In Gesture Drawing you drew the movement of a pose in quick, loose lines. The line of action is the single most important of those lines: one curve that runs through the whole pose, from the head, down the body, to the foot that carries the weight.
Key idea
Draw one curved line through the whole pose first. The head, chest and hips hang on it, and the figure gets its movement from it.
Why it works
When a body moves, it bends as a whole: leaning, reaching or twisting, the spine curves and the weight shifts to one leg. A single curve captures that. Most lively poses follow a gentle C-curve (bending one way) or an S-curve (bending one way, then the other). A perfectly straight vertical line has no movement, which is fine for standing at attention and nothing else.
Worked example: Start a pose
A person reaches up to a high shelf on their toes. How do you begin?
- Draw a long curve from the reaching hand down through the body to the standing foot.
- Hang an egg for the head and boxes for the chest and hips on that curve.
- Add the limbs last, following the stretch.
Answer: With one long curve from the hand to the standing foot.
Common mistake
People draw the body stiff and straight, like a stick figure at attention, even when the pose is moving. Exaggerate the curve a little; a pose drawn too straight always looks stiffer than the real one.