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Gesture Drawing

Gesture Drawing

Gesture drawing is a great exercise for learning to draw figures. Students will pose and sketch each other in various movements while learning about this foundational technique.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

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  • Paper

Steps

  • Step 1

    Gesture drawing is a fast sketching of a figure either posed or in action. It is a way of capturing movement in quick strokes and it can be a warm-up before creating a more detailed figure drawing. Have students explore this technique and also some notable examples by famous artists, such as "Charioteer" by 17th-century Italian artist Domenico Gargiulo, "Zwei frauen bringen einem kind das laufen bei" (Two women teaching a child to walk) by Rembrandt, or some of Michelangelo's gesture drawing sketches.

  • Step 2

    Have students work in pairs and take turns posing for and sketching each other. Remind them that this kind of drawing is done quickly and should take only about 30 to 60 seconds.

  • Step 3

    Have each pair present their work and explain how they were able to capture a gesture or a movement in a short period of time using very few pencil strokes. Ask them to discuss why this exercise is useful in sharpening their observational skills and improving focus.

Standards

ARTS: Speculate about processes an artist uses to create a work of art.

ARTS: Explore and invent art-making techniques and approaches.

Adaptations

Alex Woo is a founder of the animation house Kuku Studios. He was a lead story artist at Pixar Animation Studios and has a blog about gesture drawing. Encourage students to watch some of his videos about this technique on YouTube.

Have students create another gesture drawing and write a story about the figure they sketched. What activity was the subject engaged in? Where will this activity lead and how will the story conclude?