A Life in Lines: Exploring My Drawing Styles and Sketches
Sketching, drawing, and doodling have basically been my shadow since I was a kid. I was that student doodling in the margins of every notebook during class. Miraculously, I never got in trouble for it! I even remember being allowed to draw all over a wall in our apartment during a remodel. It felt like total freedom.
These days, I try to keep that energy alive. I make it a priority to hit up life drawing sessions every week. There is something so raw and exciting about capturing rough gestures from a live model in just a few minutes. But I also love cozying up at home to work on more detailed pieces. Whether I am sketching portraits, inventing fantasy characters, or jumping into the latest online art challenges, my sketchbook is rarely closed.
This section of the blog is a giant umbrella for all those scribbles and masterpieces. It is where I share my drawing styles, from the messy 30-second gestures to the polished character designs. I hope you enjoy browsing through my visual diary as much as I enjoyed creating it!
Drawings
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Energetic Gesture Drawing
This energetic gesture drawing is very loose. The torso is defined the most, but the limbs are loosely indicated. Yet, it has the flow and energy of a dance or spinning. I really like this gesture, and these are the drawings I’m after at the life drawing sessions. The poses usually depend on the model,
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Discord Gesture
These two poses look like a discord gesture. Something along the lines of “Fine. Fine!’ has transpired here and now they’re walking away in different directions. Who’s going to say “sorry” first? That’s what imagination is for! ;D Each pose in this drawing took about 7 minutes. I like the flow of lights and shadows
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Two Standing Figures Sketch
Here’s another two standing figures sketch. This could also be a drama-lama sketch, because there’s definitely some tension between the two. The one on the left totally didn’t do it, but the one on the right knows this story too well. Anyway, hope they work things out! I didn’t mark how long these sketches took,
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Life Drawing of Two Standing Figures
Here’s another life drawing of two standing figures. Each gesture took about 7 minutes. I used willow charcoal on newsprint to draw these. I like the energy of these two figures. The back view one looks confident and ready for the day, while the side view figure is a little bit tired as if after
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Forward Leaning Figure
Here’s an unusual pose for my gesture drawings, a forward leaning figure. I like the energy of this drawing, because I can really feel that stretch in the back and the arms. This sketch took about 7 minutes, but I like how I defined most of the figure. I didn’t have time to redefine highlights,
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Side and Back View Figure Drawings
These two side and back view figure drawings took 7 and 10 minutes each. The side view pose is more complex, and as the result it’s less finished. The back view pose is rather relaxed and straight forward, so it looks more finished overall. This sketch gives me an idea of a conversation. Each figure
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Under 5-minute Poses
In this set of under 5-minute poses, one figure is well defined. But the other one is pretty much a ghost. I either got distracted and didn’t finish the second figure, or the pose wasn’t favorable. The first figure took 5 minutes, and the second one — under 3. I used charcoal on newsprint paper.
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Stages of Drawing – Gesture
This sketch depicts two stages of drawing. The very beginning of drawing which is construction lines, and the later stage which is shading. It’s about 10 minutes difference between these two figures. These two poses look very similar at first, but in reality they’re very different. The first figure is simply standing with the arms
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Same Pose – Two Angles
And the drama continues in the next 20 minutes! This set of drawings took about 10 minutes each, and it’s the same pose drawn from different angles. I like the placement of these two figures on paper, it looks playful and intriguing to me. It feels like a beginning of recursion, each person holding its
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Drama Lama Drawings
These two gesture drawings took about 5 minutes each. I used soft charcoal on newsprint paper. I like the overall capture of the poses. There’s clearly some drama between these two, but we’ll never know for sure. It amuses me to come up with random stories for these figures, even though it’s the same model
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Trio in Time Drawing
Sometimes, it’s just one of those days when drawing simply isn’t flowing and even coffee doesn’t help. That’s what happened in this trio in time drawing. I like the composition of the figures, but their roughness is a little underwhelming. Each one took only five minutes, but I feel like I could have done more.
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Short Pose Drawing
Short pose drawing is great for capturing the living essence of the figure. It’s the dynamic gesture that makes charcoal come to life. This particular gesture is more complete, and it took me 7 minutes to draw. I didn’t have the time to re-define lights and darks, but I got proportion and pose pretty well.