Gesture Drawing For Animation Walt Stanchfield

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Gesture Drawing for Animation

Walt Stanchfield, edited by Leo Brodie

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Walt Stanchfield was an animator who taught life drawing classes for
animators with a special emphasis on gesture drawing. For each weekly
class session, he wrote informal handouts to emphasize the theme of the
current class session, to comment on work done in the previous class, or
discuss whatever topic struck his fancy. Over a period of years, these
notes were lovingly shared, studied, and treasured by animators and
animation students everywhere.

Mr. Stanchfield personally gave
copies of his collection to interested students, and was happy to seem
them distributed. According to many people who were lucky enough to
study under him, he wanted to publish them as a book, but the studio
where he worked was not interested.
The goal of this project is to imagine the book that Walt Stanchfield might have written.
Many, many thanks to
Jon Hooper and Steve Kellener of AnimationMeat.com for scanning and
transcribing many of Walt's notes and making them available on their Web
site. This book incorporates their scans and OCR conversions, so it
would not exist without their efforts. Thanks also to Aimee Major
Steinberger, who was, I believe, the first person to post one of the
Walt's notes on the Internet.

— Leo Brodie
Seattle, Washington

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                Gesture Drawing for Animation  Walt Stanchfield  ii  Walt Stanchfield  This compilation is not copyrighted or protected in any way by the editor of the compilation (Leo Brodie). It is based on a series of un-copyrighted class notes written by animation instructor Walt Stanchfield during the period roughly from 1970 to 1990. Since then, these class handouts have been widely copied and shared amongst animation students and members of the animation industry with Mr. Stanchfield's blessing and encouragement; in that spirit, the handouts are now available freely on the Internet. Some of the illustrations in this book represent preliminary drawings of cartoon characters that are the properties of their respective copyright holder(s) and are therefore protected by copyright. These illustrations were part of the original handouts and are included here for educational purposes to illustrate specific principles of animation technique. No endorsement of this book by the copyright holder(s) is implied, nor do the views expressed in this book necessary reflect those of the copyright holders(s). I hope that covers it.  Gesture Drawing for Animation  iii  Table of Contents Chapter 1: Go for the Truth .........................................................................................2 Observe, Observe, Observe..........................................................................................2 Lead to the Emotion.....................................................................................................4 Give Them the Experience...........................................................................................5 The Driving Force behind the Action ..........................................................................5 Gesture .........................................................................................................................9 The Essence ...............................................................................................................10 Go For The Truth!.; .....................................................................................................13 Chapter 2: The Animator's Sketchbook ....................................................................13 Everywhere You Go ..................................................................................................17 Composition...............................................................................................................17 Ron Husband's Sketchbook .......................................................................................21 Note Taking and Sketching........................................................................................27 Good Habits ...............................................................................................................32 Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing ..........................................................31 Lines, Lines, Lines.....................................................................................................31 A Simple Approach to Drawing ................................................................................31 A Simple Approach to Drawing ................................................................................32 Finding the Abstract...................................................................................................32 The Solid-Flexible Model ..........................................................................................32 Figure Sketching for Animation ................................................................................32 The Pipe Model..........................................................................................................33 Seeing in Three Dimensions ......................................................................................34 The Rules of Perspective ...........................................................................................34 Direction ....................................................................................................................36 Problems of Drawing in Line.....................................................................................36 Simplifying Heads .....................................................................................................37 Caricatured Head Shapes ...........................................................................................37 The Head in Gesture ..................................................................................................38 A Simple Approach to Costumes and Drapery..........................................................38 Chapter 4: The First Impression ................................................................................71 Short-pose Sketching .................................................................................................71 Superficial Appearance vs. Creative Portrayal ..........................................................71 A New Phrase: "Body Syntax" ..................................................................................72 The "Explosive" Gesture............................................................................................72 Feel, As Well As See, the Gesture.............................................................................76 Draw Verbs, Not Nouns.............................................................................................77 Draw with a Purpose..................................................................................................77 Dividing the Body into Units.....................................................................................78 "Knowing" or Searching ............................................................................................79 Simplicity for the Sake of Clarity ..............................................................................79 Chapter 5: Elements of the Pose.................................................................................85 Angles and Tension....................................................................................................88 Applying Angles and Tension in Our Drawings........................................................92  iv  Walt Stanchfield  Tennis and Angles......................................................................................................98 Straight against Curve: Squash and Stretch in the Pose ..........................................101 Applying Perspective ...............................................................................................103 The Sensation of Space............................................................................................105 Recreating the First Impression ...............................................................................109 Putting the Elements of a Pose Together .................................................................112 Habits to Avoid ........................................................................................................118 It Ain't Easy.............................................................................................................121 Chapter 6: Pushing the Gesture ...............................................................................119 Drawing Gesture from the Model ............................................................................120 Stick to the Theme ...................................................................................................120 Subtlety ....................................................................................................................123 Pushing the Gesture .................................................................................................124 Gesture to Portray an Action or a Mood..................................................................124 Action Analysis: Hands & Feet ...............................................................................125 Learn to Cheat..........................................................................................................125 Lazy Lines................................................................................................................125 Double Vision ..........................................................................................................125 Caricature.................................................................................................................125 Chapter 7: Principles of Animation .........................................................................153 Drawing Principles...................................................................................................153 28 Principles of Animation ......................................................................................154 Drawing Calories .....................................................................................................154 The Pose Is an Extreme............................................................................................154 Animating Squash and Stretch.................................................................................154 The Opposing Force.................................................................................................154 Connecting Actions..................................................................................................157 Inbetweening............................................................................................................158 Chapter 8: A Sense of Story......................................................................................171 A Sense of Story ......................................................................................................171 Talk To Your Audience - Through Drawing ...........................................................179 A Thinking Person's Art ..........................................................................................182 Acting and Drawing.................................................................................................187 The Emotional Gesture ............................................................................................187 Common Vs Uncommon Gestures ..........................................................................188 Body Language ........................................................................................................189 Chapter 9: Final Words.............................................................................................191 Creative Energy .......................................................................................................191 Osmosis....................................................................................................................192 A Bit of Introspection ..............................................................................................194 Mental and Physical Preparation .............................................................................195 The Metaphysical Side.............................................................................................196 Habits .......................................................................................................................197 Final Words on Essence...........................................................................................199  Gesture Drawing for Animation  v  Foreword by the Editor Walt Stanchfield was an animator who taught life drawing classes for animators with a special emphasis on gesture drawing. For each weekly class session, he wrote informal handouts to emphasize the theme of the current class session, to comment on work done in the previous class, or discuss whatever topic struck his fancy. Over a period of years, these notes were lovingly shared, studied, and treasured by animators and animation students everywhere. Mr. Stanchfield personally gave copies of his collection to interested students, and was happy to seem them distributed. According to many people who were lucky enough to study under him, he wanted to publish them as a book, but the studio where he worked was not interested. The goal of this project is to imagine the book that Walt Stanchfield might have written. This project is a compilation of the first 60 handouts that are shared on the www.animationmeat.com website (as that site has numbered them). Walt Stanchfield did not present his topics in any particular order, which suited the ongoing nature of the classes. Walt's handouts are like individual frames of animation—some are extremes, some are inbetweens, some are even cleanups. As I was reading the notes and trying to absorb as much as I could, I thought I might understand them better if it were all laid out in sequence, with basic topics followed by more complex ideas. I wanted to see his ideas grouped by subject so I could compare the ideas. In other words, I wanted the topics to be arranged like a normal book. I've written books before (on computer programming), so I felt it was something I could do. In deciding how to organize the material, I imagined how Walt himself would have put it together if he'd written it. Where would he have started? Knowing that the readers of the book would not be the lucky members of his classes, what concepts would have illustrated before moving on to more advanced topics? I tried to follow the principles Walt himself outlines in these notes: clarity, attention to the "essence," emotion, and using the minimum number of words (lines) to get the point across. Another reason I wanted to see this material as a book is that there is no other book that covers the same information. There are many excellent volumes on animation, but they generally assume that the reader can already draw animatable characters with strong poses without explaining how to get to that stage. All the books on generic figure and life drawing, even those that emphasize gesture, encourage capturing the model's appearance and gesture without explaining how to internalize the gesture so as to push it to extremes or apply it to a different figure. Personally, I think this compilation—if it were a book— would take its place among the top five volumes on animation. Is that over-reaching? There is an informal, lively charm to the original handouts that gives the reader a sense of 'being there.' You may want to check them out to get a feel for how this information was originally presented. I've left "Savvy Sayings" (#47 in the animationmeat.com collection) out of this book, so it remains a delight that you can seek out on your own.  vi  Walt Stanchfield  Many, many thanks to Jon Hooper and Steve Kellener of AnimationMeat.com for scanning and transcribing many of Walt's notes and making them available on their Web site. This book incorporates their scans and OCR conversions, so it would not exist without their efforts. Thanks also to Aimee Major Steinberger, who I believe was the first person to post one of the Walt's notes on the Internet. -- Leo Brodie Seattle, Washington  Gesture Drawing for Animation  About Walt Stanchfield Walt Stanchfield was born in 1919 in Los Angeles, California. He is listed as animator on Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Rescuers, The Fox and the Hound (coordinating animator), Micky's Christmas Carol (creative collaboration), The Black Cauldron (key animation coordinator), The Great Mouse Detective (coordinating animator), Roger Rabbit (animation consultant) and Oliver & Company (production assistant). He continued with Disney in later years, advising and teaching classes. Mr. Stanchfield died September 3, 2000.  vii  viii  Walt Stanchfield  From the October 2000 Peg-Board Once in a lifetime, a truly special teacher comes along who can change your life forever. To me and to many, many of our colleagues in the industry, Walt Stanchfield was that very special teacher. Part artist, part poet, part musician, part tennis pro, part eccentric savant, part wizened professor, Walt inspired a generation of young artists not only with his vast understanding of the animator's craft, but with his enthusiasm and love of life. Walt started in the animation industry at Mintz in 1937. He also worked for two years at Lantz. In 1948 he went to work for Disney and with the exception of four short retirements, had worked there ever since. Walt worked on every full-length cartoon feature from The Adventures of Ichabod Crane and Mr. Toad (1949) to The Great Mouse Detective (1986). Throughout those years Walt developed an insatiable enthusiasm for teaching the craft. He supported his numerous drawing classes with weekly hand-outs that taught not only animation and drawing principles, but philosophy, attitude and life lessons. Walt's personal work was full of vitality. He was a tireless sketcher, a painter of landscapes, seascapes, still lifes and people. He was an avid writer, penning hundreds of pages of notes about the art of animation as well as poetry and stories. He also loved music and spent an inordinate amount of time at the piano that is, between caring for his vegetable garden and playing his most beloved game: tennis. Walt has touched many lives, not only with his endless enthusiasm for animation but with his love of life, art and people. His work will live on forever in the hands and hearts of his students and we will all miss him. -- Don Hahn  Gesture Drawing for Animation  ix  Introduction (In the Words of Walt Stanchfield) Have you ever said, "Oh, if I could just draw well"? Ah, yes, you could express yourself to the nth degree. You could animate or cleanup scenes that would evoke oohs and aahs. Work wouldn't be so much like work. You could get it all down on paper and leave at 5:00 o'clock feeling good. Sometimes I wish I had a magic wand that I could wave over you and say, "You are now learned artists—go and draw to your hearts content." But maybe it's better that you do it yourself—become your own self-starter. The learning process should be fun. One thing that it does is it tears down a lot of false pride. To seek help is a humbling experience, a very necessary one, in as much as animation should be thought of and practiced as a group effort. I consider a person who is not ashamed to seek help a wise person. I got a late start in life. The first five or six years in the business were a "walk through." (I started at Mintz's Cartoon Studio on Sept. 13, 1937.) I was a dilettante, toying with poetry, painting, singing and socializing. Then 10 years as Lounsbery's assistant, and 10 years as Johnston's assistant helped me to "center" myself. Those guys worked hard and were completely devoted to their jobs. That taught me to work hard (and study hard to catch up). The next 20 years were not easy but were very satisfying. Having been brought out of retirement for the fourth time, I have been trying to impart some of the drawing know how I have gathered in these past years. I have incorporated the weekly "handout" which I think works better than lectures. They allow me to more thoroughly express the salient points that come to mind. What's more, they are "collectables" that, in the future may be reviewed when the need arises. These handouts allow me to delve deep into my experiences and observations and come up with something that may be of help to you. I have concentrated on gesture drawing because that is one of the foundations of good animation. Necessary to good gesture drawing are acting, caricature, anatomy, body language, perspective, etc., so from time to time these topics are isolated and discussed. At times I even play the "guru" and deliver a sermon of a positive thinking nature. I have struggled to avoid referring to myself as a "teacher" and have used words like "suggestion" rather than "correction" when offering another version of a pose. I'm really here just to share my experience and it's your prerogative to treat it however you see fit. As for the suggestions, they are only to encourage you to see in new ways, to help you break any stultifying habits of "penny-pinching" seeing. I feel that the classes I conduct and the handouts, if nothing else, create a surge of group energy that you might tap for your own personal betterment. I once told the class, "These things I present are not esoteric concepts." But I was wrong—they are. They are things that only the chosen few absorb. It is the "chosen" few  x  Walt Stanchfield  that lead the way and accomplish the "academy-award-worthy" animation and drawing. But it is my conviction that by earnest pursuit, anyone can be of that group. It's just a matter of exposing oneself to some vehicle that will help one break the "sound barrier" (actually, thought barrier, for drawing is a thinking person's art). Here's a caricature by Dan Haskett that captured the spirit of my "Teaching" many years ago at the "Disney School of Animation". It's quite a prophetic drawing too, for out in the audience are two of your current directors - Clements and Musker. Spot any others? Maybe Jerry Reeves? Ed Gombert? Bluth, Pomeroy and Goldman? Even the artist himself is there - Dan Haskett. Different faces out there now but the sentiments are the same.  In the Illusion Of Life, Ollie or Frank had written a paragraph on cleanup people which lists some of the functions of a cleanup person which coincide with some of the things I keep stressing in the drawing class: a crisp line against a soft shape (using angles), designing shapes that work with the action rather than copying, emphasizing squash and stretch, and drawing detail only as it furthers the action and the drawing. Especially, "telling the story" whether it's a scene of animation or a still drawing.  Gesture Drawing for Animation  xi  The quote, reprinted here in full, refers to cleanup people but it could as well refer to animators and inbetweeners. All of the above classifications make drawings that go into a scene, and so the same training is necessary for all. "They studied line drawing, training on Holbein, Degas, Daumier, Da Vinci; they watched drapery in movement, noting the difference between filmy scarves, woolen skirts, flowing capes, and even baggy pants; they learned the value of a sharp, crisp line against a large, soft shape; they knew how to keep a design in the free-flowing changing shapes of animation rather than make a rigid copy. They always extended the arcs of the movement, squashed the characters more, stretched him more – refining while emphasizing both the action and the drawings. They understood the business of the scene, what it was supposed to achieve, worked closely with the animator in deciding which parts were developing well and which parts needed a little help, and they could see the characters start to live as they "rolled" the drawings on the pegs. This required a special kind of talent as well as study – not every artist could master it." So you see, there is something special about the thinking that goes into animation drawing. Don't ease up on your search. Success is just around the proverbial corner. May the forces and stretches and angles and all other drawing helps be with you.  xii  Walt Stanchfield  Chapter 1: Go for the Truth Observe, Observe, Observe Animation! This is the vehicle you have chosen to express yourself in. A whole list of "tools" are required: drawing, timing, phrasing, action, acting, pantomime, staging, imagination, observation, interpretation, logic, caricature, creativity, clarity, empathy, and so on—a mind boggling array of prerequisites. Rest at ease. You were born with all of them. Some of them may need a little sharpening, others may need to be awakened as from a deep sleep, but they are as much a part of you as arms, legs, eyes, kidneys, hemoglobin, and speech. Reading and observing are two emancipators of the dormant areas of the mind. Read the classics, biographies, humor, mysteries and comic books. Observe, observe, observe. Be like a sponge—suck up everything you can lay your eyes on. Look for the unusual, the common, characters, situations, compositions, attitudes study shapes, features, personalities, activities, details, etc. Draw ideas, not things; action, not poses; gestures not anatomical structures. I am reprinting some ruff animation drawings to remind you of the style of drawing that seems to serve the purposes of the animators best—loose and expressive.  1  Gesture Drawing For Animation  2  Chapter 1: Go For the Truth!  Lead to the Emotion A well constructed drawing should have all the parts and they should be put together beautifully, but that is not what you should see when you look at the drawing. What you should see is the emotion. In a drawing of a starving man you should see fear and hunger and despair, and you should feel this, plus pity and revulsion and anger. All gestures won't be quite that dramatic, but all gestures are certainly more than their parts. Do this experiment: get a wooden match and look at it. That represents your model or, character in animation. Then light it and let it burn half way. Now it represents your model or character in gesture.  It has been transformed from the anatomical match into a burnt match. If you had to draw a burnt match you wouldn't say to yourself, "Okay, this is the anatomy of a match." No, you would say, "This is a match whose anatomy has been burnt and twisted into an agonizing shape. A shape that if I imagine myself being in that state—if I feel what has happened to that match has happened also to me—then this is the feeling that I have to draw, to portray." We must be emotional about our subject whether it has to do with serious matters or with humor. We cannot back off from our emotions – if we do the result will he a mere anatomical reproduction. A drawing or a scene is not final when a material representation has been made; it is final when a sensitive depiction of an emotion has been made. The significance is not in the story alone, but in the illustration that makes that story come alive. Yes, there is anatomy, form, construction, model and two or three lines of etceteras, but only in so far as those things are expressive of the story.  3  Gesture Drawing For Animation  Give Them the Experience Drawing for animation is not just copying a model onto paper; you could do that better with a camera. Drawing for animation is translating an action into drawing form so an audience can retranslate those drawings back into an experience of that action. You don't just want to show the audience an action for them to look at it. You want to visualize an action for them to see – that is, to experience. That way you have them in your grasp, your power, and then the story can go on and the audience goes on with it, because they are involved. You have allowed them to experience it. The parts of the figure must be put together in a manner that will portray or caricature the meaning of the pose. Otherwise it will be just a drawing. What a horrible fate – to be just a drawing. Here are some animation drawings that have transcended the anatomy and model of the characters. They are good drawings, but not just drawings.  The Driving Force behind the Action In drawing sessions, I try to direct the students' thoughts to the gesture rather than to the physical presence of the models and their sartorial trappings. It seems the less the model wears, the more the thinking is directed to anatomy, while the more the model wears, the more the thinking goes into drawing the costume. It's a deadlock that you can only break by shifting mental gears from the "secondary" (details) to the "primary" (motive or driving force behind the pose). Remember, the drawing you are doing in class should be thought of as a refining process for your animation drawing skills. I found something in Eric Larson's first lecture on Entertainment, which may be of help to you. Please bear with the length of the quote; it is put so well I couldn't edit it without losing some of the meaning. As you read it, keep your mind on gesture drawing. ".... As we begin the 'ruffing out' of our scene, we become concerned with the believability of the character and the action we've planned and we give some 4  Chapter 1: Go For the Truth!  thought to the observation of Constantin Stanislavsky. 'In every physical action,' he wrote, 'there is always something psychological and vice versa. There is no inner experience without external physical expression.' In other words, what is our character thinking to make it act, behave and move as it does? As animators, we have to feel within ourselves every move and mood we want our drawings to exhibit. They are the image of our thoughts. "In striving for entertainment, our imagination must have neither limits nor bounds. It has always been a basic need in creative efforts. 'Imagination,' wrote Stanislavsky, 'must be cultivated and developed; it must be alert, rich and active. An actor (animator) must learn to think on any theme. He must observe people (and animals) and their behavior—try to understand their mentality.' "To one degree or another, people in our audience are aware of human and animal behavior. They may have seen, experienced or read about it. … Their knowledge, though limited, acts as a common denominator, and as we add to and enlarge upon said traits and behavior and bring them to the screen, 'caricatured and alive,' there blossoms a responsive relationship of the audience to the screen character— and that spells "entertainment.' "How well we search out every little peculiarity and mannerism of our character and how well and with what 'life' we move and draw it, will determine the sincerity of it and its entertainment value, we want the audience to view our character on the screen and say: 'I know that guy!' (or in the case of gesture drawing: 'I know what that person is doing, what he or she is thinking.') Leonardo da Vinci wrote: 'Build a figure in such a way that its pose tells what is in the soul of it. A gesture is a movement not of a body but of a soul.' Walt Disney reminded us of this when he spoke of the driving force behind the action: 'In other words, in most instances, the driving force behind the action is the mood, the personality, the attitude of the character—or all three.' "Let's think of ourselves as pantomimists because animation is really a pantomime art. A good pantomimist, having a thorough knowledge of human behavior, will, in a very simple action, give a positive and entertaining performance. There will be exaggeration in his anticipations, attitudes, expressions and movements to make it all very visual. "The pantomimist, working within human physical limitations, will do his best to caricature his action and emotions, keep the action in good silhouette, do one thing at a time and so present his act in a positive and simple manner for maximum visual strength. But we, as animators, interpreting life in linear drawings, have the opportunity to be much stronger in our caricature of mood and movement, always keeping in mind, as the pantomimist, the value and power of simplicity."  5  Gesture Drawing For Animation  On the following page are some excellent examples of what Walt must have meant when he said, "....the driving force behind the action is the mood, the personality, the attitude of the character ...." They are sketches Mark Henn did while at a recording session for The Great Mouse Detective.  6  Chapter 1: Go For the Truth!  Gesture Gesture is the vehicle used in fitting a character into the role it is called upon to act out. We have drawn variously, dogs, mice, owls, elephants, cats, people, and so on; each distinct characters with distinct bodily shapes and bodily gestures. To approach a model with the idea of copying a human figure plus its clothing could be called a waste of time. Our interest is in seeing the differences in each personality and their individualistic gestures and, like a good caricaturist, capture the essence of those differences. When we review the cast of characters in our past films we realize the need to place these individual characteristics with the proper character and to be consistent in their depiction. Holmes' actions had to be different and distinct from Dawson's, or their personalities would become a blur. Mickey Mouse had his own personality—his own movements and gestures, consistent with his body structure and the personality given him. Goofy, a hundredfold different in all ways from Mickey, was Goofy because of the same principles used in different ways. 7  Gesture Drawing For Animation  There are really only a few principles of drawing but an infinite number of personality traits and gestures. To "hole in" after learning the body structures is to miss the excitement and the satisfaction of using that information to tell the story of life through the nuances of gesture.  8  Chapter 1: Go For the Truth!  The Essence The word essence to me is almost philosophical in meaning: "That in being which underlies all outward manifestations ..." Applied to drawing it is the motive, mood or emotion as displayed through the gestures of the physical body. Anatomy and mechanics are always present too, but in the end the essence of each pose must prevail if we want to win the award for best animated scene ('scuse me - scenes). Lots of things to think about: proportion, anatomy, line, structure, weight, negative space, angles, squash and stretch, perspective, and more, but you can be off in lots of those areas if you have the essence of the pose. A little study each day spent on one or another of them will net wondrous results. Hopefully, there will soon, suddenly, constantly appear in your drawings all of these elements in a satisfying blend. You will be pleased and much prospered when they all start to fit together and the exhausting battle with each separate one is over. We are all at different stages of development so must search out our own weak areas and concentrate on those. Let's hear it for the spirit of search and discovery. Anytime is a time to be adventurous if it spurs you on to some worthy goal. I have Xeroxed some drawings that Frederich Banbery did for the book, The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club by Dickens, that I think are and excellent example of "Essence Drawings." There is a minimum of line and rendering, but a maximum of gesture and feeling. And they radiate the type of humor the story calls for.  9  Gesture Drawing For Animation  10  Chapter 1: Go For the Truth!  11  Gesture Drawing For Animation  Go For The Truth! We actually create nothing of our ourselves—we merely use the creative force that activates us. And when we draw we are not using the left brain to record facts, we have shifted gears and are now using the right brain to create a little one picture story. With, of course, the facts that the left brain collected and named and itemized in former study periods. This is not a study period; this is a show and tell period (time we are not studying). Do you feel that you are too limited in knowledge? Robert Henri, that great teacher of art said that anyone could paint a masterpiece with what limited knowledge they have. It would be a matter of using that limited knowledge in the right (creative) way. Have you ever seen the "knowledge" or drawing ability of that great painter Albert Ryder? Probably not. But when you look at his nebulous paintings of ships at sea or skeletons riding around with nothing on, you sense the drama and have a feeling a story in being told. If its facts you want, pick up a Sears mail order catalogue. I'm not advocating abandoning the study of the figure. Anatomy is a vital tool in drawing—but don't mesmerize yourself into thinking that knowing the figure is going to make an artist of you. What is going to make an artist out of you is a combination of a few basic facts about the body, a few basic principles of drawing and an extensive, obsessive desire and urge to express your feelings and impressions. Yehudi Menuin, the violinist started out at the "top" of his profession. He played in concerts at a very young age and in his late teens was world famous. Suddenly (if late teens is sudden) he realized he'd never taken a lesson—he didn't know how he was playing the violin (the right brain hadn't been discovered then). He worried that if that inspired way of playing ever left him, he'd not be able to play. So he took lessons and learned music (finally getting the left brain into the art). It didn't alter his playing ability but it bought him some insurance. I'm suggesting that somehow he had early on tapped the creative force and bypassed the ponderous study period, like all geniuses seem to do. I have a Mozart piano piece that he wrote when he was around 9 years old. I've been working on it for years and still can't play it. Who does he think he is anyway? I've been studying piano for umpteen years and I still don't know the key signatures. The left side of the brain is absolutely numb. But when I set down to play the piano, sometimes that creative force takes my hands and extracts a hint of emotional sound out of the music. That's all I really care about. My sketching is the same way. I don't know a scapula from a sternum but when I venture out into the world with my sketch book, I am able to distill my impressions into a oneframe story that totally tells my version of what I saw. When my wife Dee and I go on a vacation, she takes the photos and I sketch. She records the facts—I record the truth. Shift gears! With the few facts you have—go for the truth!  12  Chapter 2: The Animator's Sketchbook "The cartoonist, when he sketches, is going through a process of study. He concentrates upon the model, plumbs its movement, bulk, outline. Then he sets it down, remembering that he wants only the spirit — the "guts" of the thing he's after. He puts into his drawing all his experience. He simplifies. He plays with his line. He experiments. He isn't concerned with anatomy, chiaroscuro or the symmetry of "flowing line." There's nothing highbrow about his approach to the sketch pad. He is drawing because he likes to draw! All types of sketching benefit the artist. Never stop sketching! Sketch at home, in the subway, on picnics, in art school or in bed. But SKETCH! — From the book Cartooning For Everybody by Lawrence Lariar "I suggest that you wed yourself so thoroughly to your sketchbook that it almost becomes a physical extension of yourself. And now what you must do is draw and draw and look at drawings and draw and draw and draw and look at drawings and draw..." — From the book Learning to Draw by Robert Kaupelis "Finally, I cannot stress too strongly the value of carrying a sketch book at all times. In it you can record notes and ideas and, above all, a continuous record of your development as an artist or cartoonist." — From the book Cartooning Fundamentals by Al Ross "He (the artist) moves through life as he finds it, not passing negligently the things he loves, but stopping to know them, and to note them down in the shorthand of his sketch book... He is looking for what he loves, he tries to capture it. It's found anywhere, everywhere. Those who are not hunters do not see these things. The hunter is learning to see and to understand — to enjoy." — Robert Henri  Sketching is to the artist what shadow boxing is to a boxer, keyboard practice is to a concert pianist, practice is to a tennis player, or a participant in any sport (or endeavor). Above I have quoted artists and cartoonists who swear by and recommend sketching as a necessary part of an artist's daily ventures (adventures).  13  Gesture Drawing For Animation  Carry a sketch book—a cheap one so you won't worry about wasting a page. Sketch in the underground, while watching television, in pubs, at horse shows. Sports events are especially fun to sketch— boxing matches, football games, etc. Draw constantly. Interest in life will grow. Ability to solve drawing problems will be sharpened. Creative juices will surge. Healing fluids will flow throughout your body. An eagerness for life and experience and growth will crowd out all feelings of ennui and disinterest. Where are you going to get all this energy, you ask? Realize that the human body is like a dynamo, it is an energy producing machine. The more you use up its energy, the more it produces. A work-related pastime like sketching is a positive activity. Inactivity, especially in your chosen field, is a negative. Negativity is heavy, cumbersome, debilitating, unproductive and totally to be avoided. Take a positive step today. Buy a sketch book and a pen (more permanent than pencil), make a little rectangle on the page and fill it with a simple composition.  14  Chapter 2: The Animator's Sketchbook  Identify it and/or date it and feel good about it. Don't think or speak negatively about it. If it is not as satisfying a start as you would have liked, don't be critical — that's where you are — face it. Just turn the page and start another. All those faculties that are required to make a more satisfying sketch are being awakened—even now—as you search for a new subject and begin to sketch. No one else in the universe would have drawn it quite like you. If you think you'd like to do better, make another, and another, and another. Keep the first ones. Watch the growth of both your facility and your interest. Put an end to limiting yourself by drawing nothing but torsos in a life drawing class. (Do I exaggerate?) Activate the potential crannies of the mind. There is a law in the Christian religion that says (I paraphrase) "If you can believe, so shall it come to pass." You can break a civil law but you can not break a spiritual law. You have to be careful of your thoughts. Once you start one of the spiritual or mental laws working, all sorts of things begin happening behind the scenes to implement its fulfillment. So if you want to be able to draw well, start a sketch book and get a good law working for you.  15  Gesture Drawing For Animation  16  Chapter 2: The Animator's Sketchbook  Everywhere You Go Don't be afraid to sketch in public places such as museums, parks, restaurants, etc. And don't let wind, rain or cold or heat deter you — those conditions sometimes yield the best sketching. Let someone else drive when traveling so you can draw. Capturing a scene while moving at high speed will sharpen your eye, but also take time to do a more detailed sketch. You may shun landscapes, saying that you are interested only in figures or cartoons. But trees and mountains, rivers and clouds have gestures that can be beneficial for analyzing action. Mountains stand erect, lean, lie down, sprawl, and spill out onto valleys in alluvial forms. Trees loom, twist in agonized or humorous gestures; they stand erect, stretch, lean; some are tired, some perky, some bear fruit or flower, which in itself is a gesture. Even the atmosphere of a landscape has a (spatial) gesture. If you go on a trip, whether long or short, let your sketch book take preference over your camera. You'll find yourself looking and seeing more than ever before. You will find yourself searching out new things to see, new places to visit, more varieties of people to "capture" in your ever-growing sketch book. It will become your diary. Think of it as a graphic autobiography—a unique account of your personal observations of your all too brief journey on this planet. Sketch at home too. Never sit in front of the TV without a sketch pad on your lap. Sketch faces, figures, stage settings. If your dog or cat is lying on the floor nearby, sketch them. Vehicles have gestures of their own. Some cars seem to slink along, some move proudly. Some are raised way up on springs — look like they're holding up their skirts so they can cross a stream. Special equipment like skip-loaders and semis and derricks and delivery  17  Gesture Drawing For Animation  trucks—all doing their own thing. They're as different from each other as a farmer is from an office worker; or a military man is from a hobo. Don't sketch vehicles as if you were doing a Ford ad — go for their personalities, their gesture. Sketching can not only be fun, but it will help you master those blank sheets of paper you're going to be spending the rest of your life battling.  Composition First draw a rectangle and work within that to force yourself to make a composition, relating one thing to another and to the borders. If you feel a need for toning the sketches, use cross hatch or carry a couple of gray felt tip pens. Get in the habit of using a pen. It is much more direct and does not rub off like a soft pencil. I have Xeroxed some sketches I made at the airport, the underground and a museum to show the possibilities of a direct approach to capturing a pose with a minimum of line. Notice the emphasis of putting the weight on one leg in the standing poses; the emphasis on relaxation in the sitting poses. There was no penciling in first — they were done directly in ink.  18  Chapter 2: The Animator's Sketchbook  These were done inside a cardboard template with the eyes closed. The borders were added later. Good exercise!  19  Gesture Drawing For Animation  20  Chapter 2: The Animator's Sketchbook  Ron Husband's Sketchbook Ron Husband appears to be a quiet guy who just goes about his business in an evenmannered way. But he is an inveterate sketcher — his pen is constantly searching and probing for incidents of every day life, attempting to push them beyond the ordinary — into the realm of entertainment. The 100 filled sketch books in his room (there are a 100 more at home) might hoodwink you into thinking that is all he does when not animating, but he has several "irons in the fire," and is more than capable of doing justice to all of them. He is an illustrator for children's magazines, and is involved in some very imaginative books of his own. Ron doesn't confine his drawing to just the small sketchbook format, either, I recall an exhibit a year or so ago where he displayed many drawings about 17 x 22 inches. They ranged from humorous to dramatic, and were most elegantly done. Ron believes quick sketching is an aid to animation. He maintains sketching will enhance drawing ability, quicken your eye, help you to analyze action in a shorter period of time. He says the benefits of quick sketching are: the ability to capture the essence of a pose, to acquire believability in your drawing, to sharpen your awareness of "grid" or ground planes and backgrounds, a greater familiarity with depth, perspective and 3rd dimension, also frees you from thinking in terms of the standard 3/4 front or rear view. Here is a sampling from just a few of his sketchbooks:  21  Gesture Drawing For Animation  22  Chapter 2: The Animator's Sketchbook  23  Gesture Drawing For Animation  24  Chapter 2: The Animator's Sketchbook  25  Gesture Drawing For Animation  26  Chapter 2: The Animator's Sketchbook  Note Taking and Sketching If you haven't been a note taker — become one. Hundreds of potentially fertile ideas have drifted through your consciousness and have spun out into oblivion to be lost forever. You often hear or see things that, like a potent horseradish sauce clearing the sinuses, sparks a clear vision of some illusive point, perhaps some clearer way to draw a wrinkle or some better way to draw hands or knees. It seems so clear at the time there seems to be no reason to make a note of it. Many, perhaps dozens of ideas have bombarded your sensitive receptors during the day (and night), the overload adjusting itself in favor of a few of the most impressive messages, not always the most useful. So write them down, or sketch them. They may prove very valuable at a later date. A seasoned note taker will often hear a seemingly dull bit of information and, either on the spot or later, translate it into a meaningful bit of wisdom. Once down in writing or in drawing form it can be like a seed planted in fertile soil, burgeoning into growth when given the proper inducement. Taking notes, like sketching, sharpens the mind, hones it into a more sensitive and receptive instrument, more ready when needed than one that is allowed to "flow with the tide." It can be the difference between being a reactor or an actor. The reactor drifts along awaiting opportunities from others before making a move. The actor checks his notes and comes up with a positive move of his own. Most, if not all, artists, composers, authors, scientists, etc. have been and are avid note takers and sketchers. A three ring, loose leaf note book with unlined paper is ideal for writing, sketching, and storing notes in. It may be too large to carry with you everywhere, so augment it with a small notepad that will fit into a pocket or purse. The notes taken in the small pad can be removed and taped or glued into the larger book. Record the source, or initial those of your own origin — also the date. It will be a great focus of learning, a pleasurable hobby, and will help keep your mind alert for new ideas and to new vistas of creative thinking. Your note/sketch book can and should contain both writing and sketching. Memories are often useful in creative work. Present day experiences are worthy of recording, saved and savored. Jot down only the pertinent details. Sketch scenes, expressions — make comments beneath the sketches. Describe people you know and meet. Don't correct your impressions later — better to write or draw new ones. Develop your senses by becoming aware of them. Record them in a straightforward manner and/or caricature them to some humorous extreme. What you will be doing is sharpening your sensibilities, increasing your susceptibility to impressions, refining your ability to perceive and to transpose them into graphic form. Soon you will find yourself exploring your world for impressions and the recording of them will buoy you up mentally, physically, and spiritually. Remember my formula for this: impression – expressions depression. So become a note taker, start collecting things — not through one ear or eye and out the other, but graphically, through your fingers, which are the things you have chosen to express  27  Gesture Drawing For Animation  yourself through. Copy words, phrases, bits of articles, drawings, paintings, anything that awakens a spark in you.  Arming yourself with a sketchbook will put you at the ready when opportunities present themselves. One day while searching for driftwood and shells (for my driftwood mobiles and seaweed (for my wife's basket-making), I ran into this group of kite flyers at the beach.  28  Chapter 2: The Animator's Sketchbook  From the sketch book of Al Ross, Cartoonist  A good way to take notes or gather your thoughts on any subject is to state the problem or subject at the center and circle it. Then as related thoughts come or as you gather research, attach them to the center by a line and into groups that are more closely related. It's a wonderful means of focusing the mind.  29  Gesture Drawing For Animation  I was working on an inspirational book for artists who find themselves in the doldrums. These suggestions for a title could have been jotted down in a restaurant or while driving...  Good Habits People usually do what they are in the habit of doing. That may seem like an obvious thing to say, but it is significant in a number of ways. Arguing in its favor, it is a comfortable way of living. There are a minimum of decisions that require attention, and hopefully the things you are in the habit of doing and the manner in which you do them are compatible with your idea of the "ideal" life. And if you're studying to be a concert pianist or a rock band drummer or a pro-tennis player, you had better submit to some rigorous habit forming – such as hours and hours of practice.  30  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing In a sense, drawing is learned by accumulating a visual vocabulary, just as speaking requires a verbal vocabulary. And as a certain amount of sentence structure, syntax and voice inflection must learned to communicate verbally, so must there be some rules of drawing that need to be learned and used to communicate the meanings of your drawings. We think of communication as "normal," but in the distant past there were no words, and at that point man had limited ways to communicate his thoughts—simple as they probably were. Our present way of communication has evolved... and is still evolving. In our class we are attempting to make another leap in drawing communication by seeing the gesture at once and putting it down in all its freshness and lucidity.  Lines, Lines, Lines In your business (animation) line is one of the most important elements. Line is a very exciting discovery that man (artists) has developed to a phenomenal degree. Drawing in line can be a real adventure and, when used skillfully, can be a source of adventure for the millions of viewers who see your work on the screen. Line is not just a tracing tool— it is a living, organic thing, capable of describing just about anything you can dream up. There are many kinds of lines. Short ones: Long ones: Curved lines:  And some that get off to a good start but then seem to poop out: You can do anything with lines. Years ago there was a silly gimmick that went like this: Do you know what this is?  Know what this is?  It's a T.V. screen for people who squint.  It's a tornado with the hiccups.  31  Gesture Drawing For Animation  32  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  33  Gesture Drawing For Animation  A Simple Approach to Drawing For those in my class who have had little instruction or experience, I would suggest adopting a very simple approach to drawing. Even those who are experienced but have neglected working from a model can benefit from this. The most logical approach when faced with a model is to lay in the basic pose with some simple elemental shapes. Ignore the details of the costume. First study the pose for the gesture—you may have to add a little of your own thespianism—then look for weight distribution and over all abstract shape (silhouette), ignoring all particulars like muscles or other detail, and go for the general, overall generic gesture. This gives you the opportunity also to concentrate on relative proportions. Proportions are important and you must develop sensitivity to them—Mickey, Roger Rabbit, the Mermaid, Eric, Sebastian—all with distinct proportions. Here are some suggestions for a simple approach. You'll not be encumbered or confused by a multitude of superfluous lines and puzzling shapes. Once you have the pose captured, the costume will be easier to put on. And using the known facts about wrinkles, you will be able to pick and choose the appropriate wrinkles from the model or make up some of your own. Let me suggest that in working out your "shorthand" body-shape, when the chest and hip are twisted, they can be handled as separate shapes. That way you can more easily draw them facing in different directions. When they are not twisting, the chest and hip areas can be treated as one shape.  34  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  Here's a suggestion from Lariar's book, Cartooning For Everyone, on how to lay in a cartoon figure. He had no explanation for this illustration but you can see, he worked from the general to the specific.  Finding the Abstract I keep searching for a shortcut to learning how to draw, but as Ollie Johnston used to say of drawing in general, "It ain't easy." Try to look for the overall abstract shape. I use the word abstract here in the sense of a summary—a brief statement of the essential elements. I sketched these abstracted shapes of some familiar (male) body types. If when drawing from life you can spot one of these shapes (or one of your own design) in the character you are drawing, it will save you the agony of searching for lines on the model to copy. If you know the overall abstract shape you are dealing with, it will be easier to apply that to the gesture.  Finding the abstract in the gesture itself will help too. Take a moment to study the type of body build, forming an abstract shape of it in your mind, then do the same with the overall pose. It simply means dropping 90% of the detail, and seeing only that 10% — that essence of the pose.  35  Gesture Drawing For Animation  This kind of thinking will lead to more expressive drawing, especially in animation where body language is so important. It will aid you in capturing the essence of a gesture, and with an economy of lines. My philosophy is: if you can draw it with 10 lines, why use 75? And who can argue with the philosophy: if you can draw it in 5 minutes, why take a half hour? A loose style allows you to study and practice drawing action—something that is hard to do if you try to make a cleaned-up, finished drawing as you go.  The Solid-Flexible Model Humans, most animals and to a degree cartoon characters are constructed on a solidflexible basis:  A cartoon character is more flexible, but the principle of solid-flexible is applicable because the same parts are there—they are merely caricatured. The solid-flexible concept is the basis for all the angles that portray the various actions, moods, and expressions that we are called upon to draw. Each section has a limited yet unique movement to perform. Those movements are the means through which we express all of our body communications. Try to relate some incident in you life, or mimic someone else's with your neck in a brace and your hands tied behind your back. You would make up for it by bending at the waist and the knees. You would make the whole upper part of you body do what your head normally does, and the bending of your knees take the place of hand gestures. We'll see more of the solid-flexible model later in animating squash and stretch.  36  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  Figure Sketching for Animation Here is a sheet of figures drawn by Glen Vilppu, life drawing instructor and layout man. This is an excellent simplistic approach to sketching the figure for animation purposes. I suggest you study them and try to emulate them.  37  Gesture Drawing For Animation  38  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  The Pipe Model There is another approach to drawing the figure that may seem a bit bizarre at first, but is worth your consideration. It is especially helpful when working out a difficult foreshortening problem. The method merely employs pipes, or cylinders, as parts of the body. When cylinders are used to establish the basic shapes, their angles, directions and relationships, then it is an easy matter to add the details. Again, the details only after the basics are well established. Don't be impatient—the foundation first. To avoid 'doodling' while practicing this form of study, confine yourself to these shapes:  There are only four lines per cylinder and if it takes you twenty lines to make one—you need help!  See the cylinder in space. Perhaps envisioning an arrow inside each one will help capture its direction and angle:  This will help you establish the shape in space rather than on a two dimensional surface, and in the simplest of terms. Also, the bulk of the figure is automatically built up and available for further delineation. If you have a difficult time seeing these shapes in space and relating them to the over all pose, sketch in just enough rhythmic gesture lines to suggest the pose. Then before getting too involved with them, "throw" on the cylinders with gusto and bravado and watch the figure take shape. Remembering of course, to embellish them with some suitably angled hands and feet. This basic drawing with its "essence of pose" can then be humanized or cartoonized according to the needs. If it's a nude you are working on, add flesh, joints, wrinkles, etc., 39  Gesture Drawing For Animation  if a clothed figure, add clothes, costume, features, wrinkles and other detail. If a cartooncaricature it accordingly, add costume, and win yourself an Oscar.  Try combining the cylinders with the solid-flexible concept described earlier.  40  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  Seeing in Three Dimensions The ability to see in three dimensions is fairly near the top of the list of requirements for the animator, assistant animator, and the in-betweener. Most of us come by this knowledge only after years of observation and practice. The more I've thought about it, the more I've come to believe the rules of perspective ought to be called the "all encompassing principles of drawing." I never make a drawing without being conscious of them, and when I am having trouble with a drawing, I delve into those rules and they are a sure help. As artists we see through eyes that constantly search for shape, gesture, color, contrast, and so on. When we draw from the model (or from life in general) we have a tendency to feature shape. A thing is either round or oblong or rectangular or some combination of each. These in turn create the two-dimensional negative space that forms a relationship between one or more objects or parts of one object. It requires an extra nudge of observation to see things as three-dimensional, and two extra nudges to translate that third dimension onto a two-dimensional surface. Since we see things as basic shapes, we must think of the shapes as being three-dimensional. For instance a rectangle  is as flat as the paper it is drawn on.  But add the rule diminishing size and we get a somewhat 3D shape. Add some bulk to that shape and the 3D feeling (or illusion) is augmented.  41  Gesture Drawing For Animation  Add a slight angle or give it a twist and the illusion is even more apparent:  It is more difficult to achieve three dimensions with an orb or spherical shape, but it can be done with the aid of the rules of perspective. For instance when drawing a head, the nose, forehead, cheeks, ears and chin may be thought of as shapes that overlap other shapes.  If the model's pose forms a rectangle viewed straight on,  that rectangle, from a  three-quarter angle, would look like this:  The degree of diminishing size (perspective wise) would depend on how close to the model (or object) we are and at what angle we are seeing it.  If our eye is 1 foot from a rectangle measuring 17' by 20'  at a 7/8 degree angle  ,  the far side will appear to be about 7 inches high,  meaning that within 20 inches the upright line has diminished by more than one half. At 6 feet it is only 4 inches shorter, and at 12 feet it is only 2 inches shorter. So the ratio of diminishing perspective lessens as the distance increases. So the factors that concern us are • how far from the object are we and • what is the angle of perspective; that is:  42  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  one-quarter, or  three-quarters.  The Rules of Perspective Some years ago a simple little drawing book was given to me by its author, Bruce McIntyre. He had devised a sort of shorthand art course which he taught to young children and the results were amazing. His whole premise was built on six rules of perspective and an involved use of directional symbols. The perspective rules are simply this:  Surface and Size  Take the one about diminishing size. That has to do with establishing a vanishing point on the horizon and having all things diminish in size from an established height in the foreground to that vanishing point. In animation we work with a layout that has that kind of perspective built in, so we have to draw our characters with a somewhat matching perspective. Let's consider how these rules may be used to accomplish a desired threedimensional effect. This may seem like an unlikely approach, but let's take 5 dimes (minus the detail). Knowing they are all the same size, if we drew them all the same size, they would all appear to be the same distance from us.  43  Gesture Drawing For Animation  If we varied the sizes they would appear to be at different distances from us (the "diminishing size" rule):  The first two rules, I think, are a preparation for the third one—surface plus size, a rule that is very usable in animation. For instance when working on a scene with a layout like this:  A character standing on that plain would have two feet fitted to that surface, creating not only a stable stance but also a third dimension:  and of course any props such as Apples, Cans, Bowls, and so on. Overlap  If we put two of the dimes side by side, we create and are aware of the space between them (two-dimensional space).  Now if we place one behind the other (the overlap rule), plus making one of them diminished in size (one of the rules of perspective), we create a three-dimensional negative space:  The overlap rule is very important to all classes of drawing, especially when the illusion of third dimension is desirable.  44  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  Here is an outlandishly simple example where, in the first drawing, the whole head area is in front of the shoulders, and in the next drawing there is a complete reversal. In the first drawing, note how definite the overlap is depicted: the fingers in front of the jaw— the thumb behind; the left thumb in front of the elbow—the fingers behind. Being definite with overlap helps the drawing "read" clearly.  There will be numerous occasions where we can use the whole dime thing, for instance in foreshortening the figure at some acute angle, the head (one dime) in front of the chest (second dime), the chest in front of the hips, (third dime), and so on.  Those areas are easy to relate to a circle (whole dime) but when we are faced with longer and straighter shapes: an arm or leg or fingers foreshortened, that is when we can use what I once saw in a book on drawing, the "T" principle.  Using the "T" principle creates depth (one thing in front of another):  45  Gesture Drawing For Animation  Without the "T"s, all those lines would run together, and depth would be destroyed:  Along these lines (slight pun intended) we might introduce the "L" rule. In cases where one thing meets another but is neither in front of nor behind it (changes direction but does not overlap), but where differentiation is needed or desirable—use the "L" rule:  A tangent occurs when two or more lines meet or merge into one another so there is no differentiation between the parts which they describe. A simple example is two mountain shapes drawn with no overlap, which automatically creates a tangent and destroys any illusion of depth whatever:  The simple solution to this problem is to add overlap:  Making it very clear which hill is in front of the other. Then if you force the perspective by adding surface plus size to the drawing it will be more definite and read much faster.  Tangents also occur when one line ends at some point then seems to continue on at another point:  46  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  Here the head line seems to continue with the beak line:  By adjusting the beak line, we avoid the tangent:  Here is an obvious instance of tangent trouble and a simple solution wherein a great deal of depth and clarity is achieved.  47  Gesture Drawing For Animation  Surface Lines  The importance and usefulness of the surface lines rule can only be hinted at. In a rendered drawing or painting, the artist has untold nuances of color, shading and rendering to emphasize the depth. The animator has only line, plus, of course the rules of perspective. As for surface lines, there are usually very few in a line drawing. Using a cigar with its surface lines (the band), the importance of using them for direction and depth can easily be seen:  There are few areas on cartoon bodies that can be used like the cigar band. If none at all, the two objects would look like each other only one smaller than the other.  So the artist must use whatever suggests itself. A sleeve for instance: 48  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  or a pant cuff:  or a belt, collar, hem line, pattern on the material or wrinkles in cloth:  The "T" principle, described earlier, also coincides with the surface direction rule. To show surface direction on a foreshortened object, we just think of the stem of the T as the vertical angle and the cross as the horizontal angle. Thus:  We may be tempted to think of surface lines as belonging only to striped blouses or trousers, but actually everything has surface lines, though not always visible. Take the mouth for instance. It is situated on the head (a modified sphere) and changes its "surface line" as the head is tilted up or down. Likewise the eyes and the ears:  49  Gesture Drawing For Animation  Even the line of the nostrils does the came thing:  Likewise the brows, cheeks, and so on. Anything on a curved surface will do it. Surface lines on a flat surface work differently. When they are tilted they simply get closer together:  In the case of heads, the basic structure has to serve as a surface line. For instance the eye, nose and mouth lines—unseen, but implied and depicted by the placement of the eyes and mouth and the direction they take when the head is tilted:  Along with these "unseen" surface lines, there is overlap such as (in this case) the hair, first being seen somewhat behind the forehead then reversing to be in front of the forehead in the second drawing. The ear employs another rule: Foreshortening. The other rules—surface plus size and perspective—would have come into play had the head turned to the side:  50  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  And though the other ear is not seen so cannot be compared with the one seen, it will have grown in size as the head turns the ear towards you and closer to you, thereby giving even a better illusion of depth in motion than you would get from seeing a still drawing or the two ears:  That increase in size plus a change in shape (angle) plus following an arc (as if the ear were orbiting the outside of a sphere (the head) would give a maximum third dimensional effect). Foreshortening  The last rule of perspective is foreshortening, which is none other than Italian perspective in a simplified form. It is used extensively in animation—by simply drawing things larger in the foreground than those of like size in the background. For instance on a head, "forced perspective" is used in drawing the eves, eyebrows, etc.  It is the kind of perspective you would get when using a wide angle lens on a camera. The difference being that the photograph appears distorted and unreal. In the cartoon it is acceptable, partly because we can adjust the whole drawing and make it plausible. It is defying reality but in a logical way. Using logics in animation is a powerful tool. That is how we can use such extreme action and pull it off as believable. I came across this page in the book, "The Act of Drawing.", by Edward Laning.  51  Gesture Drawing For Animation  He uses the principle of overlap to illustrate an example of foreshortening. What I am suggesting is: everything in a three-dimensional environment is one thing overlapping another in space, whether they are connected like the parts of a leg (or a nose) or are separate. Even then, nothing is really separate, for all things are connected by the matrix of space that they occupy. In painting we can use atmospheric perspective to show where the objects are in space if they don't overlap. In drawing with line we can use another of the principles of perspective: diminishing size or surface plus diminishing size:  Direction Bruce McIntyre's system also involved directional symbols, consisting of simple arrows pointing in a number of directions. Each arrow and its direction had a code number. Their use was related to the manner in which Bruce taught drawing. I had never involved myself with his use of them, but the principle of it completely captivated me. It has influenced every drawing and painting I've made since being exposed to it. It has made me conscious of the fact that everything is pointing in some direction; pointing away from us or sideways to us or three quarters up at a certain angle; straight at us or slightly to the left or right or down. Most often these directional lines coincide with perspective lines and have a common vanishing point. In the case of drawing a figure, the line directions are not random but have to do with the pose or action. To be conscious of the direction that arms, legs, fingers, and so on are pointing is the key to the three-dimensional drawing. It is the thing that reveals to us the six rules of perspective. For instance, if in drawing the legs of a character you find one pointing toward you and the other pointing away:  You know that the surface lines will be dictated by those directions and also surface plus size will influence the placement and size of the feet, overlap will be necessary to show the right leg is in front of the left leg. Foreshortening will be subtle but the left leg will diminish in size as it recedes from hip to ankle:  52  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  Difficult foreshortening in a pose can be more easily handled if one is aware of the direction the object is pointing in. For instance, a figure bending over toward you presents a difficult view. The problem can best be conquered by the awareness of what is happening. To you it looks like this:  From the side it would be a much more drawable view.  Merely being aware of the side view will help you pick the rules of perspective that are needed to conquer this foreshortening dilemma.  The surface lines of the chest and stomach will be almost circular; the arms, held slightly back will have a less circular surface line; one leg forward and one back will require opposite surface lines. The leg on the right would diminish slightly in size as it goes away  53  Gesture Drawing For Animation  from you while the other increases; employing the foreshortening rule. The head being in front of the chest applies the rule of overlap while the rule of surface plus size is employed in the feet. Being aware of these rules is a positive aid in drawing, allowing you to progress directly to the pose, rather than rely on a lot of doodling, pencil manipulation and haphazard accidentals. This system will also help with all the other rules: Surface Lines, Surface plus Size, Overlap, and as mentioned above Foreshortening. These ever helpful elements of perspective are present in every area of every drawing we will ever make. Being conscious of them will be a great help, plus a great comfort, in our quest for good draftsmanship. Not that draftsmanship is the ultimate goal, but it does take draftsmanship to express oneself in animation. Knowing and using these principles when needed is like having a good road map when traveling in unfamiliar places. Here are two corrections I saved from the class. The rules of overlap and surface lines are applicable here. Notice how the male figure stooping over needed more angle to bring him forward at 3/4 view.  The head mass placed over the chest mass illustrates the overlap rule:  The tilt of his head illustrates the surface line rule.  In the woman's head the same problem is present, and the same rules provide the solution—the forehead overlapping the cheeks, the cheeks overlapping the chin, and the ear, placed on a surface line, overlapping the jaw.  54  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  Problems of Drawing in Line One of the problems in using line alone to draw with is that there are very few lines in nature. Even the outline of an object is not truly a line, since if the object were turned 1/4 on its axis toward us, what was the edge would now be the center.  If we think of that circle as a head and put a round nose on the profile, when it is turned toward us it will still be a round nose.  But if we have a real human head with a real human nose on it, the complex shape of the nose changes drastically as we look at it straight on. What was a line on the profile becomes a non-line on the front view. The principles of perspective help to overcome this dilemma. For instance the rule of overlap tells us what is in front and what is behind, and helps us differentiate between the two and to draw them that way. The human face (head) is a very complicated set of planes with very few areas that can described by line alone. But if the areas that are in front (closest to us) are seen and drawn as such, then at least it presents something to work with. A face viewed straight on is in reality is a conglomerate of planes molded on top of each other—very few lines. So for a line drawing we invent some symbols to indicate which shape or plane is closest to us and its general shape. In animation, the symbols we use for noses are kept simple. The fewer lines there are, the less chance of jitters, and when lines have no anchor point, it is hard to keep them from "drifting". For instance a nose in rendering might be drawn this way:  55  Gesture Drawing For Animation  While in line alone it might have to be done so:  …depending, of course, on the type of character being drawn.  Simplifying Heads Often in animation, close-ups or waist-shots are featured. Because of this, it behooves us to spend sometime in a study of heads and the upper torso. The emphasis should still be on gesture, and as we do with the full figure, we should ignore the details as much as possible. A very simple symbol for the head shape, eyes, nose and mouth will suffice to "nail down" the gesture or expression. We are all at different stages of drawing ability, so some may feel it unnecessary to start with simple shapes. If so, try to treat it like a refresher course and spend a little time at it. I think it's pretty safe, if not essential, to think of the head as basically two oval shapes. Those shapes automatically suggest a kind of flat plane on the top of the head, plus that bump at the back of the head; a flatness for the face and a chin. It even helps locate a place for the ear:  From the front, a circle for the top portion of the head and the oval for the facial area again automatically suggest a temple, the narrow facial area, and a chin.  It helps to talk your way through a drawing, because ordinarily we don't carry very many fancy descriptive terms in our everyday vocabulary. If we follow just the simple things we can describe, we'll have less trouble. For instance, for the animator a few words like "structure," "angle," "squash" and "stretch" will carry us pretty far into any drawing.  56  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  So you might say to yourself, "Okay, the head structure is basically this shape:"  This particular head is tilted ¾ to the left and is facing ¾ to the front, and since this is a ¾ view of the upper oval, it will now be halfway between an oval and a circle:  So I get something like this:  I see because the head is tilted to the left (observer's left) that the left side of the neck is going to be squashed while the right side will be stretched:  Now I need some shoulders to stabilize what I've drawn so since I know that the neck merges into the spine in the back and into the chest in the front (I will hook up my mental computer for a side view—Ah, there it is!):  57  Gesture Drawing For Animation  I will now add the shoulders with that in mind:  Making sure to connect the neck gracefully to the shoulder on the left, and connecting the other shoulder with a nice strong angle to give it a three-dimensional look, because I know that this or this:  puts the neck in front of the shoulder better than this: or this:  or this:  or this:  .  The hair is quite a dominant feature on this person and since the head is tilted that way I see that the hair reacts somewhat like the neck. So I'll draw a squash on the left side and a stretch on the other:  I want to make sure I'm being clear (and simple) about the hair, and though on the model it sort of goes this way and that, I must be logical. So I will simply drape the hair over the shoulder on the squash side and let the hair stretch down past the right shoulder, and oh yes, making sure to use that principle of perspective (one object in front of another to create depth) by getting a good angle on the meeting place of the hair and shoulder.  This:  or this:  rather than this:  or this  Also, regardless of how wind-blown the hair is or what the styling is, basically the top of the head is rather flat, the back of the head is rather like a skull, the forehead does a rather sharp turn then gently curves down to the chin, which is rather sharp, but sometimes a  58  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  little bit flat across the bottom and the jaw line is rather prominent as it curves back toward the ear:  So now I have just used up my four word drawing "starter vocabulary," and so far it feels pretty solid. Now, I don't know about you (you're still talking to yourself) but I think this is a good start and I think it might be time to add a nose and a couple of eyes, but of course not until I've gotten some simple shapes in mind—something like what I've done so far:  Caricatured Head Shapes If the designs above are thought of as the basic head, then from there one can deviate for the cartoon, or the caricature look. The head may take on one of these shapes, as some of the characters of our former pictures have done:  Hidden in all the myriad poses and gestures of the various characters are those basic shapes plus the creative use of those four basic words: structure, angle, squash and stretch. Head shapes vary in many ways, and once an individual's variances are discovered, they can be exploited to acquire a likeness or, if desired, carry them farther into caricature. A person's real head and feature shapes cannot really be known until we have seen that person from different angles and in different moods and circumstances such as laughter, anger, fear, clowning, seriousness, strain, etc. In animation most heads have been built on the circle. Cheeks have been added or mouse ears or duck bills have been added and suddenly there is a universally appealing character. I said suddenly, but the truth of the matter is, many months of intensive search and experimentation have preceded the final acceptance of most character models.  59  Gesture Drawing For Animation  Some, such as Mickey mouse and Donald Duck have been under continual evolvement for their entire lifetime Because many characters are built somewhat on the same basic formula, great care must be taken to retain the subtleties that distinguish one from another. Animation allows the characters to be freely caricatured in action but though the shapes are stretched and squashed to unbelievable limits, they must be recognizable as that character at all times. A good model is one with shapes that can be animated into various poses and expressions without losing its character. The general shape of the head and its individual features must be established in its normal state first so that squashes and stretches will be recognized as such. In other words, a thoroughly recognizable norm will serve to emphasize any deviation from it, giving added punch and authority to special expressions. On the other hand, since we have already enjoined the audience to suspend their disbelief in such beings as talking mice and temperamental ducks, it is important to sustain this newly created plausibility by keeping the characters consistent. Studying the model and people in general with this in mind gives us purpose and hopefully the added incentive to do so. Try to keep from getting too serious while head sketching. After all, you are in the cartoon business and most of the Disney characters are somewhat comical, and if not comical then at least they are caricatures of serious beings. Usually when a person takes himself too seriously he is in our eyes a "comedian." He is ripe for caricature. So if cartoons are not somewhat caricatures of reality they may be taken too seriously and lose that special spark of humor needed in cartoons. Museums and living rooms are full of serious portraits that are just dying to be retouched with a little humor. But, of course, portraits were not invented to make people smile— cartoons were. If you think the world is all so serious, you should be a historian or a philosopher, but if you desire to bring a little humor into the lives of those humor-hungry people "out there," then be a cartoonist and be serious about losing some of that seriousness. Very few, if any, of the animators I've known found drawing easy. One of Ollie Johnston's sayings, "It ain't easy," became a studio quip. Drawing funny cartoons was and is a serious business. It seems like the funniest scenes were the ones that were "sweat over" most. They were serious matters that required the animator to never forget (in all his groping and mental anguish) that the result he was after was to make the audience smile. On the following page are a few of the characters from Disney features and shorts. They are all built on some basic head shape or shapes. After which the details such as features and so on are added. The shapes are flexible to a degree that is animatable, but never so  60  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  flexible as to take on the shape or personality of some other character. The skull is usually pretty solid, while the rest of the head parts do the squashing and stretching. It's pretty hard to go wrong if you handle the basics correctly. It's the same in any activity—the basics have to be earned first. Then, and only then, may the details be added to complete the creative act.  61  Gesture Drawing For Animation  62  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  The Head in Gesture  63  Gesture Drawing For Animation  Some of your drawings from the class are suggestive of the way I think the head studies might go. They are simple enough to allow the expression to beam through not weighted down with tons of ostentatious falderal!  64  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  A Simple Approach to Costumes and Drapery The draped figure will be one of the many problems that will follow you like a heel fly throughout your career. Wrinkles, folds, seams, belts, pleats, ruffles and shirring [puckering or gathering of material with stitches] all seem so important and at times, downright overwhelming. Their importance cannot be denied, but their reason for being there and looking the way they do must be carefully considered. Let's face it—clothes cannot act. If clothes seem to act it is because the body underneath is acting (posing or gesturing). The clothes will react in a like manner and will even  65  Gesture Drawing For Animation  enhance the gesture. But if the drawing has not captured the gesture, all the manipulation of wrinkles, lumps, bulges, folds, and seams will not bring off the drawing. A real solid, expressive, sparkly drawing is one where the clothing is doing what the body is causing it to do. The best thing for you to do (to keep your sanity) is strive to handle it in the simplest way possible. In animation, costumes may run from simple to complex in style, but they are all handled in a simple manner when it comes to folds and wrinkles. It helps to mentally take the clothing apart to see how it is constructed. For instance a sleeve: how big around is the shoulder opening; how is it attached to the bodice; does it taper; does the shoulder seam attach at or below the shoulder? Ward Kimball's great observation is very apropos here. He said if he could take something apart and put it back together again, he could draw it. For the sake of studying the figure for animation, lines of clothing should not be sketched in just for an impression—they should be logical. If you were to use that drawing in a scene, those drapery lines would have to animate as a secondary action—the primary action being the body itself. Reasons! Reasons! Reasons! Always look for logical reasons for the shapes of the clothing or drapery—and the reason will always be found in the bodily gestures. There is a kind of shorthand for drapery that is standardized for all characters. Most Disney characters only have wrinkles at the joints, and then only when there is pressure applied by bending or squeezing. So they'll occur at elbows and knees, and at the waist when seated. Women's clothes have wrinkles caused by pleats, gathers, puffed sleeves, etc., but you can always count them on two or three fingers. An excess of material will cause meaningless folds, bumps, and bulges.  This is not to suggest simplicity is easy—just less frustrating. A clear understanding of drapery plus a general understanding of the types of garment construction would be helpful. There is a book called, The Complete Book of Fashion  66  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  Illustration, by Sharon Lee Tate and Mona Shafer Edwards (Harper & Row, publishers), that gives a very helpful view of drawing the figure with clothes on. I recommend it. Glenn Vilppu has made a videotape on drapery wherein he simplifies it very succinctly [Ed. note: See http://www.vilppustudio.com/dvd.htm]. He has broken down the folds of cloth into seven basic categories, which should help you to make logical that which often appears to be haphazard.  No. 1 he calls the "pipe fold." It occurs when cloth hangs from just one point:  No. 2 is when cloth hangs from two points, causing a "diaper fold":  No. 3 happens when a hanging bit of cloth is allowed to fold up on the floor as the cloth is lowered at an angle, and is called the "zigzag fold": No. 4 is a "spiral fold." This results from cloth as it wraps around shapes such as arms, legs or other parts of the body:  No. 5 is the "half-lock fold," which manifests itself at the knee when the leg is bent, also at the elbow when the arm is bent. When the knee or elbow is bent to more extremes there occurs what Glenn calls the "complete-lock fold":  No. 6 is the "falling fold." This will develop when some hanging cloth is allowed to bunch up on some surface:  67  Gesture Drawing For Animation  No. 7 is the "inert fold". This is the only fold that seems to have no potential for energy; it just lies there, inactive.  Being aware of these somewhat simple categories of folds will help you to interpret what happens to drapery under certain conditions. Also, the more complex actions and poses will cause those categories to overlap and produce a hybrid fold, which, without the benefit of knowing the origin of the contributing folds, might prove to be slightly bewildering. So when you see a fold that is hard to categorize, with the help of this list, you can search out its origins and, lo, erudition shall prevail. Identifying the types of folds will be harder when drawing from the model, for natural drapery doesn't always just lay it all out in simple terms. However, when drawing on your own, such as in animation, you can use more simplified forms of drapery—those that match the action or enhance the pose. With the help of Vilppu's list of folds, it will be easier to spot and identify such problem areas as you are forming your first impression. It might also help to develop a vocabulary of drapery action terms such as: hang, suspend, dangle, swing freely, be pendent, adhere to, sag, revolve around, drape, incline, bend, droop, descend, incline, sway, dip, settle, plunge, drag, trail, hang over, drape over, envelope, wrap, adorn, enshroud. Each of these suggests an individualized action that helps to get you involved in what is happening to the drapery. It is good to be aware of the vast number of possibilities that are always present—especially if you are Academy-award winning scene-conscious. Here are three extreme drawings by Milt Kahl. They show how directly he went at drawing the figure and they demonstrate how, in spite of using folds in the girl's skirt, it is basically treated as a shape. Glance from one drawing to another and observe how the overlap on the skirt embellishes the action.  68  Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing  It is important, also, to drape a figure to emphasize the type of character that is being portrayed. Is it a woman or a man; is it a neat person or a slob? Is the dress formal or casual; is it supposed to flatter the actor or make it look ridiculous? Here's one example from class, where the artist got trapped into trying to feature the complications of the costume. The model was actually holding a very austere pose. There was a lot of cloth but it was wrapped tightly around the model's body, making a simple but dramatic shape. My suggested simplification appears on the right.  69  Gesture Drawing For Animation  Here are some beautiful examples of how the clothing can be handled in a simple way, yet be effective in complementing the action.  70  Chapter 4: The First Impression Try this experiment: look at your surroundings—a panorama of scenery is ideal for this— and direct your mind to slip in and out of some selected modes. First concentrate on color. You should be able to eliminate all the other elements and see just areas of color. Then switch to dark and light, then to masses, then to the three-dimensional qualities of things near and far. Now, try to see all of those things at once. Your mind may have to do a little jig, skipping back and forth between them, for it's rather hard to concentrate on more than one thing at a time. But if you keep at it, it will all come together and the totality of the scene will hit you like a bomb. That is the first impression I speak about. It is sometimes referred to as a moment of inspiration; a moment of utter clarity; that instant of pure seeing that Betty Edwards (Drawing On The Artist Within) calls the "Ah - Ha!" moment. Actually it's just an extremely vivid summation of all the important elements before you. It hits you so hard and clear it is relatively easy to recall when you need a fresh look at it. Getting a strong first impression is the first, necessary step to analyzing the components of the pose.  Short-pose Sketching When practicing gesture drawing with a live model, the poses should be relatively short, so that a quick first impression can be summoned, worked on and developed—you won't have time to get involved in detail or "cleanup." Short pose sketching also excites you to a higher pitch of awareness so the creative juices flow more freely, and seeing becomes more acute. Quick sketching promulgates a feeling of spontaneity in the drawings. Most importantly, the short pose condenses the whole process of drawing so the wholeness of the gesture predominates and the gestural qualities of the pose permeate the entire process of drawing. In the time it takes some artists to do one drawing (and that one often nowhere near completed) others have sketched in three or four tries. This encourages experimentation and looking for alternate interpretations of the gesture. Trying for variations of the pose will sharpen your observation and your hand/eye coordination, and help you to seek out subtle nuances of the gesture. After all, if you had to draw several of the Disney characters in the same pose, you'd have to vary each one according to the personality of that character. In class, I try to get the artists to stop copying the model, especially in a ponderous fashion wherein the gesture is difficult to feel, and so often takes a back seat to the details. I encourage flexibility. Sketching quickly and loosely will help you to be more creative, inventive, inspired and will train you to be more adaptable and versatile (more fun, too).  71  Gesture Drawing For Animation  Superficial Appearance vs. Creative Portrayal In the course of animating on a picture, you will be called upon to draw many different actions, each one calling for a distinct set of gestures. Your character might have to display a variety of expressions like happiness, anger, confusion, determination, etc., with actions that match each of those emotions. The character will no doubt have to walk, turn, stoop, stretch, extend arms, etc. There will be a number of characters in the film and each one of them will have different personalities that will require appropriate gestures, none of which will be repeated—at least not in exactly the same way. In a classroom situation where you are studying a live model, it is nearly impossible to anticipate those action requirements, so you have to concentrate on the ability to capture those gestures the model performs for you. This, in effect, hones your sensitivity for seeing bodily actions, so that you are better able to apply your skills to future needs. It is nearly impossible also to find models who are "look-alikes" to match the characters in the various stories. This may be a blessing, in that if you could find them you would surely be tempted to copy the superficial appearance of the model, rather than using the time and opportunity to further your skills in gesture drawing. After all, gesture drawing to the animator is what acting is to the stage or movie actor. What the actor portrays on the stage or before the camera is what the animator draws on paper. When working from a model you must keep in mind the fact that you are not copying what is before you, but that you are searching for a gesture—one that will be applicable to any character that you might be called upon draw (animate), say, the mermaid, one of the sailors, or the prince in the "Mermaid," Mickey or Goofy. Again I use the term "shift gears" (mental gears), to picture the release from the shackles of any false burden, responsibility or obligation to copy the model. A scene of animation is more or less a series of gesture drawings. The difference being that an animator's drawing is likely to have some things in it that are not associated with still drawings. For instance, an animation drawing might have some overlapping action, some drag, some squash and stretch, a stance that may be off balance, or a view that one would avoid or adjust in a still drawing. But basically the extremes in a scene of animation are gestural drawings created to fit the needs of the story. A perceptive and keen observation in regard to gesture (acting) is essential to the animator. "Completion (of a drawing) does not depend on material representation. The work is done when that special thing has been said."—Robert Henri The purpose of working with a live model is to sharpen your awareness of the possibilities of the human figure to tell a "story" with body language. Assuming you understand basic anatomy, you know where the knees are, how they work and their general functions; likewise all other parts of the body. At this point, to merely copy what is before you would be just to solidify your position on a plateau, short of your potential.  72  Chapter 4: The First Impression  Now is the time to transcend that ability to make a carbon copy likeness of the model, and to discover, reveal and disclose the rich assortments and subtleties of body language Then you will be better equipped to formulate the future needed variations and apply them to whatever character you happen to be working on. "The wise man brings forward what he can use most effectively to present his case. His case is his special interest— his special vision. He does not repeat nature."—Robert Henri All the above is to try to convince you to stop tiring your eyes by glancing back and forth from model to paper in an attempt to make a pretty copy but rather to "shift mental gears," looking past the flesh to the spirit of the pose—and to draw that. Think caricature, think essence of gesture, think going beyond to a better than average drawing, one that blows up in your "emotional face." There will be rejoicing in the village if you can draw not the facts, but draw the truth. My apologies if I sound preachy, such is not the intent. I consider myself more a kind of coach than a teacher. You've all had teachers. They have "taught" you to draw—I'm just trying to help you see more clearly so you can put that drawing ability to a more fulfilling use.  A New Phrase: "Body Syntax" There is an insistent tendency to look at the model in a serious, even detached way—as if it were a still life devoid of feeling and personality. We look at the model to pick a starting point, we draw it. We look back to see if we did it right, make a few more dabs at it to reassure ourselves, we look up for another line to add—perhaps connected to the first one, perhaps somewhere else in some unrelated area. We look down; sketch in the new line tentatively. Reinforce it, after another look at the model, with several swipes of the pen. The gesture goes unrecognized. The more unrelated lines that get put down, the farther from our grasp goes the gesture. Imagine yourself drawing a simple shape like a circle or a square. Do you see yourself sketching a bit here or there, going over what you awe done, then on to another section, seeing only those small sections of line you are putting down? No, of course not! You see a circle and the size you want to make it and in as few lines as possible—wham! Down it goes. A human body is more complicated, granted, but the act of drawing its gesture is much the same. You must see the whole, and wham (over a longer period of time, of course), down it goes. You have hardly looked at the details. They influence and enhance the pose (gesture) but are somewhat incidental to it. If it is gesture you are interested in, then look beyond those extraneous, sometimes gesture-destroying details. I love to read. I love the way authors put their words together. I love syntax. I love the way the words reveal the plot and the personalities of the protagonists that carry me along  73  Gesture Drawing For Animation  in the plot. But if I'm not careful, I get caught up in admiring the details and how the story is being tol

Gesture Drawing For Animation Walt Stanchfield

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