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Drawing People in MotionMarc Taro Holmes - CitizenSketcher.com
What is the fastest, most reliable method of sketching people on the street? Given thatthey don’t hold still for you, and might get up and leave at any time? I use a four step method thathelps me get things down as quickly as possible, and gives me the best chance to (accurately) finishlater, if I lose my subject part way through.The Gesture aka “The Ball of String”: An instantaneous “single” line capturing volume, posture,1 costumehints, and narrative. A gesture should be so fast, you can capture any subject, no matterhow active. The gesture is only a guide - don’t worry about facial features or details, just get theproportions - the volume the figure occupies - and the ‘acting’ - the essential bits of the story.Drawing: Draw in pen right on top of the pencil gesture. Your subject is probably walking away2 Lineabout now, unless you’ve chosen someone who can’t escape. (Workers are good, street performers,Drawing People in MotionPencil Pen Brush Pen Colorpeople playing sports). Don’t copy the gesture - improve on it. Add smaller detail, let the line work berhythmic and free.Spotting Blacks: Use darks to attract the eye and to ‘ground’ objects with tiny cast shadows. They3 indicatevolume, weight, and contact with a surface. Darks should cluster around the area of interestand fade out to the edges. The eye goes to the areas of darkest dark. Once you have a solid drawing,you can go back and erase some of the pencil for a cleaner looking drawing.4Color at last!: The drawing comes alive when you add color. It’s best toget it all in one sitting - but If your subject is long gone, you can addcolor washes at home or while relaxing in the café. Rely on your memorycombined with the structural drawing, and just have fun with the color.
Storytelling License:These are from an afternoon sketchingat a graffiti festival. I added this designwhen I got home, based on my sectionof the collaborative mural.I just use regularballpoint pens forthe line work.Yes - that’s not entirely drawing fromobservation - but this is the kind ofstory element that I feel is worth goingback for. Maybe it would be anarchitectural backdrop from thelocation, or just clouds in the sky. If youneed it - add it. Just be true to the storyyou found and it’s still reportage.ress:ogWork in Prdoesn’t break aslder, and the leadbotlelita’reey- thhanical pencilsI like 0.7mm mece areag around thinvompeeKWhenbest angles.getting theencil itreat pose, pyou see a getimesy move, somdown. If therestoreve too andyou can moout thelso: think abA.wievethert. Add smallpage layoury thertraits to vaoprosreufigthements. Givescale of elen-ang directiopage a stroe.lead the eyoften. path toSketch people when they’redoing something interesting:It’s always better when there’s a storyto tell. You can add props, the toolsthey are using, or distinctive gestures,and have a whole story in moments.You don’t even need a background no time for it anyway :)
This lady wanderedoff - but anotherguy with the samehipster hat showedup. You can oftenfinish a person bycombining asecond passerby.This is the new‘tourist withcamera’ pose.Tracing is freedom:This guy holdshis brush like aprison smoker.Gangster style.At first your gestureswon’t have enoughinformation. Don’tworry - it will comewith practice. Just tryto get the posture, andthe ‘acting’. What arehands doing, where isthe person looking,shape of hair mass, dothey have a coat collaror bag? The tilt of headsays a lot. Look forcharacter traits that saywho this person is.Like her neon green thongpeeking out - I’m sorry, I had todraw it in. It speaks to character :)The second time you draw the figures, you can beexpressive with the line. Let it flow, let it break,leave gaps. Emphasize curves and angles. You canbe fearless, because you have your pencil gesturefor the guide. Get the things like the tread underthe shoes - belt loops, sandal straps, clothinglogos - stuff you can’t be bogged down drawingin the gesture.I use a Pentel GFKP brush penfor the dark accents. It has afiberglass brush tip that’ssuperior to any others I’ve tried.Almost as good as a real brush.See how much herhair improved afterthe spot blacks?A paint cup blew over, bounced offthis guy’s head, then plopped righton his phone. There was cursing andblaming other artists. Good thing Ihad the gesture done.
Ideally, you have a sketchbook with paper that can handle somewashes. Stillman and Birn make the best I’ve found, or Moleskine hasa nice watercolor book, and their basic sketchbook is fine too - if youdon’t mind the beige paper color.Adding Watercolor WashesI use tube colors and realbrushes most of the time. It’smore stuff to carry, but the coloris richer than portable pan kits. Ido have a mini set of pans in my‘everyday’ bag, but that’s just foremergencies.To get a dot ofpigment to bloom, thepaper should be damp(not soaked), and the‘touch’ needs to be arich mix - not toowatery. Strongerpigment invadesweaker. (The greenthong again).You can use clear water to ‘pull’pigment out of a wet stroke intodry areas - useful to soften inone edge direction.Remember to keep your washesinteresting by ‘charging in’ witha second color. Just poke the tipof a loaded brush into theshape, and watch the colorinvade.
If you use lots of water, thecolor dries lighter. To get a‘solid’ stroke, mix it morecreamy in consistency.Pigment pools and makes dark edgesaround wet-on-dry strokes. It’s a nicequailty - you can use it to emphasize form it worked out on this fellow’s tricep.Flesh Tones:I’m using littleareas of viridian,yellow ocher,cadmium redand burnt sienna- touched withcerulean blue forsomeexcitement.Color is the fun part: Don’t try too hard to be accurate. Feel free tobleed outside the drawing or leave little white shapes. Let some edgesmelt - when wet touches wet, strokes creep into each other. If you have astrong drawing, you can get away with anything at the color stage.
Hope you enjoyed DrawingPeople in MotionI’ve been wanting to make a free PDFdownload for a while. Just to gauge the interestlevel in the sketching community.This one is for my class at the 2013 UrbanSketchers symposium. I figured I might as wellshare it with everyone who can’t make it toBarcelona.Please don’t make commercial use of thesenotes or sketches - but feel free to share the filewith friends, use it in your own classrooms, oreven post it on your sketch blogs - as long asyou don’t mind pointing people back to myown site:CitizenSketcher.comIf you found this helpful, or have any questions,or just want to say ‘hey’ - feel free to mail me at:marc.taro (at) gmail.comIf you’re interested in some more advancedexamples of spontaneous sketching from life,here’s an article about my sketching project atthe Centaur Theatre in Montreal.The Innocence LostProduction DiaryMaybe you’ll be interested in a littlevideo of these sketches coming to life?Watch the Video ClipThanks! Marc
download for a while. Just to gauge the interest level in the sketching community. This one is for my class at the 2013 Urban Sketchers symposium. I gured I might as well share it with everyone who can’t make it to Barcelona. Please don’t make commercial use of
