Re-Engaging with Vilppu

Recently dove back into the old Vilppu videos- numero uno at least, Gesture.

I still feel so disconnected from image making, but Mr. Vilppu always puts me into a good mood. It's been about a year since I last "quit" the Vilppu tutorials, which is a story in and of itself, and I feel I'm getting a bit more out of the basic advice this time around. I think I need to take more seriously the idea of "quick sketch" being a bit more deliberate than the name would imply. Used to be in trying to grasp the total I would work more like a mad copyist than an analyst. 

I still have trouble beginning, making that call regarding what to hang the image on. Some part of my brain still screams "don't start with the head!"

Inspiring: "Everything is related to framing... the first line is actually the fifth"

So many little practices I could be engaging with to slow myself down: going through the motion of a mark before actually making it, holding with a concept of action and form, like a sculpture in your mind, before ever setting pen to paper. I'm actually pretty bad at that!

If I had to describe the Vilppu gesture model:
Use what you feel and what you understand to selectively lead the eye and communicate the total
Reading the way the eye is moved:
Guiding it through flowing relationships
Containing it through shapes and parentheticals 
Reading the form:
Emphasis on cross contour: across the figure, emphasizing mass, direction, weight.

Personally I know I could use more practice observing cross contour