Pose Analysis
Added 2025-05-29 15:00:11 +0000 UTCPoses!
There’s much to be said on the subject. In this video, I show examples of common issues you’re likely to encounter. If you can avoid these, you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble when drawing.
That said, no pose is perfect. There will always be certain features that don’t translate well into a drawing if copied exactly. So, a big part of creating drawings with clarity and appeal is learning to work with what you’re given.
Key Points:
Focus on the silhouette of your subject. Does it read clearly?
Before you begin drawing, try to imagine what the result will look like. Is anything likely to cause confusion for your viewer?
Learn to spot tangents and awkward situations in your subject. Often, you can solve these in your drawing with simple adjustments.
Comments
Yes, there's such a boom of reference packs now. However, I often find myself sifting through them only to find maybe a dozen or so shots that really work for me. The quality of lighting is where most fail. Then many others have such crazy poses and dramatic camera angles, that are useless to me. Yet, it's quite in keeping with the life drawing experiences I've had, where rarely are variables as perfect as I would like. So, I'm happy if I get a handful of solid references from each set. It also depends on my mood. On some days I'm better able to judge subjects by their potential rather than their flaws. Some of my favorite drawings have been made from references that had issues which I was forced to work around. Conversely, when a reference is too perfectly composed, it often leaves me feeling like there's little room to deviate in any creative way. Grafit Studio (perhaps the biggest maker of such packs) reached out to me recently. They're making a set based on my recommendations. I'm excited to see the results. Thanks Darren!!
Lane.Draws
2025-06-09 15:41:51 +0000 UTCYou see a lot of reference packs on ArtStation advertising "1000+ pictures" as a selling point, but in reality, it's often just 10–15 poses shot from every possible angle. Out of curiosity, how many usable pieces do you usually get from packs like that for you to consider it a good one? Also, great video! It’s been a real treat going through the past posts—there’s a lot of solid advice in there.
Darren Kelly
2025-06-09 13:19:06 +0000 UTCGreat to hear Michelle, thank you!!
Lane.Draws
2025-06-02 15:42:20 +0000 UTCMade me think about the references in a whole new way. Thank you for the great info!
Michelle Weatherson
2025-05-31 16:28:16 +0000 UTC
