Drawing Lesson

The human figure is central in our lives and there are many times where being able to depict a movement or gesture quickly is just what you want. Here I show you how you can do this quickly and fluidly. Practicing often is important to master any skill of course.

The drawing to the right is known as Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man from ca.1490. Da Vinci was very interested in anatomic proportions, not just to make his artwork accurately depict human form but because he was convinced that the ideal proportions of man were following ideal proportions of nature. In this he was inspired by Vitruvius, an ancient Roman architect (ca. 15 BC) who used the ideal proportions of man to correspond with his architecture.

Da Vinci illustrated these ideal proportions and wrote this in a journal from 1492: “By the ancients man has been called the world in miniature; and certainly this name is well bestowed, because, inasmuch as man is composed of earth, water, air and fire, his body resembles that of the earth.” I wanted to share this with you-because it makes me smile for joy that Da Vinci in his own way held a shamanic worldview and probably knew us to be made from stardust.

Gesture Drawings

Imagine that you are sitting in a cafe and enjoying looking at the people there; it’s a busy scene, people are coming and going, talking and laughing. Imagine that you see a little girl, so full of life, skipping by, holding her mommy by the hand. This touches your heart and you want to keep the moment; perhaps use it in a composition later. You pull out your sketch pad and make a few quick and simple gesture drawings, capturing the moment- but not only that; this will let you remember the feeling you had more accurate than a camera snapshot. Keeping it simple is good, and practice makes perfect.

Here I show you a couple of ways to make gesture drawings.This type of drawing is great for sketching out quick ideas for your drawings and paintings and is often used in Live Drawing (drawing from a naked human model) to catch 15 sec to 1 min poses.

Homework

Make several gesture drawings and post them on FaceBook in the Closed Group Artisessential