Gesture drawing from life for animators!

#1

Hello,
im an aspirant character animator,so i decided to start a sketchbook,my main concern is to draw movement and understand it as i draw.
i have been heavily learning from walt stanchfield,but it really hard my problems are:
-how to see the model as a whole,i usually just see the superior part of the model but not the whole model.
-should i be analytical,like looking for weight distrubution…
-and also how to feel the pose in my body
-how to capture the essence
-do you look one time at the model and draw it from your mind!bam!

just give me some pointer on how to draw gesture from life a la walt stanchfield.

thanks.

#2

You’re right about learning to see the gesture of the figure - it’s key. I also think that sculpture is great for animators because it pushes you to think of the figure in the round - how a particular pose looks from many points of view.

You might try to develop a skeletal shorthand - draw the skeleton first and then “bulk up” the figure on top of that. It’s kind of like sculpting on an armature.

If there’s any way you can join a life drawing group, that would be ideal - but you can always sit in a coffee shop and draw people waiting in line… You can also work the skeletal shorthand on photographs of active figures - like in the sports section of the newspaper. If you can get the skeleton down you will learn the structure of the figure and the rest is much easier.

I’m adding a link to an out of print book. It’s got several pages of “action skeletons” that may help you get started.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2893686/Drawing-and-Anatomy-by-Victor-Perard

Amaryllis

#3

Amaryllis, that book sounded interesting, but impossible to have a look at it :frowning:

About the gesture drawing from life, I agree…I think the best thing is to get used to capture the base using a sticky-man structure, and then work on it.
Maybe just simple doodles, a page full of sticky men, everything it’s a good start to get practice in it.

Good luck with your learning :wink:

#4

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