TUES. 1/24 LINE: Gesture

Nemea Laessig

Students in the T/Th class made gesture studies of gourds. Gesture is an all encompassing, quick and spontaneous rendering of the artist's subject; in this case a gourd. Where contour uses a slow, single line, gesture uses multiple, quick lines to enclose and surround the form in a cage or armature. There are three distinct approaches to gesture drawing: 1. line, 2. mass, and 3. scribble. The drawing above employs a combination of mass and line. The mass technique uses broad, sweeping strokes identifying a sense of volume and weight as well as light whereas the line technique adds structure to the form like a skeleton. Note how the inclusion of a horizon line and the dark, atmospheric, cloud forms in the negative space hold the gourd in place adding a sense of weight and place or environment.