Comics, of course! Back in college I got a little bit
obsessed with the history of comics, mostly as an art appreciator, although I
was also fascinated by how much social commentary was injected into the narratives
and stories. But my interest in comics is where I really seized on the pen and
ink artwork techniques that I still can't get enough of. The most lasting
lesson I learned from comics, however, has to do with gesture in figure
drawing.
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| One of Neal Adams' depictions of Robin from the Batman comic book. |
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When you look at a really good comic illustration, it reads
like a really good gesture drawing. The same rules apply in
how to draw both--a strong angle
of implied movement that is articulated through a figure's entire body. The
expressiveness of the body can almost read abstractly and seem to impact the
figure's surroundings. That is how powerfully it is presented. Comic book
artists reinforce this with the use of cropping and light and dark patterning to emphasize
the action of their figure sketches and call attention to what they want to say
about the body.
Feelings of femininity, softness, sleep, and languidness in
comic figure drawings are often accomplished with a gesture drawing that
features long, fluid pen strokes and a predominance of curvilinear lines. Limbs
are extended. Figures expressing stress, anxiety, guilt,
remorse, or shiftiness are often depicted with sharper "edges" and angles. The
body's limbs are more drawn in and joints poke out, or the body is bent over or
contorted. The figure's stance can look closed off and guarded.
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Panels from Bernie Krigstein's Master Race. |
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A comic illustration in its final form is a far cry from a
gesture drawing, yet I think there's a strong possibility that a lot of them
start as gesture drawings. Both are rooted in the expressiveness and language
of the human body. Looking at gesture during a human figure drawing session is
the first step to making a believable figure drawing, no matter where you want
to take it--whether inset into a comic book panel or a fine art drawing or
painting. And that's where
Dan Thompson's latest DVD,
Figure Drawing II: The Gesture, comes into play for me. I'm not quite ready for a public figure drawing session, but
The Gesture gives me everything a top notch figure workshop could without any pressure to perform. And I can "take" the class as many times as I want. Just hit replay. Enjoy!
