Drawing Poses
Basics of figure drawing and pose references
There’s nothing more frustrating than sitting in front of a blank piece of paper for hours on end, trying to come up with an idea for a new drawing. But what if you had a variety of poses to choose from? Suddenly, the options are endless.
In this tutorial, we’re going to explore different poses that you can use for your next artwork. So grab your pencils and get ready to get inspired!
Make sure you get yourself a good pose reference and take enough time when drawing poses to really understand each pose. To draw a pose realistically, you need to study drawing the body, its weight, and balance in depth.
Understanding the Body
If we want to draw poses anatomically correct, an understanding of the basics of the human body is of great advantage. It not only makes it easier for us to draw the poses but also enables us to draw them convincingly and realistically. While it is possible to draw poses and figures without dealing with the basics, it will complicate everything and is therefore not recommended.
Understanding Weight & Balance
Many start with the head when drawing a figure, but for poses, the first priority is to understand which body part is supporting the most bodyweight.
For standing poses, at least one standing leg can be identified with its foot firmly planted on the ground. The other leg is free to move in that case and can be called the playing leg. The body weight can also be shifted equally to both legs and accordingly both feet must have firm contact with the ground.
In addition, we need to identify how the figure we want to draw is balancing its weight. If this part not correct, our pose will not look convincing. When a standing person lifts one leg, the center of gravity in the body shifts. The foot of the standing leg is then no longer exactly under the side of the but shifts below the center of the hip.
Understanding Movement
Depending on how you decide to position the two legs, the hips will move. In the upper body, the position of both shoulders influences the position of the collarbones and, of course, the arms.
Therefore, even when drawing poses, it is recommended to take extra time to draw the sketch in order to understand the pose in the best possible way.
Finding References for Poses
If you have mastered human anatomy drawing, you don’t need references anymore. However, if we are just getting there, then we should definitely work with references!
The best reference for drawing poses is ourselves. In front of a mirror, we can take the pose we want to draw and not only see but even feel which muscles are working, where our weight is shifted, how the movement of one body part affects neighboring body parts, etc.
Photos can also be a good reference, but especially beginners should still take the pose in front of the mirror themselves. On photos sometimes important details are lost due to image compression or color correction.
Pose References for Your Drawings
We can divide the poses into different categories, where the body weight is shifted differently depending on the category. To illustrate this weight shift, a red line stretches from the head to the center of gravity. A blue line appears whenever the body part could be misunderstood as carrying weight but is actually free to move. Try mimicking these poses to get a better understanding of the dynamics.
Standing Pose Reference
In standing poses, at least one leg is a carrier of the body weight, regardless of whether we draw a person from the front or the back.
Standing pose, arm pressed into hip
Standing pose, bent arm
Standing pose, looking back
Standing pose, raised arms
Standing pose, waving
Sitting Pose Reference
In seated poses, the buttocks are the main support of the body weight. Depending on the pose, arms or legs may also carry some of the weight.
Sitting pose, leaning on one arm
Sitting pose, leaning on both elbows
Lying Down Pose Reference
For poses lying down, the bodyweight is mainly shifted where the body touches the floor or ground. Equally, however, in these poses, there are very often many body parts that remain free to move.
Pose lying on the side, leaning on one elbow
Action Pose Reference
Action poses can be dynamic poses of any activity like dancing, fighting, jumping or more. When drawing these poses we should make sure that (depending on the pose) only parts of the body or the whole body are dynamic.
In addition, among the dynamic poses there are also those in which the body weight is not shifted to a specific part of the body. In this case, the blue and red markings in the reference drawings are missing.
Jumping pose, legs tightened
Jumping pose, one leg tightened
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