First, I'm happy you posted and are facing your fears. I totally get the dislike of gesture. When I was first introduced to them, I hated them and the timer just made me super anxious. I think you did good, I can see and understand the orientation of each figure and their poses, even in your 30 second ones. They all read really well so nice job! The one that draws me the most is the bottom left figure on your 1 min and the figure arching their back on each of your practices. I like that you used some of the same poses too, it's nice to see how you further developed each of them!
I'm certainly no expert on gesture drawing, but I've found that starting with the line of action and then going to the head or torso is the best way for me to get the pose. Generally I'd say the head, but there are some poses where I find getting the torso down helps me visualize proportions better.
I usually end on the arms/hands area, sometimes the legs but it depends on the pose. Generally whatever portion of the body carries the most visual weight for the pose is where I go after the three main masses. The arms, in my head, generally carry less weight than the legs, so I end up tackling the arms last. I also struggle with legs, so I try to prioritize those more than the arms to try and learn their structure better.
No matter how you decide to tackle it, just try to have some fun with it and experiment with what feels right to you and you'll find your rhythm in no time! You're doing great Ola, keep up the good work!!!
