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The practice allows an artist to draw strenuous or spontaneous poses that cannot be held by the model long enough for an elaborate study, and reinforces the importance of
movement, action, and direction, which can be overlooked during a long drawing. -
Drawings longer than two minutes are usually not considered gestures, as they inevitability allow the artist more time to measure and plan the drawing, or to begin to define
the form with modeling. -
This kind of very rapid drawing of the figure builds (through the act of frequent repetition) an instinctive understanding of human proportions which may aid the artist when
executing more extended works. -
In less typical cases the artist may be observing people or animals going about normal activities with no special effort to pause for the artist.
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Other artists, who seek to capture brief moments of time in a direct manner, consider the gesture drawing to be the end product.
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Typical situations involve an artist drawing a series of poses taken by a model in a short amount of time, often as little as 10 seconds, or as long as 5 minutes.
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For some artists, a gesture drawing is the first step in preparing a more sustained work.
Works Cited
[‘• Nicolaïdes, Kimon (1975). The Natural Way to Draw. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-08048-7.
• Doug Boomhower. “Gesture Drawing Captures Movement”. Learn to draw expressively. Retrieved April 30, 2020. Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/singO/5626784099/’]