Part 4, project 5, exercise 1: The moving figure – single moving figure

All websites mentioned in this post were accessed on 3 November 2015.

03 November, 2015. I spent a very beautiful golden autumn hour at our local golf course, drawing the aspiring golfers with a range of drawing tools (conté pencil, charcoal, blue ink pen, pencil). Instantly I noticed that, first, it takes a while to take in the typical postures assumed, second, that I will need shorthand marks to translate them into drawing language and, third, that it is immensely important to get the balance right the first time. Still, no matter how hard I looked, I had to make some highly uninformed guesses to complete my figures and I can see how it is necessary to get thoroughly acquainted with any type of movement in order to build a believable, energetic figure.

I decided that it was time to do some research regarding the moving figure, but so far I have not been able to find the type of works of art I had had in mind when starting to look. I had been hoping to find techniques helping me to create believable areas and lines of energy, but I mostly found gestural drawings setting the whole figure in “motion” without creating force at the sites of action, as e.g. in http://www.drawing-research-network.org.uk/sally-mckay-at-no-format-gallery-in-london/ or http://i1.wp.com/fredhatt.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/fredhatt-2008-modern-dance.jpg or even http://reinah.deviantart.com/art/Panoramic-Gesture-Drawings-251111194, where the alternating fine and bold lines suggest a connection with energy, but feel wrong somehow. Maybe the thing I have in mind does not exist at all, but will keep looking.