Gesture and Contour [02/08/11]

It's a man for once!

Using the gesture technique to draw the model really helps in finding the correct proportions and setting up the overall figure on the paper when starting out.

Basically, gesture drawing is the wire frame that builds the model from the inside out. Start with the overall direction and position, according to the model's pose. Then, fill out the parts of the model that occupy space with squiggly lines, trying not to stop the charcoal on paper. I find this to accomplish a lot such as shading.





20 minute drawings

I started out with gesture drawings on all of the 20 minute drawings. I believe I got the overall shape in about 5-10 minutes.

The rest of the time was adding detail, but sometimes when outlining certain parts, I notice that the proportions were still a little off. So I would erase certain parts and re-do with my vine charcoal. Then outlining it again with the charcoal pencil.

A lot of the times, I feel that 20 minutes go by really fast too!


40 minute drawing

I think this long pose usually takes about an hour, but I noticed most people who believe they are done, stop at a certain point. I stopped at 40 minutes and haven't tried staying till the end. The more advanced students stay and use up the full hour.

I can really tell the difference between the 20 minute drawings and the 40 minute drawing. This one is much more detailed.




Things learned

1. Material
   

• Charcoal pencils used for contour, simple outlines
• Charcoal sticks for shading

1. Scanning

• Scan all pictures equally, because even with Interactive Layout, some parts can show up missing.
  

Medium:

• Vine Charcoal
• Compressed Charcoal - soft
• Charcoal Pencil - 4B