Figure Gesture Drawings

Oksana started drawing figure at the end of 2017. Majority of these drawings were created during life drawing sessions at TSoFA studio from model. Oksana prefers to use willow charcoal for figure gesture drawings as it’s the softest and most easily movable media. Her favorite paper for practice is 18 x 24 rough newsprint. However, she used any other available paper such as construction paper or anything with rough texture. These drawings are called gestures, because they’re meant to capture movement of a fleeting pose. During these life drawing sessions, the model would first pose for 2 minutes, then for 5 minutes and so on with the longest pose of 20 minutes. Therefore, all of these drawings are pretty quick and rough. Some of these Oksana uses as reference for more detailed drawings.

In this figure drawing two females are depicted from side and back view. Both of them seem to be leisurely walking.

Figure Drawing Side and Back View

Here is figure drawing of side and back view poses. These are quick gestures, the one on the left took 10 minutes, and the other one — 7. My goal was to capture the dynamic feel of the poses, and I think I did that well. If you look closely, you will notice that 7-miute…

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Two quick sketches of standing female figures. One is half-turned toward the viewer; the other one is pictured from a side. The drawings a very rough, only torso and pelvis are developed, the rest of the body is simply indicated by shapes.

Quick Figure Sketches

This set is two quick figure sketches. I actually marked the time for each figure. The first one is 5 minutes, the second one is 2. I like how the 5-minute figure developed, but the 2-minute of has interesting quality to it. As if I captured the most important parts, the rest can be filled…

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Charcoal drawing of a figure sitting on a marble column. It looks as if the figure is leaning back, her head is thrown back. One of her legs is on the ground, another one is bent and placed on the column.

Figure Sitting on Column

In this gesture drawing, a figure is sitting on a column. That column was actually a regular barstool, but I improvised. That’s probably why it looks so wonky. I usually work on those elements last, and there probably wasn’t enough time to finish it properly. However, I like it as a gesture. This drawing probably…

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Charcoal drawing of a female figure with insect antenna on her head. She's sitting on a pillow on an art bench, and her left arm is petting a bear-like creature. Woman's right leg is bent in the knee and placed on the bench in front of her. Her right arm is on her right knee.

Lady with Antenna Drawing

Sometimes, life drawing sessions evoke strange images. Like this lady with antenna drawing. I’m not entirely sure why it came about, the model definitely did not have anything like that on her head. But it felt right, so it appeared on paper. The same goes for the little bear-like creature to her side. It wasn’t…

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Charcoal drawing on gray paper. Depicted here are two figures in the same pose, but from different angles - front and back. The figure is standing with one leg straight. the other one bent in the knee. One arm is raised above head.

Same Pose – Two Views Drawing

I usually go to the short pose life drawing sessions, because I can practice drawing the figure quickly and in a loose fashion. Most of the times, each pose is different. Sometimes, the model does the same pose, but turns to change the viewing angle. And sometimes, I just switch easels to get the same…

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Charcoal drawing of two female figures on gray paper. It's a very dramatic figure gesture. First figure is shown from the front. Her arms stretch up and her head is pointed towards the sky. One leg in front of the other in crisscrossed position. The second figure is shown from the back at a slight angle. Her arm is on her neck; the second arm is not visible. One leg is straight; the other one is bent in the knee.

Dramatic Figure Gesture

Here’s another sketch from my local life drawing sessions. I visit these almost every week, but I fell behind posting them. These two figures probably took me about 15 minutes each. The first figure gesture is very dramatic. It looks as if the figure has been performing on stage. The second one is in a…

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Drawing of two charcoal figure sketches on gray paper. First figure is shown from the side, her arms are extended forward as if stretching. Second figure is shown from the back, she’s walking away with her arms behind her back.

Charcoal Figure Sketches

In this set of charcoal figure sketches, I drew two standing figures from front and back. The figure facing front is shown from a side with arms extended as if stretching. I’m sure in reality the model had a balance stick, but I decided to leave it out. Sometimes these poses look more dynamic without…

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Charcoal gesture drawing on gray paper depicting two standing female figures from back and side view. Back view figure looks as if she's walking away from the viewer. One of her arms is swinging forward, another one is behind her back. Side view figure is walking to the right, as if stopped mid-step. Her right arm is on her hip, and the left arm is on her neck. She's looking straight at the viewer.

Two Female Figures Charcoal Drawing

Two female figures are depicted in this charcoal drawing. One from the back, and another one from a side. Second figure seems more finished, I probably got more time on it. I’d say it took around 15 minutes for the side figure, and somewhere around 5 on the back view figure. I like the shadow…

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Charcoal drawing on gray paper depicting two standing female figures from front and back view. Front view figure has her torso twisted and one arm on the hip, another one on her neck. She's facing right. The second figure from the back view has her legs crossed and her hands behind her back. Her head is turned left.

Front and Back Gesture Drawing

In this gesture drawing, I pictured two figures from front and back. Most times, the model changes poses by turning and I arrange the figures in an interesting composition. In this one, it seems like the figures were walking in an opposite direction and stopped to look at each other. I enjoy these accidental social…

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Charcoal drawing on gray paper. There are three female standing figures in this drawing. Each one is drawn from different angles, from a side facing to the left, from the back, and from the side facing to the right.

Three Standing Figures Drawing

In this gesture drawing, I depicted three standing figures. Together they form a circle of time, because in reality there was only one model. But she posed several times and I came up with this arrangement of three figures. I enjoy gestures because sometimes good ideas hide behind quick drawings. 2021

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Charcoal drawing on gray newsprint paper. Pictured here are two female figures from front and back view. Front facing figure is standing on one leg, the other leg is bent in the knee and placed on the straight leg, similar to ballerina stance. The torso is turned to the left with both arms up as if stopped mid-motion. The second figure from the back view is standing in relaxed pose, the drawing is quite unfinished without feet or arms.

Interpretive Dance Figure Drawing

This set is kind of interesting, because it looks like and interpretive dance figure drawing. The female figure on the left is captures in a curious pose. It looks as if she’s jumping or waving at the figure next to her. I have a feeling, the model had the leg positioned at an unfavorable angle,…

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Charcoal drawing on gray newsprint paper. There are two standing figures from a side and back view. Side view figure looks like it was captured mid-turn with one arm on the hip and another one mid-air as if putting something down. The figure from the back view has arms bent in the elbow and locked behind near the neck.

Side and Back View Figure Drawing

Here’s a charcoal drawing of two female figures – the side and back view. These two figures probably took 5-7 minutes each. I used willow charcoal on rough newsprint paper. The figure from back view has an interesting arm position, which I did not get the chance to fully capture. The figure from a side…

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