LINE: Gesture and Volume Techniques

Ryan

Last night class began with a discussion on Gesture Drawing. Where Contour drawings are single, slow, incisive lines, Gesture drawings are quick, spontaneous and group lines together. Before addressing gestural techniques we made Cross-Contour drawings addressing volume. Cross-contours flow across the typography of a form. The left and right side contours are implied through the repetition of horizontal lines arcing across the form.

Diana

Next, we made Continuous Line Drawings. This technique is a bridge between Contour and Gesture. Like Contour, the line addresses the edges of the form but like Gesture the lines are repeated, the largest parts are addressed first moving towards the smaller parts and lastly, the form is rendered transparently. The objective is to avoid "outlining", which is flat and two-dimensional. The gourd above is constructed like a "snowman"; first you make the bottom, then the middle and lastly, the head.

Emily

The drawing above is an example of the Scribble Gesture technique. This approach addresses the mass of the form while also illustrating the light. Notice when lines are grouped together they act more like values. Dark lines tend to advance in space where dark values recede.

The Mass technique, like Scribble, addresses the mass and light. The object should appear like a solid, smokey, mass. There should be a sense of weight as well as the light patterns.

We ended the evening with Gesture drawings combining the techniques of Mass and Line. The Line portion captures the structure or armature of the form where the Mass addresses the weight, solidity and light.

LINE: Gestural Method

Last night class began with a slide lecture on Gesture Drawing: the act of quick, spontaneous and all encompassing rendering of an artist's subject. To begin, the class made cross-contour studies.

Graham Metcalfe

Graham has established a slightly downward view of the gourd. Notice how the lines move across the front of the form, bending at the ends to address the way the edges recede. In addition, he has "accented" the ends to suggest the way light is striking the form.

Andrameda Martinez

Next we made Continuous-line drawings. The idea is to use one unbroken line that wraps around the form addressing the exterior edge as well as the cross-contours. Notice in Andrameda's drawing that the cross-contours move vertically as well as horizontally. The thing to remember is how Line illustrates the "structure" of the form.

Joanna Alvarez

Joanna's drawing is an example of the Mass technique. These drawings address the volume and solidity of the form while also illustrating light patterns. Notice how Joanna has used dark values on the shadow side of the form to establish a light source. In addition, the dark values push receding planes back. The examples being the neck and the base of the gourd.

Crysta Maguire

We ended the evening with a drawing emphasizing the negative space: the areas around and within the objects. The drawing above is a group of gourds. The objective of this drawing was to "suggest the objects". In other words, to draw just enough without drawing too much. Take note of the variations in tonalities as well as the lighter and darker marks employed.
Note: Not shown from last night is an example of the Scribble technique and the combined techniques of Line and Mass together.

LINE: Gesture

Last night we continued exploring Line through a series of drawings addressing cross-contours, continuous line, scribble, mass and negative space. The important distinctions to remember are 1. line drawings address the structure of form and 2. scribble and mass techniques address mass and volume. In addition, the latter address value changes in light because they are essentially tonal drawings.

Dylan Freitas

 Cross-contours address the contours moving across and around a form rather than the outside edges. "Accents" in the line quality may suggest a change in the structure as planes advance and recede as well as addressing the way light falls on the form.

Suzie Larsen

 Continuous Lines address the structure and volume of a form by creating an armature or skeleton with vertical and horizontal cross-contours.

Joe Mulcaire

 Scribble Gesture addresses the mass and weight of a form as well as the location of a light source.

Erin Deacon

 Mass Gesture like Scribble addresses the mass and volume of an object. Because it is a tonal technique, the categories of light are illustrated as well.

Joe Mulcaire

Negative Space and/or shapes are the areas around and within the forms. In the case of the arrangement above, the objective is to "suggest" the gourds by drawing the shadows, receding planes and passages between the objects.

LINE:Contour vs. Gesture

Allison Brooke

Friday morning began with a discussion on Contour Line Drawings. The main points to reflect on are 1. Contour is a slow, single, incisive line that defines interior as well as exterior volumes 2. Dark lines advance, light lines recede 3. "Accents" in line quality add volume and may identify changes in structure, weight, value, texture and color. The hammer head in Allison's drawing above is especially well drawn. Observe the subtleties in line quality addressing the hard and soft contours.
Katherine's drawing below is a Cross-Contour study. Notice how she has accented the right side, bottom and neck area of the gourd establishing weight, shadow and negative areas. Cross-Contour drawings emphasize the contours across a form and imply the exterior contours.

Katherine Brown

After the lunch break, we discussed Gesture Drawings. Now Gesture (being quick and spontaneous) and Contour Drawings (slow and methodical) are opposites in technique but they both build "eye-hand" coordination and are therefore equally important and should be practiced often.

Kyle Sullivan

Kyle's drawing above is an example of the Scribble Gesture technique. The tangled and layered accumulation of lines captures the mass and volume of an object as well as value. Notice how the line quality also exhibits a textural quality like a "prickly" cactus or thistle.

Emily Sanfilippo

Emily's drawing employs both Line Gesture and Mass Gesture techniques. Line provides structure and the Mass technique adds mass and volume as well as value. Notice how she has also addressed the negative areas around the gourd creating a background and establishing depth within the whole composition.

Ian Cook

We ended class on Friday with drawings emphasizing the negative areas. The goal in these drawings is to "suggest" the presence of the gourd rather than "spoon-feeding" the viewer. By focusing on the negative areas, planes slide into one another bridging the gap between positive and negative areas. Notice how the similarity in value and accenting establishes a rhythm that moves the "eye" around the composition.

LINE: Gesture

Class began with a lecture on mark-making and Gesture Drawing. Due to time constraints we didn't get through all the combinations of Gesture but they are listed above in the LINE tab.

Mersadee Herrin

First we made drawings addressing Cross-Contours. No one has trouble seeing the left and right and top and bottom edges of forms but many have difficulty visualizing the front and back of a form. Cross-contours illustrate the volumes of a form across and/or around a form. Notice in the drawing above how the line quality transitions from dark to light and thick to thin. This suggests a shadow side to the form but also provides a sense of weight.

Daniela Abed

Class ended with a still life arrangement of gourds rendered with the Mass Gesture technique. The Mass technique captures mass and volume of forms but also suggests a sense of light because  the drawing medium is applied tonally in broad, sweeping motions.

WED. 1/25 LINE: Gesture

Alisha Ascencio

James Gromo

M/W class followed up contour drawing with gesture studies.  For more on gesture, see the post from 1/24. Above are two examples of scribble gesture drawings. Alisha's drawing has skillfully captured the mass and volume qualities indicative of the scribble technique. Note the placement of the dark values to add weight and a sense of light striking the form of the gourd. In addition, the scale and size of the gourd holds the page very well engaging with the negative space around the gourd. James's drawing exhibits a sense of motion by way of the amorphic edges of the form. The gourd seems to pulse and flutter like a jelly fish through water.

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.

THURS. 8/25 LINE: Gesture Drawing

Class began with a lecture on Gesture Drawing. Gesture Drawing is the all encompassing, quick and spontaneous rendering of the artist's subject. Gesture drawings capture the general sense or essence of the subject rather than copying or capturing details. We discussed the individual techniques of Line Gesture, Mass Gesture, Scribble Gesture and the combining of techniques.

Kimberly Sawyer

Kimberly's drawing is a great example of the all encompassing, twisting and twirling line work indicative of the Scribble Gesture technique.  Note how the massing of lines creating dark areas adds weight and mass to the gourd while also suggesting a sense of light.

Debbie Bazsuly

 The Mass technique utilizes broad, sweeping strokes with the charcoal.  This drawing too has a sense of weight as well as suggesting light striking the form.

Jamie Shine

 When combining techniques, a greater sense of volume is achieved.  The Line technique provides structure whereas the Mass technique adds weight.

Danielle Bazsuly

Debbie's drawing also combines gestural techniques.  Notice how allowing the broad, tonal sweeps of charcoal to go outside of the lines brings a sense of atmosphere and place to the image.  It is no longer gourds drawn on a piece of blank paper but rather a fuller image with an environment and greater sense of weight starts to appear.

Jan. 24, Monday: Line: Gesture

M/W class covered Gesture Drawing approaches and methods.  After the slide discussion, we covered the following: cross-contour, continuous line, scribble gesture, line gesture and mass gesture.  We finished with making drawings that emphasized the negative space over the positive areas. For a more in depth description of the following read last Thursday's post on Line:Gesture.  Betsy Bradbury's drawing above is an example of the mass and line techniques combined.  Note that the broad, sweeping strokes of mass add weight to the form as well as a sense of light.  The line adds dimensionality and structure.  In Lorelle Ross's drawing - below Betsy's- we see the dynamism and interest a drawing can have by employing a variety of mark-making.  This is "eye-candy" for the audience.

Christine Argenio's drawing (above) and Martin Gilbertson's drawing (below) are examples of mass gesture drawings emphasizing the negative areas. By developing the whole page, Christine has created a very strong sense of space and atmosphere. Note with value, darks recede and lights advance. Martin's drawing is much more open and relies on similarity in marks and tones to establish a rhythm. Note the gourd in center/ right; the curvature and mark-making employed around the curling neck.  Using thicker lines in weighted areas and thinner lines and tonalities in lighter areas grounds the objects and gives them a sense of weight.  Remember the key to emphasizing negative space is to be "suggestive" of forms; don't over draw the forms.  Less is More.

Thursday 1/20 LINE: GESTURE

Thursday night began with a lecture concerning the various styles and approaches to gesture.  We viewed works from John Singer Sargent, Alberto Giacometti and Kathe Kollwitz as well as examples from past students. The primary approaches to Gesture Drawing are: Line, Mass, Line/ Mass combined, and Scribble. 

We started with Cross-Contour Drawings to establish an understanding of addressing volumes across the gourd forms.  The natural tendency is to focus on the outside edges.  Instead, Cross-Contours focuses one's attention across the volumes.

Next, we made Continuous Line Drawings to establish a sense of volume all the way around the form; an all encompassing approach.  Note how the edges are rephrased multiple times - not just once around the form.  Furthermore, the lines have a quality of weight and light by pushing harder in areas of more weight and shadow while using less pressure in areas of light and receding volumes - turning away from the viewer.

Next, came Scribble Gestures.  This approach uses line to capture a sense of Mass and Volume as well as Light.  Notice in this student drawing, by spreading the lines apart creates lighter tones whereas grouping the lines closer together creates darker values establishing shades and weight.

Michelle Phillips' drawing has done a great job of capturing the character of the gourd while addressing the volumes through Cross-Contour and the light source and weight of the form through Mass techniques.

Mike Geare's drawing beautifully captures the mass of the forms.  The area of special note is the right side of the gourd where the line breaks merging the positive form with the negative space.

Leslie Gonzalez has done very well at emphasizing the negative areas over the positive forms.  The objective in this drawing is to be suggestive of the gourds without giving away too much - make the viewer work at it. The area of special note in Leslie's drawing is her rendering of the squash in the lower left by the way she has captured the shadows of the indentations and subtly drawing the top.

8/27 Friday Class: Gesture and Contour Drawing

Friday's class began its investigations into Line with Gesture Drawings in the morning and Contour Drawings in the afternoon. For a full description of these two modes of drawing see the posts from 8/18 and 8/23.

This Gesture Drawing by Jasmine Gonzales exhibits great attention to the positive as well as negative areas of the composition. Note how the dark values recede setting up the situation for the light values within the objects to advance and establish the foreground.

Matthias Linford's Gesture Drawing also exhibits a good balance between positive and negative areas.  In addition, his use of cross-contour lines moving vertically as well as horizontally create a strong sense of volume around the gourds.

William Verdoni's drawing is an example of the Contour technique.  Note the attention to details and textural elements combined with the accented line.

Theresa Vernon's drawing is also a study in Contour.  Her line style is bold and confident. Note the repetition of the hand plane from various angles and positions.  This aids in moving the viewer's eye around the composition. 
In conclusion, the thing to notice in all the examples above is that Gesture drawings are quick and spontaneous while Contour drawings are slow and deliberate.  Both are equally important in building strong eye-hand coordination.

6/18 Gesture

The M/W class began its investigations of Line with Gesture Drawing.  Gesture is the all encompassing, quick and spontaneous rendering of the artist's subject.  Gesture drawings are NOT about capturing realism and details.  Gesture drawings should exhibit energy through rephrasing edges and contours  multiple times and drawing the forms as though they were transparent.  We discussed the four primary gestural techniques of Line Gesture, Mass Gesture, Scribble Gesture and Mass and Line Gestures combined.

First we began with Cross-Contour drawings to create a sense of volume with a limited amount of information.  Notice the absence of outside contours as well as the accenting in the line (dark to light transitions) to suggest weight and a shadow side.

Next we made Continuous Line Drawings.  These drawings should consist of one, single, long, continuous line from start to finish.  It is a searching line that records the path of the eyes of the artist.

Then we made Scribble Gesture Drawings.  These drawings should capture a sense of volume through overlapping, scribbled lines that suggest weight and possibly a sense of light. Drawings by Autumn La Rue, Dillon Cimino and Allen Girion respectively.

We concluded the evening with Mass and Line combinations. These drawings should address structure through line while producing weight and light through mass. Drawing by Jesus Neri-Martinez.

6/15 A Means Towards Gesture

Today we worked on developing volume through gestural techniques.  We started with cross-contour drawings then to continuous line drawing, scribble gesture, mass and finally a combination of techniques. Gesture drawings should be quick, spontaneous and all encompassing of your subject.  In other words, you draw all the way around the forms and through them treating them as though they were transparent.