Attending a Croquis Session — Capturing the Line Within Movement. "Moving Croquis" 《Mode Croquis》
Updated: 3 hours ago
September 13, 2026. A slightly cloudy Sunday.
I once again took part in the "Small Croquis Session" hosted by Sagami-san.
This time, a dancer was invited as the model, for a "Moving Croquis" session.
I've been drawing croquis for many years now, but this was actually my first time seriously drawing moving croquis.
My first time, but of course, that doesn't change the fact that I drew while richly incorporating the essence of "Mode Croquis."
So, just what kind of experience would it be?
I took part looking forward to it very much, with a real sense of excitement.
The "Enokojima Art, Culture and Creative Center" is an old building, but that's precisely what gives it its character — every time I come here, it carries the scent of art. (Inside, it has been renovated and kept beautifully in order.)
In the basement there's a café and a shop for miscellaneous goods and books, and the way it's built lets you also enjoy a relaxed stretch of time — it doesn't feel like an office building, which gives off a nice atmosphere.
■ Croquis Time: Moving Croquis
This time, since the dance was to be done to music, it wasn't in the usual room but in a studio.
Spacious enough to hold a small live event.
When the time came, the dance by the professional dancer began first, slowly.
The dancer moved her body to the music.
As I'd expected, the poses never stopped, so drawing the form (dessin) was very difficult.
The movement was slow with this in mind, but even so, following the form was difficult.
It began first with a short span of about 3 minutes.
As you'd expect from a professional, the movement was graceful. It was movement where attention reached all the way to the tips of the hands and feet.
We had her keep moving for several more turns within the same time span, then took a short break. During the break, people looked back over the croquis they'd drawn, showed them to each other. In particular, this time we used a large amount of drawing paper.
After resuming, we extended the time a little more and continued drawing within movement in the same way.
This time, she would also pause briefly for a few seconds partway through.
Normally she apparently dances faster, so I imagine going slowly was tough, but that's where being a professional shows.
Then we took another short break, during which I looked back over my own croquis and did some thinking.
Then she danced to the music again, but since our hands had grown used to it, this time it was at the speed that was easier for the dancer herself to dance at.
It was fairly fast, so there was no longer time to firmly draw the form (dessin).
Also, partway through this time's music, there was a dance segment with a live duet performance on acoustic guitar and ukulele, and I drew croquis while thinking "this is such a luxury."
Live performance really does have a completely different sense of presence.
After the moving session ended, for as long as time allowed, the participants drew croquis of each other.
Last was the critique session.
We each went around looking at everyone's croquis, talking about things we'd noticed, and that's how it ended.
■ Movement and Line
This time I did moving croquis in earnest, but when you place taking the "form" as the main focus, the way you would with ordinary croquis (dessin), it is, of course, very difficult.
On the other hand, seeing the body's movement and flow within the whole is very easy to grasp.
The lines tend to become smooth easily, too.
This ties strongly into grasping the "line with a sense of liveness" that I always keep most in mind with croquis.
The sensation of drawing while feeling, in a real way, that "rather than connecting point to point, everything is connected."
I thought this was the optimal method for feeling this in a real way.
It's something I'm always mindful of, but it was a time when I could recognize it anew.
Without this sensation, you cannot draw a lively croquis.
Also, even if not directly, I think this time's "live performance" contributed to producing inflection in the line as well.
This isn't a guess — it's certainly so.
The reason I can say this so definitely is that "tension" resonates directly in the touch of the line.
When your spirits rise, and being here, drawing here, makes you feel happy or glad, it should be easy to imagine — even for someone who doesn't draw — that this affects not only the inner state but outward action as well.
Just to be clear, this isn't a matter of it being good because it's positive, or bad because it's negative — it's simply the very ordinary fact that "tension" affects output.
That said, I think that to receive the kind of benefit gained this time, if you're too earnestly fired up thinking "I'm going to dessin this!", the benefit you receive will be thin.
A little bit of margin, and a little bit of tension.
I think it's this small margin that naturally gives rise to the feeling of "ah, this feels good."
This kind of feeling tends to be reflected especially in analog materials.
So I think using an "eraser" to erase that impulse needs a little thought.
These ways of thinking differ greatly depending on whether you regard croquis itself as "practice" or as a "work." Of course, I fall into the latter — I position croquis, as Mode Croquis, as a "work," and I always want to firmly leave within it the feeling that comes from Modism.
I go deeper into this area in 『note | Supplement 04: The Meaning of Croquis…… What Is "Croquis"?』 as well.
■The Merits of "Moving Croquis"
On the other hand, while you can't firmly capture the form, when you have the model pause for a moment partway through, or draw a croquis where they take a normal pose at the end, you notice you can draw it at quite a fast speed.
When you do an ordinary croquis, the flow of time feels slow.
I think this happens because, having drawn within movement, the hand and eye grow accustomed to it, so that while maintaining a smooth line accompanied by flow, capturing the form also becomes possible more smoothly than usual.
It's a good effect unique to moving croquis, one that ordinary croquis doesn't have.
This is the sensation of "the movement of the eye observing an object" and "the movement of the hand drawing" becoming "linked."
There isn't much room, within that, to insert extraneous thought.
When things are going well, this is the sensation you get, and it's ideal — but I think moving croquis is one method that can bring you into this state fairly forcibly.
So, for instance, I think it could also have a good effect as a warm-up for times when, even drawing croquis, you can't quite find your rhythm.
This last croquis shown here, too, probably took less than a minute. (I don't remember exactly...)
Rather than "drawing in a short time" itself being good, I think the essential thing is capturing, in the moment, the feeling and sensation of wanting to draw — and that this is simply what ends up connecting, as a result, to a "short time."
No matter how much you think through this "cause and effect" in your head and understand it theoretically, there's no way to feel it for real except by actually drawing.
That it's easier to "feel" that with moving croquis (maybe) was a big takeaway.
Yeah, croquis really is interesting, after all!
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