ABSTRACT
We have been using pen and ink exclusively in the gesture sketching class. The reasons for this was and is to try to transfer the function of drawing to the mind and away from the hand – to eliminate a tendency to render and to train the eye to see the gesture at a glance rather than feel it out on the paper with a multitude of searching and superfluous lines. Ultimately, the searching method may be the style you will use in animation, for there will be no model before you to lean on. I have contended that in a model drawing situation the pose is already there so searching is not necessary. Using a pen forces one to distill the essence of the pose in the mind's eye and in turn draw it the way one sees it. On the other hand, using a multitude of lines borders on doodling, which I am not putting down, can become a habit and one may come to rely on it; for it sometimes accidentally locates things in its meandering lines from 157which all one has to do is pick out the best ones. Of course, when there is no model and when a needed gesture is not clear in the mind, by all means start searching. On the other hand, using our kinetic sense of motion we stressed in the gesture drawing session (the feeling the pose in our own bodies – the “living” the pose) and being at one with the gesture and “knowing” it, will in every sense be a short cut to capturing it on paper. Both methods of drawing are invaluable. But I think it is important to know the difference and be able to use either of them at will.
