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PSA: My character art went from flat to alive after I spent a weekend on gesture drawing
About six months ago, I was stuck. My digital portraits looked stiff, like mannequins. I posted one on here and someone said 'needs more life.' Ouch. So I signed up for a 48-hour online workshop focused only on gesture drawing. The instructor made us do 30-second sketches for hours. No details, just the flow of the pose. I did maybe 200 of them. The next time I opened my tablet, something clicked. My lines had energy before I even thought about it. The last piece I finished, a dancer mid-leap, actually looks like she's moving. It's wild how one basic skill unlocked everything else. Anyone else have a simple exercise that totally leveled up their work?
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amyr5719d agoTop Commenter
The 30-second sketches really force you to stop overthinking and just feel the movement. That's where the magic happens, when your hand learns to follow the energy before your brain gets in the way.
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singh.jessica2mo ago
Wait you did 200 sketches in a weekend? That's insane, I could never. @hollypalmer is right though, the basics really do change everything.
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