Gesture Drawing: Dynamic Movement and Form
by Michael Hampton · Rocky Nook
A 128-page book devoted to gesture: body language, weight, balance and proportion, a sixteen-line construction approach, wrapping lines, and gesture of the head, hands and feet, ending with an approach based on the frame and light and shadow.
More resources on Gesture Drawing
drawabox.com
Drawabox is a structured drawing fundamentals resource offering free lessons, drills, and assignments that teach basic sketching from lines and shapes, covering construction, perspective, and form. It provides instructional videos and written guides to practice shading and improve accuracy.
line-of-action.com
Line of Action is a free drawing-practice site that provides a pose generator and photo references to help you practice gesture drawing. It offers timed sessions with customizable content—from human figures and hands to faces and animals—so you can build speed and accuracy.
Quickposes
A free browser-based reference tool that cycles through photos of models in varied poses on a timer you set, with fixed 20-pose challenges and an untimed mode. Regular sessions train you to capture a figure's action, rhythm and proportions quickly.
Lesson 1: Gesture
Master the fundamentals of gesture drawing! This course from Uncomfortable teaches you to capture movement and energy in your art.
Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes, Volume 1: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures
The collected handouts from Walt Stanchfield's gesture classes at Walt Disney Animation Studios, edited by Don Hahn. The gesture section covers drawing actions rather than poses, line of action, tension, weight and storytelling poses, alongside essays on observation. The reference work for the 'draw verbs, not nouns' philosophy of gesture; complements Hampton's construction method.
Vilppu Drawing Online: Gesture
Glenn Vilppu's first lesson in Animation World Magazine's online drawing course, adapted from the Vilppu Drawing Manual. It gives a head-to-torso-to-limbs sequence for 10–30 second gesture sketches, with illustrations and advice on analyzing poses and drawing from memory.