Dynamic Figure Drawing

It's done! I just spent pretty much all day on this. in pain. Obviously I spent a lot more time on the content than the drawings, but eh... you get the idea, right? This is going to be part of a series of at least two other tutorials I'd like to do... one on expressions, one on color environment (yeah, I'll explain this in the tutorial).

Summary: This tutorial introduces basic concepts regarding line, mass, and form and their application in order to create dynamic movement in a figure. This tutorial includes in-depth analysises (is that a word?) of how line affects the flow of weight and force in a pose, how line creates eye path, how form and weight affect movement, and how dynamic poses express emotion.

I use mostly quadrapeds for this (since I'm most familiar with the furrecat form), but I've also included information for the human figure.

This is by no means a comprehensive tutorial. Just is just what I've learned on my own. If you would like more information about any of the topics in this tutorial-

Further Readings:

Dynamic Figure Drawing by Burne Hogarth
I think everybody knows this guy. Pretty basic but accurate illustrations of generic human anatomy, in particular form and mass.

Creative Illustration by Andrew Loomis
I don't think I can recommend this guy enough. His explanations are extremely helpful, thorough, and concise. This book in particular has many, many pages on how to use line to create dynamic and interesting compositions - I didn't cover it in my tutorial just because I think this guy does it perfectly. If you can find a copy of this, it's REALLY worth a look.

"Bringing Drawings to Life" by *GoblinQueeen
This tutorial is pretty similar to mine, but is based specifically on the 12 principles of animation. I also highly recommend giving this a look, she explains and applies the principles well and professionally.

The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams
This book mainly addresses animation, but many of the basic principles of this book can still be applied to illustration. It also has several sections on weight, how weight shifts, and how movement arcs. Pretty much the whole book is illustration, there's so many diagrams and drawings in this. Definitely take a look.

Punchstock
A great royalty-free stock photo resource. I use this a lot when I need references for studying difficult poses.


Think that's about it. Hope you guys get some use out of this.