GESTURE
5/14
GESTURE vs CONTOUR
CONTOUR drawing is like climbing a mountain, as contrasted with flying over it in an airplane. It is not a quick glance at the mountain from far away, but a slow, painstaking climb over it, step by step.
GESTURE drawing is to be done FURIOUSLY.
Imagine you are describing the object with your hands as you talk. Marks are quick and deliberate. Each mark must say something significant. Gesture has no precise edges, no exact shape no specific form. In a gesture drawing you should draw not what the thing looks like, not even what it is, but what it is doing.
To learn to draw, both kinds of efforts are necessary, one balances the other. In concentration, one can act furiously over a short space of time or one can work with calm determination, quietly over a longer extended period.
Draw
Experiment with drawing from the wrist, elbow, shoulder.
Draw "gesturally" swinging your drawing tool around on the paper. Trying to locate the whole scene at once. While looking at the object notice:
points of tension
directions of weight or pressure
spaces
protrusions into space