/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

>>6734023
Firstly, I'm not touting Mattesi as a panacea for any artistic woes - even the gesture/dynamicism which it purports to teach. To even say FORCE did anything for me is probably just sentimentalism speaking, as my breaking out of /beg/ was the culmination of many different factors, the most memorable one notwithstanding. I don't recall applying any specific principles or techniques from Mattesi at that time (and I certainly don't now), as the most revelatory part of it all were the drawings - specifically the more voluminous figures in 3D space. I was trying to learn gesture then just like you had, and copying those was what clicked for me. I didn't realize this before, but it is still my firm belief that 'stick gestures' (which I'd attempted before Mattesi) are an utter waste of time, and that you can't believably or practically portray weight without incorporating space - which you should ideally learn before gesture.

>How did you apply the force method
Wyell... I don't, but I get your woes regarding relaxed figures. The small world of subtlety isn't one many teachers directly touch upon, but I assure you that exaggeration is recommended at first for good reason, as I explained above. Now, I can't tell you how exactly I draw more subdued figures (isn't intuition just a wonderful thing?), but I don't feel or think differently when doing so, so the gestural fundamentals must be the same. Looking over my past works and studies, it seems to be a 'better to ask for forgiveness' thing where I'd gradually dial back poses after having well explored their more extreme ranges.

But yeah, the way gesture is often taught and the incorrect order which it is introduced into the learning pipeline has probably sabotaged a lot of people. So don't feel too bad about it.