GESTUREDRAWINGFORANIMATION.pdf

Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing

Here is an outlandishly simple example where, in the first drawing, the whole head area
is in front of the shoulders, and in the next drawing there is a complete reversal. In the
first drawing, note how definite the overlap is depicted: the fingers in front of the jaw—
the thumb behind; the left thumb in front of the elbow—the fingers behind. Being
definite with overlap helps the drawing “read” clearly.

There will be numerous occasions where we can use the whole dime thing, for instance in
foreshortening the figure at some acute angle, the head (one dime) in front of the chest
(second dime), the chest in front of the hips, (third dime), and so on.

Those areas are easy to relate to a circle (whole dime) but when we are faced with longer
and straighter shapes: an arm or leg or fingers foreshortened, that is when we can use
what I once saw in a book on drawing, the "T" principle.

Using the "T" principle creates depth (one thing in front of another):