I've been trying to get better at drawing human figures but I can't afford regular life drawing classes. I mostly work from reference photos and anatomy books, but something still feels off with my proportions. Should I be doing more gesture sketches or focusing on understanding skeleton structure first?
Start with skeleton structure because proportions fall apart when the underlying framework is wrong - bones are the foundation everything else hangs on. After you've got that down, gesture sketches become way more useful because you're not fighting against a shaky skeleton. Work through anatomy books systematically (pick one and stick with it rather than bouncing around), then test yourself constantly with reference photos, forcing yourself to identify where each bone sits before you draw the muscle. The "something feels off" you're noticing is almost always skeletal - either positioning, angles, or basic proportions - so that's where your focus needs to be first.
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