THE CRIMSON CADAVERS

[Tristan Berndt]

Amit - You're right in that there is no "optimal" way and I may have overstated harm of gesture drawing in an absolutist way (I do sound dick-ish sometimes). If you apply certain principals from gesture drawing (weight, counter rhythms and so on) you can arrive at a very good anatomical drawing.

So without backtracking completely I'd say that in the process of studying anatomy, things like proportions become very important. Proportions are the initial frame where all muscles and bones fit and if the proportions/drawing is off, you are forced to warp muscles to fit the drawing.

Bringing in gesture drawings as a foundation for these kinds of studies (like Solomon wrote) forces you to keep correcting your initial drawing as you try to work. That's one reason I really prefer the academic approach of contour drawing and then applying any rhythmic construction only when appropriate rather than itself being the foundation.I find them useful as things to memorise to then better orient myself, not necessarily used in the actual drawing.

Also to make it clear for anyone reading this in the future. I'm not saying Watts is bad, just different. I'd still recommend them if you have the cash.