I spent some more time today on timed gesture drawings, and it was not going very well. I even gave myself 5 full minutes per sketch, which is basically double the time I get in my workshops. But I was not feeling disciplined tonight and I kept focusing on individual details until I ran out of time, and the model still had just one leg or no head or something. 

But a couple of them seemed like they were going pretty well, so after the time ran out I went back to them. Oddly, neither of the images is exactly peaceful. One of the photos depicted a man curled up and protecting his face, with his wrists and ankles tied. The other depicted a man performing a flying martial arts kick. Here are the results:

Initially, it was hard to tell whether the kickboxer had one foot and one hand on the floor, where his head was, etc. I was able to add detail to the feet and hands and highlight his head a little bit more, and I think that's mostly fixed. Some scenery would obviously be the correct solution to that issue. If the floor is far enough away from his downward-facing foot and fist, then he's clearly in the air. Perhaps I'll do another one based on this photo, and create a little story with the background images. 

I am still not 100% happy with the ropes in my other sketch, and I think I sort of phoned his hair in. However, it was Not Easy to get his feet correctly positioned relative to one another without throwing everything out of proportion. 

As always, lots still to practice, lots to learn. Ars longa, vita breve!

Thank you for looking at my pictures :D