’s best to draw from life, at least to start training your eye.

Grab a sketchbook and a pen or pencil and a stop watch set for 30 seconds. As soon as your model is ready, start posing. Have your model hold the pose for 30 seconds while you sketch out the gesture of the pose. Keep these gesture drawings loose. You may find yourself drawing small little thumb nails, but for this exercise, draw as big as you can. Use cheap newsprint if you have to, but draw big and loose. When the alarm sounds, the model switches to the next pose and you switch to the next drawing. Do as many of these quick gesture drawings as you can (well, as many poses as the model is willing to go through).

If you can’t find a willing model, you can try drawing from movies. Action movies are an obvious choice, but if you want to really challenge yourself, grab something that’s really heavy with dialog. Let the movie play and pause when you see a pose you want to draw. Draw for 30 seconds and then start it up again. Pause after another few seconds (make sure there’s enough of a difference between poses) and draw some more. The big disadvantage to this version of the exercise is that you have to wait in between drawings. It’s much better to rock these quick gestures in rapid succession. But if all you have is a movie, go with what works.

Another alternative is to hit the local mall and draw people walking around. In some ways, mall watching is perfect for quick gestures. With people constantly in motion, you’ll only get a quick glimpse, a flash of an impression of the figure. This is exactly the type of quick impression you want to capture with you sketches.

Whether its a model or a movie or a crowd of people, it’s best to capture gestures from real life, at least when you’re first starting. Once you train your eye to see the gesture, the form, the motion of a figure, then you can push it in all sorts of crazy ways to strengthen your final illustrations.

Rebuild it Faster, Stronger, You Have the Technology

Gesture drawings can be used as a framework to build the rest of your figure. A strong foundation leads to powerful illustration. If your gestures are dynamic and readable, the figure you construct around them will inherit those qualities. Detail work will serve to enhance rather than distract. Your figures will have movement even when standing still. And your illustrations will tell stories.

So practice, practice, practice those gestures!