How do you draw people in poses with your imagination?

[tn100]

It seems really hard for me to draw people in poses with my imagination. I can do it with reference pics. When I make my own characters, I can make up anatomy and stuff but the pose is always really hard. Do I just need to keep life drawing people in poses or how do I improve at knowing how to make my own poses?

[Serra]

I think it just comes from practice. I was never able to do it either, but then I took a lot of life drawing and whatnot, and it seemed to get easier. You just have to be able to imagine how the limbs would actually move.

Also I now draw stuff from my imagination but if it looks off I look in the mirror or at a similar pose to correct the problems. Just because you draw from imagination doesn't mean it will always be right or that you won't have to double check :)
--Serra

[Micaiah Nelson]

The more you draw from life and know your anatomy it gets easier along the way! Also do some gesture studies, lots of it, on one page! Have fun and try not to worry so much about if its gonna suck or not, usually people get intimidated about what they are drawing before its finished! You have to think of it as your drawing a rough sketch of your idea down. If you don't like it then erase it, never during the process. Even if you think its gonna be stupid, just finish it! Results are usually higher than expected if you continue to go through with it!

[Farvus]

Well. It is hard question for me beacause I was drawing poses without reference for as long as I can remember.

Most of the time it is just wandering in the dark. I always used to draw very random poses that didn't mean anything or just challanged myself to try the most extreme angle or twist of the body. It was always very frustrating but I never had any reason to stop it draw from photo. I just corrected it till it worked and even then the final result wasn't perfect. However after tons of gesture sketches I began to know which poses are more natural and which are stiff or boring.

Just learn to draw every body part in perspective and focus especially on those landmarks that show the direction or tilt of it. For example side of the knee might suggest that you see the side of whole leg. Then arrange it all in every possible combination which doesn't even have to make sense. Right or balanced poses will come with experience.

You could have a look at my Pose & gesture thread (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=62688&page=5) where I sometimes post some experiments. It's open thread for everybody so feel free to post what you got.

Farvus.

[kev ferrara]

Imagine the figure as clearly as you possibly can in your mind. Try to trace the silhouette from your imagination onto paper as best you can... make sure to get the gesture right as well as the silhouette (the emotional attitude as well as the outline).

Once that's down on paper, use what you know of anatomy and form and lighting to fill in the details.

In order to help in this process draw from the model and life constantly. Memorize the anatomy any way you can (I recommend copying George Bridgman's anatomy books into your notebooks, line for line). And practice pre-visualizing in your imagination what you want to draw *before* you set your pencil to the paper.

[dose]

For me it's divided into two separate problems- one is imagining the pose, the next is actually getting it down on paper.

For the first one I need to really imagine it to the point where I can feel it in my body really well. I may need to get into the pose to really feel it. To be honest, I often skip over this, which can make for much better poses.

The second part is mainly about perspective. How would the major masses of the figure be oriented in space in relation to each other, and then figuring out how that arrangement would look from a given viewpoint. Once you've got that established, you can break down the masses into specific anatomy and add all the detail you want. Of course, coming up with the major masses requires some anatomical knowledge in the first, so there's a bit of a catch 22 there. But I think that's the kind of thing that makes art challenging and a lifelong pursuit.

[FlameDragon]

tn100, I have this same problem too. I can draw really really good when I have a pose in front of me (mainly a picture) to draw from, but when it has to be from my imagination I have trouble drawing any pose at all. It seems like so much is involved to be able to draw the poses well. For example, if I want to draw a woman with a sword in hand coming down from the air to slice down at someone, I wouldn't know how to begin. Or a harder pose, like if it's an upshot of someone flipping in the air about to do a kick. I know you'll need to know anatomy very well to be able to draw a pose well, but then after that the placement of shading seems hard too.

[Farvus]

For example, if I want to draw a woman with a sword in hand coming down from the air to slice down at someone, I wouldn't know how to begin.

You could draw arms with sword that is about to slice someone first. After that you add rest of the body but put it in such position and strain that every part works to support as much as possible the movement of arms.
Other approach would be to start from flexed torso beacause every movement comes first from the spine. The arms and legs will natural follow the arch of the spine. Also in one video Ian McCaig said that there are different places you can lead from. You can lead from the head, chest, hips or knees. They give a bit different impression of personality of the character.

[tn100]

Thanks for the help everyone. I better start cranking out those gesture drawings.

Nice pose/gesture thread Farvus. Very inspiring and great work.

[jt4470]

Imagine the figure as clearly as you possibly can in your mind. Try to trace the silhouette from your imagination onto paper as best you can... make sure to get the gesture right as well as the silhouette (the emotional attitude as well as the outline).

Once that's down on paper, use what you know of anatomy and form and lighting to fill in the details.

In order to help in this process draw from the model and life constantly. Memorize the anatomy any way you can (I recommend copying George Bridgman's anatomy books into your notebooks, line for line). And practice pre-visualizing in your imagination what you want to draw *before* you set your pencil to the paper.

Hey Kev, so when you mean "silhouette" do you mean contours?
Thanks.

[kev ferrara]

silhouette = outline = shape without interior detail = contour

[Dizon]

If you're thinking of a pose from your imagination, you have to understand how the human body is acting during that pose. The best way is to do the pose yourself, and notice how your body is positioned( ex. is your arm bent? is your torso straight, or bent forward or backward? Is your shoulder line at an angle or not? etc . It's also good to simplify the figure by seeing it as composed of blocks or cylinders. This will allow you to think in 3 dimensions. Just add the details last. Simplify first. And remember that the figure is always in perspective.

[rpace]

Reading How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way for the first time was a very formative experience for me, particularly this page:
http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=292352&stc=1&d=1201811458

Once I have an idea of the pose and overall shape, I build it from the inside out starting with a gesture. Going from gestural indication of the action to finished art is an ongoing process involving years of drawing from life and studying anatomy so you know where to believably put all the parts.

~R

[FlameDragon]

Ah, I remember that book. When I was in elementary school and junior high, I used to check that book out from the library every day. I think my problem is that I never tried to understand the concepts in these books, such as building the figure from the gesture. Instead I always just tried to draw the final image.

[FlameDragon]

If you're thinking of a pose from your imagination, you have to understand how the human body is acting during that pose. The best way is to do the pose yourself, and notice how your body is positioned( ex. is your arm bent? is your torso straight, or bent forward or backward? Is your shoulder line at an angle or not? etc . It's also good to simplify the figure by seeing it as composed of blocks or cylinders. This will allow you to think in 3 dimensions. Just add the details last. Simplify first. And remember that the figure is always in perspective.

That was one of my problems too, I always tried to draw the pose right off the bat instead of simplifying at first.

[J Wilson]

There's no substitute for practice and drawing from models (or at least from photos). Part of the difficulty of drawing from your imagination is the understanding of how people move, sit, rest, stand, etc. Drawing someone standing sounds easy, but it won't feel right until you understand that people rarely stand with their feet perfectly square, their arms at their sides, looking straigh forward. People slouch. People place more weight on one foot than another, which affects the tilt of the hips, which affects... everything. People cross their arms, or put their hands in their pockets, or tilt their shoulders. And so on. You need to spend a lot of time drawing, but more importantly a lot of time observing, watching people in general.

Drawing from photos is good, drawing from life is better. If you don't have classes available for that a simple solution is to go to the mall, sit in the food court and sketch. Don't worry too much about specifics, but try to capture their body language. Even when you don't have a sketchbook with you watch how people move. All of that will come back to you the next time you need to draw from your head, and it will make all of your poses more believeable.

[Arshes Nei]

It's a matter of filling my head up with real life poses and observation, then being able to imagine a modified pose in my mind. You learn gesture drawing in Life drawing as a way to put things down quickly. When you draw it's almost like the more you try to concentrate on a "memory" drawing the less detailed it gets.


This is exactly WHY gesture drawing is so important. It helps you get that figure down quick.

[kool-ka-lang]

Exercise, or do something fun that's very, action-y. With a lot of people.

THe good thing about this is, if you think about it, all the poses are internalized, and you can feel it in your body. plus, playing with somebody, you get to see them in their various poses. And you get some exercise.

[FLenG]

Or get a stick man figure like Microman or that American ripoff of Microman (which is sold for Art actually, cept the heads are huge on the figures).

Dunno microman? Google.

[FlameDragon]

I need to practice my gestures alot more then!

[Blue]

I never stopped drawing stick figures. In fact, every single picture starts as a stick figure and just builds up from there. Sometimes more attention to detail is needed, and others can be guesstimated with comfortable accuracy.