What is a Gesture Drawing?

 Use Gesture Drawing to Break out of a Rut

Are you in a rut? Want to loosen up and get your creative juices flowing? Practice gesture drawing with this fun, easy method. Use your television! You can capture gestures of figures, animals, scenery or still life settings whenever you need a creative boost.

Speeds You Up
You'll have to move fast and creating gestures from TV will push you to be quick. All drawing will come from the flash of a partial memory. Sketch while the program is running and move from one gesture to another. 

Hint
Draw small and draw fast. Spend no more than 30 seconds per each sketch. In fact, it's even better if you allow yourself to spend only 10-20 seconds on each gesture for the first 20 sketches.

Keep in mind that these are just practice and most of them will not look like anything in particular. This is totally okay!

The Whole Point of this Exercise
You are Training Your Eyes to See and Your Mind to Hold an Image long enough to capture it in just a few seconds. You are not (I repeat NOT) trying to create a pretty picture so let go of that illusion from the start.

Variation
Once you have warmed up by creating 30 or so small, quick gestures (all while all the images on the TV are in motion) then (and only then), try this variation: Use your DVD or VCR to freeze an image for a closer study. Stop an image and take 45 to 60 seconds to create a gesture, then move on.

Freezing the image from the start and trying to create perfection will be the first inclination for a beginner because of the fear of not getting things 'right'. The analytical (left) brain will try to remain in control and wants to be perfect - but remember - your left brain can't draw.

Creativity is Allowing Yourself to Make Mistakes.
Giving yourself permission to create mistakes relieves you of the burden to be perfect and opens all kinds of doors to Seeing, Growing and most of all, ENJOYING!!

25 Ways to Improve Your Drawing Skills

Do these and you're Guaranteed

to Improve your Drawing Skills!

1. Draw

2. Draw by copying
    others drawings

3. Draw more

4. Draw more than
    yesterday

5. Draw when you don't
    want to draw

6. Draw when you DO want to draw

7. Draw doodles while waiting on the phone

8. Draw with finger paint


9. Draw on a chalkboard

10. Draw when you have something
     to draw
.
11. Draw when you don't have
     anything to draw

.

12. Draw with a stick in the dirt

13. Draw with your toes in the sand

14. Draw in the air with your fingers

15. Draw on your best friends back (try it with a feather)

16. Draw in the fog on your mirror

17. Draw in the spilled sugar on your table

18. Draw with water and a paintbrush on the sidewalk

19. Draw with your children (kids LOVE #18)

20. Draw in the dust on your
      furniture

21. Draw on your smart phone or tablet

22. Draw every day

23. Keep drawing

24. Draw with your fork in your mashed potatos

25. Draw with just your eyes 
     (see: "Improve Your Drawing Skills in 60 Seconds")
 
Any questions?

Just as you would not think you could learn to play a concerto after a few lessons... You can't learn to draw in just a few minutes or even with a few lessons. Art takes years to master — to master ANYTHING you GOTTA do the time - there's just no way around it.