A similarity between contour drawings and gesture drawings is that the hand tracks the motion of the eye as you scan the entirety of a subject. Another similarity is that you keep your drawing tool in contact with the paper throughout the drawing. As with a partially blind contour drawing, you keep your eye on the subject being drawn and only occasionally refer to the paper.
One difference between the two ways of drawing is the speed at which you make your lines. When working with contour line, a slow rate of observation and corresponding drawing is practiced. In gesture drawing, a relatively fast pace of scanning the subject and drawing the related information is used. Another difference is how the drawing tool is handled. In contour drawing the drawing implement is held as one would hold a pencil when writing in a notebook. In that case you are using primarily the fingers and wrist motion to create lines. When creating a gesture drawing, the tool is held in a relatively loose manner and the elbow and shoulder are incorporated into developing the line drawn. Using large arm movements are often stressed in rapid gesture drawings.
When creating a gesture drawing, the hand duplicates the motion that your eyes make as they quickly define the general characteristics of the subject. These general characteristics include a subject's placement, shape, proportion and the relationship between its parts. Gesture drawing can reflect not only the artist's analysis of a subject, but the artist's response to its appearance and meaning. The process itself can also reflect the vitality and energy of the artist.
