Figure & Gesture Drawing
VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED: Nudity
Every now and again we as artists get this idea in our minds. Something specific that we want to draw and we know how we want it to look, but it never quite gets drawn the way we pictured it. Most artists venture off in search of the perfect “copy & paste” reference while others search for a way to work on their skill to a higher extent. If you find yourself struggling to get your poses down or you can’t draw your hands so you continuously put them in fists or hide them, then I have a great suggestion. Figure & Gesture Drawings. Though there are many sites out there, there is one site I have used for a couple of years that I recommend for the self-teaching artist.
Before we go into detail, let’s take a look at the benefits of figure and gesture drawing. Practicing figures and gestures teaches you shape and direction of different forms. Although most models for these classes or programs are thin or fit, you can apply the shapes and directions or curvature to any type of style you are going for. For example if you are into drawing large people and your model is thin it helps you realize that you just have to widen those proportions- see passed the image you are seeing/referencing. If you draw monsters and aliens, but your model is human (tsk tsk, wrong planet bud) your anatomy may be differently placed, but the concept of an elbow is that elbows bend at their joint. Drawing from a model can help you know where to place that joint and how far it should bend. Though if you are drawing something inhuman then it’s fair to say that you make up your own anatomy, right?
Another benefit of gesture drawing is practicing speed as you’re timed and attention to important details such as where joints should bend- like the elbow example or how far a foot should go. If you’re practicing facial expressions it helps to know which parts of the face moves when someone smiles or frowns. It can even help you learn what happens when someone stretches, showing you that it isn’t just about standing on tippy toes. Gesture drawing is a huge help in learning how the body moves, but it also helps to know at least the basics of anatomy if you do want to focus on certain body types or animals.
Now, Figure & Gesture Drawings by Kim Genly is my personal favorite out of many sites I have used. This site offers unlimited use of self-learning tools for artists of many skill sets (as we all know there is always something we can learn). Genly makes sure that the material offered is useful, for instance, blog posts for those that need a little push in motivation or- my personal favorite- figure and gesture practicing. The gesture classes go from animals and facial expressions to nude figures and hands and feet.
On this site you can choose how you view the figure images (i.e. standard or class mode). Standard mode gives you a time selection of 30 seconds to 10 minutes per figure image while class mode gives you 30 minutes to 6 hours worth of figure images- both selections having breaks built in for the longer sessions.
With these sessions you also choose what you get to see. If you are participating in figure and gestures you can choose to see nude models, clothed models, or both. If you are participating in animal figures you can choose what types of animals (mammals, birds, rodent, and more) you want to see. The options are to make you feel comfortable while you are practicing as well as putting up a challenge.
After looking around the site for a while, you will notice that there is a donation option and even a page dedicated to letting the users know what the donations are for. The tools are 100% free with or without the account and donations are never required to use the site in any way. However, the donations help keep the site running and help update the library to have more models of more races and body types and so on. [If you find that the models you view are more towards one race than others, please remember the library is in the process of being updated as much as possible so patience is virtue and will pay off.]
Listed below are pros and cons, but these pros and cons do not make or break the quality of the website. You are more than welcomed and referred by Ink Panda to go and check the site out yourself.
Pros:
-Donations to the website are being used to create a larger library and maintain the website itself (more information on donations here), but donations are never required.
-Besides offering the gesture practicing sessions there are links to other helpful learning tools such as books you can purchase, lessons and tips through blogs on the site, forums to connect with other self-teaching artists where you can trade tips or get help and critiques.
Cons:
-Though the library is normally updated as the donations come in, newcomers may feel the site is outdated from the lack of blog updates if they were to look for some new insight or advice. I think more posts would help draw in a lasting crowd.
Have you ever used Figure & Gesture Drawings? If so, did you like or dislike it? Let me know in the comments below. If you have suggestions on sites that other artists should know about post those as well!
