The Figure In Motion

Posted on September 10, 2015 | 28 Comments

I was doing some gesture drawings today with soft vine charcoal:

According to Wikipedia, the primary purpose of gesture drawing is to study the human figure in motion.

I did my sketches in 30 seconds or less:

And I used PoseManiacs.com as my reference for my drawings. This site is great because you can time the pose for 10 seconds or more!

Searching the internet I discovered an awesome YouTube video by Ryan Woodward – the gesture drawings are animated to music. It is really fun to watch so I hope you google it!

I really enjoyed this exercise! Do you practice gesture drawing on a regular basis? I’d love to hear from you!

Happy Drawing! 🙂

This entry was posted in Drawing, Human Figure and tagged Art, art classes, challenge, drawing, gestures, human figure, learning, soft vine charcoal, timed. Bookmark the permalink.

28 responses to “The Figure In Motion”

memadtwo | September 10, 2015 at 3:44 am | Reply

Not since life drawing class way back in the last century. I know a lot of people use posemaniacs and like it. Looks like you had fun! (K.)

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- Jill Kuhn | September 10, 2015 at 9:43 am | Reply
  
  Thanks Kerfe! Yes, I surprised myself in how much I enjoyed it! The more I did, the better I got at “seeing” the human figure. 😊
  
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Jodi | September 10, 2015 at 3:55 am | Reply

will have to check this out some time Jill. Never tried this yet. 🙂

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- Jill Kuhn | September 10, 2015 at 9:44 am | Reply
  
  I hope you do Jodi! It is loads of fun! 😊🎨🌟
  
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Charlie O'Shields (doodlewash) | September 10, 2015 at 5:08 am | Reply

These are wonderful Jill!! Love them! I haven’t done gesture drawings in years, but should try them again! Love yours! ❤️😃

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- Jill Kuhn | September 10, 2015 at 9:47 am | Reply
  
  Glad you like them, Charlie! 💜 I hope to do more of them. Drawing quickly trains my eyes to SEE if you know what I mean! LOL! 😊
  
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  - Charlie O'Shields (doodlewash) | September 10, 2015 at 1:57 pm |
    
    I know exactly what you mean…I’m working on the same thing! Hehe😊
    
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  - Jill Kuhn | September 10, 2015 at 4:47 pm |
    
    I thought you’d understand! Thanks friend! :-))))
    
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Sand Salt Moon | September 10, 2015 at 6:56 am | Reply

My fav is that dancing one! : ))) Great exercise and I must do it too one day to share with you, my friend.

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- Jill Kuhn | September 10, 2015 at 9:49 am | Reply
  
  Yes, this one is my favorite too, Cynthia! 💖 I will look forward to seeing your gesture drawings my friend! 😊🎨
  
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Sharon Mann | September 10, 2015 at 7:31 am | Reply

What a good idea Jill. Good idea for a warm up before drawing.

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- Jill Kuhn | September 10, 2015 at 9:51 am | Reply
  
  Thanks Sharon! I really enjoyed doing these. Now I want to try it on REAL people! LOL! 😊
  
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Teresa Robeson | September 10, 2015 at 8:08 am | Reply

Lovely gesture drawings! I enjoy doing them while we’re watching tv (where people are constantly moving)…it’s a lesson in frustration. 😉

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- Jill Kuhn | September 10, 2015 at 9:54 am | Reply
  
  Good idea, Teresa! 🌟🌟🌟 I will have to try this – as I would like to try REAL people. I was thinking of going to a coffee shop or the library. 😊
  
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  - Teresa Robeson | September 10, 2015 at 10:22 am |
    
    It’s not quite the same, but I’m too nervous to draw in public. :} Hope you’ll try it and have fun! It’s useful on days when you can’t go out for whatever reason, too.
    
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  - Jill Kuhn | September 10, 2015 at 11:44 am |
    
    I can understand how you feel – I will only do it if I feel invisible! LOL!
    
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  - Teresa Robeson | September 10, 2015 at 12:36 pm |
    
    One day, I will not be so shy about doing art in public. Today is not the day. 😉
    
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  - Jill Kuhn | September 10, 2015 at 4:44 pm |
    
    :-)))
    
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Laura (Createarteveryday) | September 10, 2015 at 11:35 am | Reply

I love the last one best! He seems like he’s flying and dancing all at once! I tried this at the library awhile back and I’ll do it again, but I’m a big chicken. I need to squirrel myself away in the back corner of the back room where I can sketch without anyone noticing but last time there were people there so I didn’t. I hope you report back when you do it, Jill!

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- Jill Kuhn | September 10, 2015 at 11:42 am | Reply
  
  Yes, this one is my favorite too! 🙂 I have done these gesture drawings before but this time, I was able to loosen up a bit and just have fun with it. I’ll let you know how it goes with REAL people in public! LOL! :-)))
  
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  - Laura (Createarteveryday) | September 10, 2015 at 11:52 am |
    
    Jill, are you nervous? Kirk does this all the time and has no qualms at all! I don’t think I could ever be relaxed unless the people knew I was sketching them. It just feels wrong and no clue why. Lol.
    
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  - Jill Kuhn | September 10, 2015 at 4:46 pm |
    
    I like the idea of gesture sketching because it is so quick! Now if I was doing something for a longer period of time, I would feel a bit uncomfortable I think. 😉
    
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  - Laura (Createarteveryday) | September 10, 2015 at 5:04 pm |
    
    I’d wanna spend like 10 minutes on someone if they sat still long enough. I’m amazed at the drawings Carmel does. Not sure if you follow her? She draws people in line at Starbucks. I think they’d recognize themselves if they ever saw them. she’s really good! But she’s had lots of practice. She’s brave! https://carmelcampbell.wordpress.com/blog-2/
    
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  - Jill Kuhn | September 10, 2015 at 5:31 pm |
    
    Thanks for telling me about her blog! I am now a follower. Yes, her art is really good! :-)))
    
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  - Laura (Createarteveryday) | September 10, 2015 at 5:37 pm |
    
    She does them so quick!!! She amazes the heck outta me! I’d love to be able to do this. I think I could pick some of those people out of a lineup lol.
    
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  - Jill Kuhn | September 10, 2015 at 6:01 pm |
    
    Oh, that’s funny! Yes, I’d love to be able to do this too! :-)))
    
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ann christina | September 10, 2015 at 3:11 pm | Reply

I don´t, but probably should… Love your figures, especially the dancer. She´s flying! 😊💜

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- Jill Kuhn | September 10, 2015 at 4:42 pm | Reply
  
  Thanks Ann! :-)))
  
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