Some drawings from today's session. After all these drawings I'm still seeing a lot of improvement. One thing in particular that I'm focusing more on lately is to capture the big picture of what is happenning before I start being concerned with details.
I went back to playing with proportions and shapes again. I really like the guy in the top left corner. It seems like the best drawings come when I have a clear idea in my mind.
Ah ok wontobe, that's great. We need people like you around too, otherwise we would be the only ones looking at our art.
I hope you are all having a good start of the week. On Mondays I've often found myself challenged to get my mind back into the flow of drawing after the weekend break. So I give myself some extra time to analyse poses. Remember that gesture drawing is defined by the intent of the drawing, not necessarily by how long it takes. Let's keep practicing and leveling up!
Had some fun today with some watercolor brushes I bought from Aaron Blaise's website. Also, I started a series of gesture drawing critique videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3yyx3Phit4
Hi everyone, I'm back after taking a break. My father came to the Netherlands for one week for my sister's marriage so I didn't do much work related stuff in the past days. But now it's time to pick things up again!
As always, a blessed and productive week to everyone. Let's pursue a higher level of excellence both in art and life in general. This life is to precious to live it in mediocrity.
This is amazing! You are such an inspiration! Thank you so much for all your hard work and guidance. Even just your tips in this thread are such a great resource for those of us just starting out. Your drawings here are incredible. All the poses communicate so clearly, it's awesome.
I have a few questions
Where do you find all the reference material for these terrific and extreme poses, do you just scour youtube for yoga and acrobatics?
Out of curiosity, Can I ask whether you use a display tablet (like the Cintiq) or a non-display tablet?
Do you have any tips/exercises for establishing a strong neural/motor coordination link between the hand and the screen for us non-display tablet users? Or does it just come naturally with thousands of repetitions?
When you say you do these gesture drawings as a warm up, what are you warming up for?
Thanks for the kind words Sammichparade! The very reason I'm sharing these drawings is to inspire others, so I'm always happy to hear that they are fulfilling their purpose :).
You asked some really good questions.
Most of my reference comes from Pinterest. If you don't have an account on that site yet I highly recommend it!
I use an Intuos 3 which is a non-display tablet.
I've been using Wacom tablets since 2006. At the start it felt very odd but it is really just a matter of getting used to it. After a while drawing on it becomes second nature.
The main service I offer to clients is character design so gesture drawing is a warm up for tackling those projects.
I hope this helps. If you are stuck with gesture drawing and need help, you can always contact me at swendlybenilia@gmail.com and I'll be glad to assist you :).
I think I'm going to go through your posts and your videos with my girlfriend and give ourselves drawing lessons. It'll make a fun date or three!
One more question: Do you think size is an important factor in a drawing tablet? Last night it occurred to me that one reason my pen control might feel so tight and awkward is that it's a very small drawing surface, about 10cm x 13cm.. Or in other words... the larger the shapes I draw, the more relaxed it feels. So I wonder if having a larger tablet would help relax my hand and draw with broader arcs? Or would this be a case for "a good craftsman never blames his tools"?
You're welcome :)! Are you and your girl friend both aspiring artists? What exactly are you pursuing?
As for tablet size, in my experience it defenitely makes a difference. Since I switched to a larger tablet I can draw more comfortably. So having the right tools really matter in my opinion.
I tested out my girlfriend's tablet which is larger than mine. I can see how it would be a much better tool to use, but I didn't have time to get used to it so it was still awkward. I will set a goal though, when I have the money to get something like the Intuos Pro M which is what she has.
We are both aspiring artists, yes. She wants to paint and draw, sort of fantasy style I think, and I want to animate my own sci-fi series. But we're both just clawing our way out of that "blocked artist" stage, where the thing you most want to do is "too important to fuck up" so it gets put off indefinitely. We're really drawn to the book The Artist's Way which would theoretically unblock us, but we're also procrastinating that. Funny how that works.
I'm practicing animating bouncing balls and finally getting a feel for how much work frame by frame animation really takes. If I ever do my series, it may end up being a combination of 2d puppets and hand drawn frames to increase workflow.
Thanks for your reply SammichParade :)! Switching tablets tends to feel awkward at first indeed. You should definitely get a bigger one as soon as you can so you can work more comfortably.
It's great that your girlfriend is also an artist. Animating your own sci-fi series sounds interesting. Consider getting a team in the long run though as animation is a lot of work.
As for artist's block, I've found that feeding my mind with new knowledge on a daily basis keeps me excited and inspired to draw. It's been years since I had what is called an artist's block. I do understand your point about putting of your dream projects because you're afraid to mess it up. You should focus on the fact that you will always be improving as an artist so if you put it off until you are "good enough" you'll most probably never work on that project. So you should just start putting your ideas on paper and not worry about the quality of the drawing at this point. As you get better you can always do revisions of the designs. At the end of the day it's the idea that people are going to be attracted to.
Hi everyone, I uploaded more videos about my process for gesture drawing here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAZORw3OCLHLSTcFEE1vlJg
Hi everyone, I uploaded two videos about a question that artists ask very often: how do you make poses more dynamic? I hope you enjoy them: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAZORw3OCLHLSTcFEE1vlJg
Some drawings from today's session. After all these drawings I'm still seeing a lot of improvement. One thing in particular that I'm focusing more on lately is to capture the big picture of what is happenning before I start being concerned with details.
Have a nice weekend!
I went back to playing with proportions and shapes again. I really like the guy in the top left corner. It seems like the best drawings come when I have a clear idea in my mind.
New video is up, with more on how make poses more dynamic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y50G3zqKjro
Just to let you know, the link to the images on your first post are broken.
Hi wontobe, thanks for letting me know :).
Just out of curiosity, are you an artist/ animator yourself? And if so, where are you working?
No, I am just a avid follower of animation and art.
Ah ok wontobe, that's great. We need people like you around too, otherwise we would be the only ones looking at our art.
I hope you are all having a good start of the week. On Mondays I've often found myself challenged to get my mind back into the flow of drawing after the weekend break. So I give myself some extra time to analyse poses. Remember that gesture drawing is defined by the intent of the drawing, not necessarily by how long it takes. Let's keep practicing and leveling up!
Had some fun today with some watercolor brushes I bought from Aaron Blaise's website. Also, I started a series of gesture drawing critique videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3yyx3Phit4
Hi guys, I've uploaded some more critique videos yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAZORw3OCLHLSTcFEE1vlJg
Enjoy and let's keep practicing :).
Some drawings from today's session. I also uploaded two more gesture drawing critique videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAZORw3OCLHLSTcFEE1vlJg
I had a lot of fun with these. Clothing used to be scary to draw, but learning to see it as shape makes it a lot easier.
Hi everyone, I'm back after taking a break. My father came to the Netherlands for one week for my sister's marriage so I didn't do much work related stuff in the past days. But now it's time to pick things up again!
Great efforts, very impressive animation. Hats off to you swen.
https://actonvideo.com/portfolio/
Thanks for the kind words Scarlett!
It's been a while again, but I still do gesture drawing every day as a warm up.
As always, a blessed and productive week to everyone. Let's pursue a higher level of excellence both in art and life in general. This life is to precious to live it in mediocrity.
This is amazing! You are such an inspiration! Thank you so much for all your hard work and guidance. Even just your tips in this thread are such a great resource for those of us just starting out. Your drawings here are incredible. All the poses communicate so clearly, it's awesome.
I have a few questions
Thanks again!
Thanks for the kind words Sammichparade! The very reason I'm sharing these drawings is to inspire others, so I'm always happy to hear that they are fulfilling their purpose :).
You asked some really good questions.
I hope this helps. If you are stuck with gesture drawing and need help, you can always contact me at swendlybenilia@gmail.com and I'll be glad to assist you :).
A new gesture drawing critique video is up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWLtJdxU7VI&t=3s
Awesome.. thank you!
I think I'm going to go through your posts and your videos with my girlfriend and give ourselves drawing lessons. It'll make a fun date or three!
One more question: Do you think size is an important factor in a drawing tablet? Last night it occurred to me that one reason my pen control might feel so tight and awkward is that it's a very small drawing surface, about 10cm x 13cm.. Or in other words... the larger the shapes I draw, the more relaxed it feels. So I wonder if having a larger tablet would help relax my hand and draw with broader arcs? Or would this be a case for "a good craftsman never blames his tools"?
thanks again
You're welcome :)! Are you and your girl friend both aspiring artists? What exactly are you pursuing?
As for tablet size, in my experience it defenitely makes a difference. Since I switched to a larger tablet I can draw more comfortably. So having the right tools really matter in my opinion.
A new video of me making the drawings below is up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvEsO8fN-_8
And some drawings from today's session.
I tested out my girlfriend's tablet which is larger than mine. I can see how it would be a much better tool to use, but I didn't have time to get used to it so it was still awkward. I will set a goal though, when I have the money to get something like the Intuos Pro M which is what she has.
We are both aspiring artists, yes. She wants to paint and draw, sort of fantasy style I think, and I want to animate my own sci-fi series. But we're both just clawing our way out of that "blocked artist" stage, where the thing you most want to do is "too important to fuck up" so it gets put off indefinitely. We're really drawn to the book The Artist's Way which would theoretically unblock us, but we're also procrastinating that. Funny how that works.
I'm practicing animating bouncing balls and finally getting a feel for how much work frame by frame animation really takes. If I ever do my series, it may end up being a combination of 2d puppets and hand drawn frames to increase workflow.
Thanks for your reply SammichParade :)! Switching tablets tends to feel awkward at first indeed. You should definitely get a bigger one as soon as you can so you can work more comfortably.
It's great that your girlfriend is also an artist. Animating your own sci-fi series sounds interesting. Consider getting a team in the long run though as animation is a lot of work.
As for artist's block, I've found that feeding my mind with new knowledge on a daily basis keeps me excited and inspired to draw. It's been years since I had what is called an artist's block. I do understand your point about putting of your dream projects because you're afraid to mess it up. You should focus on the fact that you will always be improving as an artist so if you put it off until you are "good enough" you'll most probably never work on that project. So you should just start putting your ideas on paper and not worry about the quality of the drawing at this point. As you get better you can always do revisions of the designs. At the end of the day it's the idea that people are going to be attracted to.
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