In a previous video we talked about the simple stick figure for gesture drawing. If you want to capture a little more information about the pose, my next step is usually to include a simplified head, torso, and pelvis. When abstracting the body into simple shapes, there are many methods. This one stands out, to me, because it emphasizes the twisting motion that captures heart of every pose. In the past I said that the "S-curve" of the spine is essential, and the 3 major masses are simply an extension of that idea.
Capturing human anatomy is a lifelong pursuit. A great first step in that journey, as well as a fun daily warm-up, is gesture sketching. There are many different approaches to quick-pose sketching, and this video explains a 'constructive anatomy' technique. Based largely on the methods of Andrew Loomis, this technique combines observational sketching with memorized anatomy to capture poses in less than one minute.
To give this exercise a try, grab your sketchbook and open up www.posemaniacs.com. Though the default time interval is 30 seconds, I'd recommend selecting 60 seconds. Remember: the goal is learning, not creating beautiful drawings. Good luck!
In this episode of film studies, we'll dissect action movies in search of exciting poses. Just like in previous episodes, the way to get the most out of any given film still is to erase the context. As soon as you can distill the image down to a single, core, component it becomes far more versatile as reference and idea generation.