Kimon nocolaides- The natural way to draw

[deviant_x]

Is there anyone who is following or has been following this book? I wanted to check out some extended gesture study (ex 31), sustained study (ex 32) & drapery study ( ex 28 ) coz as simple as they seem in the book i am not able to do them the way they are meant to or at least I think so. I know everyone's work will look different but still if i had someone to compare work with, it would be really helpful. So if anyone has uploaded those, do lemme know.
Also I would appreciate if someone could guide me as to how to shade in the sustained study.


Thanks

[sekard2]

I'm going through the book very slowly and i'm only as far as exercise 8.Youv'e done well to get that far.I gave up a year ago and now i'm back on it.Deviant, how long has it taking you to get that far? and do you feel the book is helping your art?.Good luck on the journey

[deviant_x]

sekard, i must warn u, the book is not worth investing that much time. The gesture exercises r good but the cross contour exercise isn't worth it if u don't have a nude model. & its just not my opinion, I have also read this in other websites/forums.
I personally think the way he teaches gestures is the best way..much better than drawing stick figures
Concentrate on gestures but that too only for like 1/3rd of the time specified in the book. I haven't reached the anatomy section yet so I dunno about it. But I think after practicing a few hrs of gesture & contour/contour exercises u can skip the same exercises & just move on
Mind you, Kimon does sound very wordy & artistic but beware of wasting precious time.

[CapnMarrrrk]

I've been chugging through it for a few months. I'm stalled out on exercise 17 because it's very hard for me to have an uninterrupted hour by hour, 5 hr contour drawing.

What I like best about this book is that it gives you solid exercises 1, 2, 3. A schedule to work from that demands a lot from you.

Sure I don't have a live model but I have a lot of nude model pictures to draw from. Even if you cant do a particular exercise, it's good to just move on to the next one.

I think this book is great and will really help someone who works it.

[sekard2]

I agree with both of you to a certain extent.I do think that their is an overemphasis on gesture drawing,but i feel if you do work through the book, their is bound to be some improvement in your artwork even if you don't realise at first.Their is one thing for sure,working through this book isn't easy unless you have access to the right materials as deviant mentioned.To put it blunt,it is bit of a chore,but i'm trying to work through it still.:zzz:

[Kuo]

Hey people!

I too started studying The natural way to draw by Kimon Nicolaides.

Im confused with the gesture drawing exercise. Is it supposed to be drawn without looking at the paper, like you do the contour exercise?

Or can you look at the paper when you are drawing?

I really want to understand this because the gesture drawing seems to be very important part of the training program.

Thank you.

[ikken]

I think Kimon was pretty certain about the way you should do the gestures, nope?
I used blind gesture most of time (and will probably stick to it when I get to draw from a live model anytime later)