How to master gesture drawing

Definition of shape language

Shape language is a concept used widely in art or animation to communicate ideas, story, emotions and feelings through familiar shape that the viewer may recognize in his everyday life.

how to use shape language ?

Circle

how to use shape language can be summed up with three general shapes. Circle and ovals are one of them and can be good when it comes about clothes, hair, friendly faces. It also suggest feminity.

Don't do

Improve your shape understanding

Circles, squares, triangles are general shape, there is other detailled one like hexagon, spirals, crosses and so more.

Circles doesn't always communicate kindness and feminity. You can draw the vilain of your story with circle if you know how to manipulate the ratio to evoke the illusion of kindness. Vilain doesn't have to always look dangerous. See what i mean ?

This character below may be a vilain. You cannot know what he can cook for his clients, it may be poison. You can suggest how a character is vilain with his story, colors, facial expression. Shape language is not the only metric you can play with.

Gesture drawing

What is gesture drawing ?

Gesture drawing is a way for an artist to practice anatomy and it has some rules to follow.

How to improve gesture drawing ( 5 tips )

Avoid Too Many Straight Lines

Do not just copy. Understand what you're copying.

Any aspect of drawing is about understanding what you're reproducing. If you do not understand, you won't expand your visual library.

It's rare for an artist to draw static pose. Dynamic poses with movement are far more interessant. If you want to achieve better dynamic poses, avoid straight lines, study the curvature of your figure and try to convey the illusion of 3D through your anatomy practice.

Draw with confidence, don't do sloppy lines.

Simplification is the ultimate sophistication --- Leonardo Da vinci -----

You must take time to analyze the figure and optimize the number of lines you'll put on your paper/ digital artwork. The best way to know more about rythm, lines and contours is to follow this video from proko channel

Never forget action line

Line of action define the direction of the movement the gesture will take. If you do not understand how to put action line, your entire gesture can be compromised.

Learn it, it is an essential skill. A tip inside artist community consist of drawing the body before the face so that you can capture and focus on the shape language and the gesture first.

Some of the most efficient website reference for gesture drawing :

Conclusion

We hope you had a brief overview about how to use shape language, gesture drawing. Nonetheless, if you want to expand your knowledges and go deeper about anatomy understanding, we suggest you these external ressource :