Drawing and Gesture Sketch

During the mornings of this past week I have spent my time creating drawing studies of an Italian model named Francesco. I will begin on Monday to create a 5-week charcoal drawing of him. It seems almost backwards to spend a couple of hours perfecting a gesture sketch, which by its nature implies speed. However, if the idea or emotion is not captured early on in an artwork, there is really no point in continuing. How one begins sets the tone for the rest of the project.

Here you can see some of my gesture sketches. I went into Photoshop to increase the contrast a bit so that you may see my light, sketchy lines better. It is meglio to draw light lines in the beginning so that one feels free to change the disegno. This is the time to make the major design decisions. Shapes, patterns, angles, variety, gesture: I must use these elements to create un disegno that conveys an idea worth viewing.



The image of the figure in the dark box shape is actually an exercise in drawing the negative spaces, the shapes around the object depicted [which is considered the positive space]. I first created a simple gesture sketch to help me place each negative shape in context with the next so that as I worked, the figure emerged. Then I draw each shape that is not the figure, shading it in order to see it better.

It is in the refinement in the drawing of the negative spaces that the articulation of the figure is created or added. My beginning sketch of the figure consisted only of “C” and “S” curves. No articulation (breaking down the specific components of a form within the gesture, as well as the addition of architecture).

Before creating the drawing you see here, I randomly drew various negative shapes from several poses, without relating them to one another. The exercise was not to draw the legs, but to draw the shape between the legs – a personality all to itself! The main observation is that all relationships give us information about our subject’s character and we must not forget to note the less obvious around us.

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