Some months back when rent wasn't so high, I was searching for ways to keep on my art even though I wasn't feeling creative. Study is often a good alternative when you want to keep improving but don't want the creative pressure of doing your own stuff. So I signed-up for a Schoolism class on gesture drawing. I did the first week with full gusto, and then things petered out. Not without cause, but petred none the less.

The class is self-paced but the class content will not be available to me forever, so I recently decided to power-through the lessons and take notes so I can at least refer back to them later.

Sofar, the class has covered Line of Action and explained 10 second gestures in a way that has been way more productive for me than my college classes. Perhaps my college classes set me up to understand this class better, though. Or perhaps my classes would have wanted more from a 10 second gesture than what is explained in the Schoolism class. Either way, immediately helpful.

Also covered so far was Shape, Silhouette, Space, Exaggeration, and next is Extrapolation. These are all things I've encountered in classes before, but never with the same emphasis on storytelling. In this current class, it is encouraged not to stick to anatomical accuracy but focus on narrative accuracy. If it tells a better story to move body parts around or rotate the pose of a figure, to push and pull the figure in space to make the story clearer, then go for it! I always used to get hung-up on the anatomy (and still do). In past years, I started to speculate maybe drawing the feeling was more important than literal physicality of a subject, but hearing it in this class is really affirming.

That being said, for every drawing, the instructions begin with asking yourself, "What's the feeling, the story I want to convey with this gesture?" The answer to this question is the compass and tells how to draw a given figure to maximum effect.

I feel often like I am floundering when I want to draw these days. I don't know what to draw or why most times, except on rare occasion when an idea already exisists. But now I wonder if asking myself this question would help when I don't already have the story there to draw.

Whoo learning!

Anyway, check-out Alex Woo's Gesture Drawing on Schoolism.com if you want to see for yourself!

Whoot!
Vicious