Gesture Sketching with Charcoal
In my recent drawing class, we spent a lot of time doing gesture sketches. These were fast sketches (3 minutes) in which we tried to capture the nature of the subject, without a lot of accuracy.
Although these were initially intimidating to my classmates and to me, I eventually came to love them because of their very loose nature. And because the standards for realism are low!
Still, we all felt a big jolt of anxiety when our teacher told us we’d be drawing from a live model in our second lesson. What??? However, it turned out that sketching a model was much easier than the still life arrangements we’d been using previously.
There are several different types of gesture sketches. These are called “mass gestures.” They were done with a short piece of charcoal, marking with the side of it for big heavy lines.
Our teacher suggested that we first draw a stick figure, concentrating on size, proportion, and relationships. That was very helpful! It’s amazing how much easier it is to draw something if you don’t first lock yourself in to one of the outside edges.
The goal of these sketches was to improve our skills of “seeing.” That is, noticing angles, lengths, proportions, and relationships. I think they definitely accomplished that. For that reason, and because they’re so non-threatening , I plan to do many more.
Artistic disclaimer: I selected my best sketches for this post. I GUARANTEE you that some of them were pathetic! (Click images if you want to see a larger version.)
Ellen Lindner
