Begin with 30-second poses, progress to 1-minute poses; end with 5-minute poses.
Use both the side and tip of the charcoal.
See the whole before the parts. Remember to find the long lines first. Draw from the head to the foot. Move your eye and hand together.

Options for variety:
Draw the shape the person fits into before beginning the drawing.
Draw with both hands - normal and unaccustomed hand.
Divide paper in 4, draw within the quadrants the entire figure from head to foot.
Divide one of the quadrants into 4 again; draw the entire figure within that space.

LINE GESTURE DRAWING

Follow the general guidelines stated above for gesture drawing.
Use line: thick, thin, wide, narrow, heavy, light
Describe interior forms.
Follow the movement of your eye.
Use the tip and side of your charcoal, rotate you wrist as you draw. Move your hand in the direction the shape is moving. It is easier to draw a vertical line with the edge of your charcoal rather than the tip.

Line Quality:
Should be tangled and overlapping
Should be spontaneously and energetically stated
May look like a scribble
It is not a meaningless scribble
All lines are based on observation

Heavy lines used to emphasize
Areas of tension
Heaviest weight
Most pressure
Most exaggerated shape
Most obvious change in line direction

Figure Drawing:
Draw the backside as well as the front of the figure
Draw the forms as though they were transparent
Draw the forms that overlap even though you can't see the whole form

MASS GESTURE DRAWING

Follow the general guidelines above for gesture drawing.
Use broad marks rather than line.
Draw with the side of the charcoal.
Break charcoal to about 1 ½ inches.
Begin at the center of the form, the interior of the body, the core of the object.
Note the base line of still life objects.
To imply depth, press harder when you draw objects farther away from you. Lighten your pressure as the form moves closer to you.
Indicate lights and darks. Lights and darks unify the drawing and create rhythm and movement suggested by the placement of gray and black shapes.
For a change you can mass in the negative spaces rather than the positive shapes.

MASS AND LINE GESTURE DRAWING

Begin with either mass or line.
Alternate between the two.
Define the more important areas with sharp, incisive lines.
Indicate forms as though they were transparent.
Restate the drawing.
Correct and simplify your initial image.
Keep the drawing flexible, capable of change.
Fill the entire space, don't neglect the negative space - make it interesting.

SCRIBBLED LINE GESTURE

Use a tighter network of lines than the line gesture drawing.
See Alberto Giacometti's work.
Try using a ballpoint pen.

Lines:
Line is free flowing.
Builds volume.
Multiple overlapping lines create a dense mass in the interior (see heads by Giacometti).
Form is built from the inside out.
Outside of the form will be somewhat fuzzy, indefinitely stated.
Darkest, most compact lines in the core of the form.
Outer edge remains flexible.
Drawing tool remains in constant contact with the paper.
Scribbles should vary between tight rotation and broader, more sweeping motions.
Direction of the scribbles should move in the direction the shape is moving.

Variation:
Negative space scribbled line gesture. The marks will slow down and be somewhat more precise as they reach the edge of the positive shapes.

SUSTAINED-GESTURE DRAWING

Objective:
Combine what the object is doing with what it actually looks like

Process:
Begins with quick notation of the entire subject.
Follow with an analysis and examination of both the subject and drawing.
Make corrections.
Establish scale and proportion between parts.
Draw through the forms and define some precise edges.
Think of a verbal description of what it is doing.
Determine the character of the still life or model. e.g. drooping flowers, cloth flowing down, form thrusting upward, etc.
Note negative shapes as well as positive.
Begin lightly
Draw quickly and energetically the first 2 minutes
Stop and analyze
Redraw and correct
Alternate drawing with careful observation
Avoid making slow, constricted marks