As close to a clockwork morning as I can get today! I’m a little low on the sleep-front, but I still feel awesome today. My son decided to NOT hang out with me at the cabin this morning, which…I dunno. It made me feel a bit sad, but I decided to get straight to work.

My pseudo-daily warmup. Vertical lines are still giving me some issues because of my shoulder pain (I think).

And some gestures. I did some 30-second “Natural” gestures, then 2-minute gestures that I struggled with, followed by a 5-minute gesture/structure pose.

I have to say — the 5-minute pose is one of the best 5-minute poses I’ve done, I think. Not because of the proportions, necessarily, but because I started with a loose “Natural” gesture, thinking about the twists, the force, and the curves, then went back to structure, keeping the gesture in mind.

It was quite enjoyable, and the aesthetic is nice, too.

Then I sketched a bit on a very meticulous design that I have to execute later this week.

And worked on repairing / adding to an old tattoo (original tattoo wasn’t by me)

What went well?

• Working through more of The Natural Way to Draw.
• Fun gestures (mostly).
• Getting a high quantity of deep work time in the AM.

What needs work?

• Vertical lines.
• My understanding of motive and gesture as described by Robert Henri and Nicolaides.
• Masculine gesture drawings. I have trouble with the male form most of the time, especially if it’s a “stiff” pose.

What did I learn?

Motive and gesture are difficult to grasp intellectually. It has more to do with the emotion and kinesthetics than an understanding of the form. It’s hard to put into words.