Characters in Motion 101: Illustrating Fluid Gestures

Do your characters pose like robots? Turn them human by learning gesture drawing!

Here's a quick definition so we're all clear: A gesture refers to the movement of the human body. A gesture drawing is a quick, simple sketch that captures the motion of a person.

Whether you're drawing an illustration, a comic, storyboard or painting, how good the end result looks heavily relies on how well the original gesture looks in your draft. To give a character life, you have to show them doing a variety of motions from all sides and angles.

Throughout the lessons, we'll learn what principles we need to draw fluid gestures, and practice sketching them using a timer.

More specifically, you’ll learn how to:

• Identify the main movement in a reference
• Simplify each gesture to its 3 key elements
• Create visual contrast in a gesture
• Draw quickly using a timer
• Pick and draw keyframes from video references
• Analyse and draw body language
• Simplify and exaggerate your gestures

All you'll need to take this class is a pencil and paper, or any digital drawing program you prefer. We will also cover how to use different references like videos, movie stills and illustrations by other artists to learn from!

This class is for anyone who wants to develop or refresh their gesture drawing skills, especially for those who want to push their art to look more expressive and fluid.

By the end of it, you'll understand how to draw fluid gestures and be able to express the motion and personality of the characters you draw. Most importantly, you'll be able to create beautiful art with your newfound gesture drawing skills!