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.

Male figure, gesture drawing

Male figure, gesture drawing

Back to the gesture drawings, I really like when drawing sessions start with a series of quick 1-minute standing poses. It’ a great warm-up exercise, helps one get into the drawing mood for the rest of the session.

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Sitting figure, charcoal drawing

Sitting figure, charcoal drawing

Spent about 20 minutes on this drawing. I think if I added a few highlights, this figure would really pop. Seeing and analyzing my work like this is actually really helpful. When I’m drawing, I’m not noticing the mistakes because I stare at the drawing for so long and just get used to it. However,…

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Reclining figure, charcoal drawing
20-minute poses, charcoal drawing

20-minute poses, charcoal drawing

Come on, get up so that you can get drawn better! xD Seated poses are still much harder to do ^^; I think these are 20-minute poses. Charcoal on construction paper. Model: @taylour_bogdan

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Single figure, charcoal and pastel drawing

Single figure, charcoal and pastel drawing

I think I did better here with highlights, but maybe it’s best to stay in two-toned palette right now. I think highlights are a good tool to distract the viewer from negative parts of the drawing 🤨

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Two full figures, charcoal and pastel drawing
Female figure, charcoal drawing

Female figure, charcoal drawing

I’m trying out all kind of materials as I learn to draw. This is a rough construction paper, and it has a charming feel to it. It certainly isn’t the best paper for serious work since it doesn’t even photograph that well. For example, those wavy wrinkles are almost invisible in real life. However, it’s…

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Two 10-min poses, charcoal drawing
Two short poses, charcoal drawing
Two-figure sketch, charcoal drawing
Dark figure, charcoal drawing

Dark figure, charcoal drawing

I’ve noticed that on many occasions, I make my drawings too dark from the start. Not sure how to go about correcting this, I guess I need to press lighter on the charcoal stick? ^^; Or maybe I should try some value studies. Any tips?

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Runaway, charcoal drawing

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