Gesture Drawing - Draw People

Gesture Drawing is a great way for anyone interested in learning to draw to get started right away! You don't need to know a thing about drawing the figure to make great gestures.

Gestures are also awesome sketchbook exercises. You can doodle gestures using a pen or pencil, any time of day, any where you go!

Supplies:

Any drawing implement and paper! Here I've used a black ink Sharpie Marker on white construction paper. Remember to keep in mind that Sharpies tend to bleed through thin papers.

For the purpose of learning how to draw people, I highly recommend asking someone to pose for you. Don't worry about trying to draw the details of what the person might be wearing. Focus instead on the major movements and the way the limbs are posed.

If no one will pose for you feel free to draw from photographs! Just make sure you can see the entire figure within the picture.

Gestures capture the essence of the object being drawn. Figure drawing lends itself perfectly to the gesture technique. Take any figure class and I bet instruction will begin by creating gesture drawings first. It's a quick way of capturing what your eye sees onto paper.

So, what if you really want to draw from life, but can't find someone to pose for you and you don't want to take a class? Just look in a mirror. I made the quick studies below while looking into a tall standing mirror.

These drawings are made quickly! Because of this anything can potentially be a drawing, even a moving object. I love drawing dogs using this technique because they might move unexpectedly, this means you HAVE to draw fast!

If you don't own a dog or can't find someone to pose for you, simply look around your home for inspiration. Take a look at some lovely angel figurine gestures.

You can even practice drawing faces using the gesture technique!