What’s That Gesture Mean?

I picked up a new book on sketching figures today. (Yay for 50% off coupons at Michael’s!)

One of the items emphasized in the book is gesture drawings. The author gives some good tips about how to do them quickly. I liked it. Some of these very quick drawings really do give a sense of gesture. It is amazing to me how a few lines can cause us to think about a person sitting or standing or doing something suggested by those few lines.

The image above is a gesture sketch of my 6-year-old daughter sitting.

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Here is my wife reading to my 6-year-old as she was going to bed. (Can you see it?)

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A couple more of the girls reading in bed.

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My daughter sitting and listening as the book is read. I like the slump captured by these lines.

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These were done while I waited for some paint to be mixed at Home Depot. Notice the slumping posture of the guy on the left. I really liked the quick strokes to indicate shoes on the guy on the right.

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This last one wasn’t really a gesture drawing. As my daughter actually went to sleep, she finally slowed down enough for me to capture a bit more of a likeness of her. This was still intended to be a very quick study. I like the flow of the lines representing her blanket bunching up around her waist. I’m looking forward to doing many many more of these!