Welcome to the Complex Poses tutorial for Female Figures. This tutorial is actually a condensed version of the third expansion chapter included in version 2.1 of the How To Draw Tutorials CD. In this web-tutorial I occationally make references to things that are not included here. I picked a few of the sections from the full tutorial and placed them here, but much is still missing. The full version of the complex poses tutorial is 26 pages long and is included in the How To Draw CD-Rom. (Those who have already purchased the CD can get the new expansion tutorials with no additional cost. Edit! We no longer sell the How-To-Draw Tutorials CD - Sorry, it's no longer available This Tutorial was Completed on 11-25-01.
The Spine The Back is Not Straight. The spin curves, and you have to remember this or else your character will look very stiff. The more you bend and twist the spine (in physically possible ways) the more natural the pose will look. When varying the spine, it is important to remember balance. If a person looks off balance, it will be very obvious to the viewer. They may not know ‘what’ is wrong, but they’ll see that something is off.
The Hips The hips are a very important part of the body, and a very difficult part as well. Since complex poses often require the legs to be in positions more diverse then the basic standing pose, the hips can quickly become a problem area. Many people tend to squish them in ways they shouldn’t be squished.
Figure 3.1
Figure 3.1 shows the hips of the female figure highlighted. This basic shape remains the same in all poses. There will always be this height and width of space at the base of the waist, no matter what pose the legs are in.
Figure 3.2 shows the profile view shown before. The lighter circle shows the direction of the legs when standing, and the darker circle and highlighted area shows the legs when bent. Notice how the shape of the hips and torso remain the same. Imagine that the legs are attached to the hips. They bend, while the hips remain basically the same.
Figure 3.2
Figure 3.3 shows the new location of the legs when bent forward. The shape of the hips has remained the same. The upper hips and butt still maintain their original shape, while the legs have bent forward. If you can remember this, you will have a lot less trouble moving the legs into different and more complex poses, from multiple views and angles.
Figure 3.3 Creating a Pose Even when you have a complete understanding of the way the human body is shaped, and how it bends and changes, there is still one problem remaining before you can create a complete pose. You have to think one up. When drawing out a manga, or an image with a specific intent, the process of coming up with the pose you want, isn’t quite as difficult, but when you don’t have a specific idea in mind, it can become a timely and annoying process. Try uses resources like magazines or catelogs to practice a variety of poses. You may also want to look into a photographic pose book from your local book store (try barnes and noble) - There are art guide books that are nothing but a hundred+ pages of photographs of real people performing various stances, poses, and stunts. If you can't find/afford one of these books (or your parents won't let you have one - the people in these books are completely nude), then try looking at yourself infront of a fulllength wall mirror. Make sure to examine all the details before you return to your drawing. Examine where things are located in comparrison to the other things around it. How far out does the elbow extend - further or not as far as the foot down on the ground - things like that. And remember them! You have to remember these details or you'll have to keep getting up and looking again and again. The closer and more thuroughly you examine the figure in the mirror, the less trouble you'll have when drawing.
A Useful Pose I feel that a number of people could actually find this pose useful. The idea is that the person is leaning over and removing their shoe (My idea for this was that the Japanese always remove their shoes when entering a house). But the pose itself is also a great example of a couple of very important principles. Balance and Foreshortening. Probably the most difficult part of this particular pose is making the upper torso, neck, and head look like they’re actually connected and that each is closer then the other. For this we use layering. The head is obviously closer to the point of view then anything else, and since it is completely bent forward, the neck isn’t viewable at all. Once again, I used an oval along the top of the shoulders to remind myself that there is thickness there. Layered below the shoulders is the rib cage, and below that are the hips. Since this figure is quickly standing on one foot, the balance is slightly unstable. One arm is reaching down and exerting some force to remove the shoe, so to keep from falling over, she has to stick her left arm out to maintain balance. Little things like this will help keep you poses looking lifelike and realistic. If you ever find that you’re stuck with a pose, and you just can’t picture it in your mind, a fullsized wall mirror can be a great help. Stand in front of the mirror, attempt to keep the pose you want and stand there examining and memorizing as many things about it as you can. Pay attention to where something is in comparison to something else. Does one thing stick out to the left further then another thing? How far down from the waist is the right hip? The left hip? Is there an angle?
This pose presents us with an rare situation. Seeing the chest from above. When drawing in the breasts, gravity had to be taken into account. Their presence actually made the image simpler, making it easier to layer the image and create a believable foreshortening effect. Truly giving the appearance that the head and upper torso were closer then the waist and hips. The body isn’t the only location with foreshortening. The left arm is bent and positioned in a manner that the upper arm is perfectly perpendicular with the point of view. Once again, layering is used to create the illusion of depth. Since the shoulder is closer then the arm, and the shoulder is virtually blocking the entire upper-arm, the shoulder is all you see. It gets thinner from the bulk of the shoulder to the elbow - this also creates the
illusion of depth. Remember, objects further away from the point of view are smaller then objects that are closer. Also, when a solid object is partially far away, and partially very close, it is a lot shorter then it would be, if it were parallel to the point of view. In other words, a person looking up at the camera from an angle would have a shorter body, the feet being the smallest area. In this image, this applies to the torso. The torso is very ‘short’ in this image because part of it is close, and part of it is further away.
The first rectangle shows the object parallel to the point of view at it’s full height. The second rectangle shows it, with the point of view from above. Not only is the bottom smaller, and the top larger, but the entire object is ‘shorter.’
Page 2
I think the primary difficulty in this picture is the hips. Making both legs look like they’re coming from the hips in the appropriate locations, and making it look like she’s actually sitting at the same time. Add on top of that, the legs have to be stretched out on the ground in a relaxed, yet believable position. The left leg is completely in front of the right leg where it connects to the hip, but it is still important to draw the guides where it would be coming from so that you make sure you get the right lengths and angle for the right leg. The ‘hip-guide’ was used again here to help define how wide and deep the hips should be - and also to help establish where the buttocks were so that it could look like she was actually sitting on something. The circle around the waste helps to define the thickness to the body, and the circular area extending below it shows the length and width of the hips before taking the legs into account. The legs then extend from this shape.
Since the head is looking upwards, the base of the chin is visible, and the jaw doesn’t create a defined line between the neck and the head. The neck blends into t he base of the chin, and t he back of the head without having the head an neck distinctly separated by the jaw line. The body is leaning backwards, so the left arm has to support this weight. Therefore it is stiffer then it would be if it were relaxed on the ground. It is obvious that the right arm is relaxed on the right leg because it is bent at the elbow. Where she holding herself up by holding her leg, the arm would be straighter and tenser. The hand would also have to be grasping lower on the leg in order to get a good hold, and this force would pull up the right leg. All of these ‘real-world’ concepts have to be taken into account when designing a pose. With, and possibly even despite, all these ‘real-world’ details, the figure still has to maintain a fluid and lifelike appearance that is appealing to the eye. Even the most realistic and accurate pose can be trash if it’s a boring pose or drawn at a boring angle. Once you’re satisfied with your ability to draw someone from a 3/4ths angle, try drawing that same pose from a really low, or a really high angle. Add some perspective to it and see if you can still make the pose look realistic. Experiment with practices like this to improve and go to higher levels. But don’t push yourself and try to go faster then you should. A slow pace is not a bad pace. Don’t try everything at once. Take it one step at a time.
There are fewer things as difficult as drawing something laying down. We’re just not accustomed to it. So many things have to be done differently in order to achieve a believable outcome. Once I had the head basically drawn out, I drew the oval for the shoulders to define their position, thickness, and perspective. Since the right shoulder is further away, the oval gets smaller at that end, then for the left shoulder. In addition to this oval, I drew a circle to help myself visualize where the neck actually connected with the shoulders. A basic guide for the rib cage was necessary to make sure I maintained a certain thickness for the upper torso. I knew that I wanted the spine to be curving (if you looked at this person from above you’d see that the hips are tilted more then the shoulders creating a “(“-like curve with the spine) so I made sure to draw the hip guide at a more distinct angle then I had drawn the shoulder guide. Drawing in the guides for the pelvic bone joints was especially important with this image since so much layering and foreshortening had to be done with the right leg. Pay attention to how much smaller the legs and feet are in comparison to the arms and hands. This is another use of foreshortening. This helps to generate the illusion that the picture has actual depth.
The stomach is flat on the ground, but the spine curves upwards. This curve gives the figure a more fluid appearance. But this upward curve isn’t possible without the support to hold the shoulders and the head up, so the ar ms have to help push the body upwards. The weight is being place on the elbows where they meet the ground, so the forearms can be relaxed. This relaxation gives it a more natural feel. Since the upper torso is being held upwards, the breasts are more directly affected by gravity. They hang out (or down, in this case) then they normally would, because gravity is pulling them that way. At the point where the line coming down from the shoulders stops at the center of the back, you get the visual impression that this is the thinnest point at her waist. While there is no line to show that her hips get wider from there, the illusion is created. Another illusion is that of the right leg. You cannot see the upper leg at all, but you can tell where the knee is bending, and where the leg is coming from in the hips. The calf is smaller then that of the left leg, and the foot gets a lot smaller. Add to this the fact that it is layered behind it, and the illusion of depth is once again accomplished.
I hope this tutorial has done some good. I'm sorry I couldn't include more of it on the website, but I think that these are the most useful examples. Good Luck!
