Did these sketches on two different days, found that the exercise helps me notice characteristics of behavior that are missed in taking photos. It is freeing to not worry about detail, yet look for the lines that define the subject. I need much more practice but it will be fun to do!

This is a sketch, with oil pastel/crayon type colorings. A duck, creating ripples,paddling on the way to the shore. A Movement. A mix of realism and impression/expression.

I was better with the longer sketch. I need time to space and measure. Next up is a duck, crossing a river, towards me. As my movement sketch. Getting better, each try.

Gesture drawing makes you focus on the whole subject but at the same time you see more details where u are drawing

Gesture and contour has helped a lot. Because we did the contour first, I found I was watching the subject more. However, that made some of my gesture sketches cartoonish, but close to the subject. I can see with practice how this can get better. I also think gesture sketching has a vibrancy to it on the page. It gives the feeling of the movements of the subject you are trying to capture. So even if it doesn't look exactly like the subject, it looks close enough and it looks like its moving on the page.

The red fox and kit moved so fast!  Looking back I see I captured some interesting positions that I might never have noticed otherwise.  It's winter here and there aren't many birds on my feeder so I practiced from on-line videos.  My favorite was gesture drawing 2 baby rabbits playing in a field.  I regularly draw domestic rabbits and the familiarity made the gesture drawing easier for me.  Maybe that's a cheat :)  This was a good exercise for me that I can't wait to practice in the field.  It's helping me observe details without getting too caught up in getting them on paper.

  I struggled and continued but I see progress as I noticed shape and position, turning the head. It is worth it.  I am finding details I didn't look for when listing and observing without sketching.

I loved being reminded that animals go back to similar positions and it's possible to still capture them while moving.

I found that gesture drawing helped me to focus on the general outlines of the subjects and their movements. I found myself using the blind contour technique first, with some looking, to help quickly sketch the general outline of the bodies and motions and then used short sketchy strokes to fill in a bit of detail. I think the loose and quick aspects of this technique help me to just jump into the process without overthinking and focus on the overall shapes and activities.          

Pretty fun and informative for my future sketching in the field. I was wondering how I was going to capture animals on the move and I have the beginning of a technique. My drawings turned out ok but didn't have much depth. The ones that did I am the most proud. For sure it is my biggest challenge is creating depth and perspective in my quick drawings. I love it when I "accidentally" capture the look of an animal. Here's to more happy accidents!

This is a great exercise!  The short time allowed really increases focus.  

Fun exercise!

Looking out the window at the feeders. Much more challenging than the duck! After the second try some sketches started looking like birds. What did I notice? How the shape of the head in relation to the body seems to define the bird. How different beak shapes are. How the little ones rarely sit still.

Well, the 1-minute sketches from stills weren't bad, the 30-second ones a bit more challenging. But sketching that moving duck was hilarious! I had trouble even identifying my sketches as ducks. I did become aware of the fact that the gestures were repetitive, that helped a bit (if I could find the original sketch quickly enough).

I really had to pay attention to the shape of the birds' wing, beaks, etc., as they moved. As I realized I didn't get much time to record each position, I had to decide what was most important to record.

As I practice, I am becoming increasingly aware of the light on the subject

I think this will help me with observations as a get more comfortable and relaxed with gesture drawing. It's hard with animals that you have never drawn before, but maybe that's the whole point. To draw them you have to observe where their ears are, for example, and the proportions of their body. Definitely helps when you loosen up. I started doing more of that with the bird cam. I noticed, however, that it seemed like it was a cool, damp morning there, and the birds seemed to be a bit lethargic, lucky for me!

gesture drawing of birds at our feeder today during a snow storm.  added in the feeder and some garden fence over some birds.  A good viewing and slowing down to identify some of the birds.

This was hard and I will need loads of practice to do this well.

My house wren was hiding on the opposite side of my bird feeder. I kept drawing the feeder and captured his motions when he appeared.

Well this was definitely interesting! In looking back at the gesture drawings made from the videos I'm pleasantly surprised to see they actually bear some faint resemblances to what I was looking at. Also noticed that in an effort to focus on the quickness of the  gesture, the size of my drawings are huge, often filling the page and all mostly much larger than the size in the videos relative to the full screen. Having 2 minutes to gesturize the Pintail Duck was a luxury and yielded satisfying sketches because I was able to capture multiple positions. On the other hand, the Red Foxes were moving too quickly for me to sketch much although, yet again as I look now at the drawings there is more there than I initially realized. Absolutely the best part was going outside to our deck and gesturizing the birds that came and went at our feeder, plus some birds hanging out in the bushes and trees, and a squirrel or two on the ground. Perhaps because Liz shared her bird feeder page with us, I found it easier to make my sketches smaller and fit lots of gestures for multiple birds on two pages. As with so many other things in life, it's Practice, Practice, Practice! Because I am not in a hurry at the bird feeder, being quite content to sit and wait and watch, when a bird alights on the feeder the gesture drawing gives me an opportunity to appreciate the portion of the bird that is being sketched; it lets me hone in on the uniqueness or specifics of the bird. Those observations might not make it into the sketch (my eye-hand reaction is nowhere near as quick as it needs to be to gesturize) but they make it into my visual appreciation.

I'm slowly learning to like gesture drawing, even though I've long recognized its value. I'm not sure if I'm really learning to settle with imperfection yet, no matter how much I theoretically believe in process process process, practice, practice, practice, revise, revise, revise. But what I really am beginning to enjoy is drawing lightly--to capture the arc of a movement, a turn of a head, a lifting of a nose or beak. That suggestion--just going for that--I'm beginning to find it not only edifying but entertaining. :)

This was a very difficult exercise for me. All of the animals around my feeders move at super fast speed. I found just sitting in a cold sunny spot was as enjoyable as trying to capture the critters on paper. I agree with others it would be better to have ducks, Canada geese and bigger subjects to observe and draw. The sun is also a factor. It is easier to have the sun at your back. Having access to a nature area or preserve would also be of help. It all takes practice. The suggestion of watching a nature cam was a good one. In our area there is an osprey cam, but I will have to wait until next spring to watch.

I got a kick out of my jumping fox drawing because it has so much energy. The pic of birds on a wire I’m posting not because it’s a great drawing but because I’ve always thought birds on a wire were all the same and in 2 minutes I produced proof that they aren’t. They move around, they face different ways, they have different postures. I’ve been doing a lot of bird sketches and every time I see something new.