Figura Humana: Estrutura, Gestualidade e Expressividade

Abstract

This report is based on a teaching internship carried out during the 2025/2026 academic year at Gafanha da Nazaré Secondary School (Ílhavo, Portugal). During this period, progressively participatory observation was conducted in Drawing A classes (10th, 11th and 12th grades), Arts Workshop and Multimedia Workshop B (12th grade), as well as in Visual Education classes (7th and 9th grades). Within this context, a didactic unit was implemented in a 10th-grade Visual Arts class, focusing on the representation of the human figure and structured around three operative axes: structure, gesture and expressiveness. The pedagogical proposal consisted of a sequential set of exercises designed to articulate drawing, body and action, aiming to develop students' bodily, graphic and symbolic awareness within the representational process. The pedagogical approach promoted multiple ways of observing, interpreting and constructing representations of the human body, encouraging material experimentation, gestural exploration and the development of a personal visual language. Simultaneously, it explored the relationship between the observing body, the drawing body and the represented body, fostering reflective processes related to identity, expression and visual communication. The didactic unit incorporated references from contemporary artistic practice and practice-based research methodologies, culminating in individual projects articulated within a collective exhibition proposal. The study sought to promote a transformative learning process, expanding the understanding of drawing as an artistic, embodied and cultural practice. Keywords: Drawing; Body; Practice-based research; Visual arts; Art education.