There are fundamentals to art that trump any stylistic or technical choices, and create the visual language through which one communicates their ideas. Figurative art hones in on a few of those fundamentals, such as anatomy, form, value, proportions. The most important fundamental is visually the most simple, and it is its simplicity that makes it the most nuanced: Gesture. If the body is made up of forms, gesture is the movement or flow that connects those forms together (not in the same way a skeleton does). I’ve been practicing gesture drawings for years, but I believe I made a breakthrough in one of my recent quick sketch sessions.

In this collection of sketches, I believe that I got closer to understanding an essential concept in gesture drawing, which is that you are capturing lines that do not exist. When I started gesture drawing, I focused on simplifying the contours of the models before me. Then, I used the skeleton of my models to capture the gesture. But through studying artists such as Glenn Vilppu and Mike Mattesi, I now see that I am not supposed to just copy the contours or borders between anatomical features of my models. Not only is 1 to 10 minutes not enough time to draw such lines accurately, but that does not capture the energy of the figure. As figurative artist Steve Huston once stated, you are supposed to describe the gesture of the model better than the model themself. One accomplishes this by abstracting the body in an intellectual manner, making imaginary lines that describe the twisting, leaning, and tilting of the figure. 

Mastering gesture is necessary to answer my essential question “How can I respond to a global pandemic through art?” for the same reason that it is important to any pieces of art: Gesture tells a story. The leaning in of a torso, the tilt of a head, the relation between the shoulders and hips all express the emotion of the figure. This is important, as I hope to capture powerful emotions through my art in order to convey my ideas around this time in history. But of course, I do not plan to develop my pieces with just a few gestural marks. I have to construct perspective, anatomy, values, and color on top of those marks in order to convey the illusion of three dimensional forms. However, it is easy to lose the gesture through adding form. Thus, my question is how can I draw forms that are both gestural and structural? As I copy George B. Bridgman’s drawings in his book Constructive Anatomy, I have noticed how he uses the primary masses of the body (head, thorax, and pelvis) to further emphasize gesture. I’ve also noticed how draftsmen Stan Prokopenko simplifies the contours of secondary forms into C and S curves and juxtaposes the apexes of opposing muscles to create dynamism and convey gesture. Through studying their works, I hope to internalize and apply these skills into my own art.