Bring Energy and Life to Your Poses!

Learn how to bring life to your character poses! Create dynamic poses with key tips for drawing from reference, balance and force, action lines, and more.

Are you struggling with stiff character poses and not sure how to make them dynamic and fluid? In this article, you will learn how to effectively use pose references, discover action lines, and create a rhythm between movement and strength. Get started on drawing people in motion, even if you’re a beginner, and read on to learn other helpful drawing tips and improve your character drawings!

Index

Understanding the human figure
Observation
Strength and rhythm
Action lines
Body construction
Perspective
Gesture drawing
Conclusion

Understanding the human figure

To draw a pose correctly, you don’t always need to carry an anatomy book with you as a pose reference. Instead, observation and practice are your best tools. If at any point you get curious about trying something new (which I hope you do), it never hurts to take a look at that anatomy book.
Even if your drawing style is far from realistic, the aspects that make a pose interesting and credible remain the same: strength, rhythm, action lines, construction and perspective.

Three drawing examples of character poses with varying degrees of action.

Observation

Your best reference for drawing poses is yourself. If you look at yourself in front of a mirror and start moving, you will notice that your body works as a single unit.

When you raise an arm, the arm is not the only part of your body that moves, unlike how dolls work. The changes in your body don’t resemble Figure A, right? For example, your shoulder also lifts, and many other parts of your body adapt to the movement as in Figure B.

Notice the difference between drawings for the same basic pose. Figure B is more natural and a better reference for how the human body moves.

This is what observation means: paying attention to the details and characteristics of the body. Remember that you yourself can be a great reference for drawing poses. Be sure to take the time to observe and establish base pose references for your art.

Strength and rhythm

Your characters move thanks to their inner strength. They can walk, jump, dance… Whatever comes to mind! But unless they are floating in space, it is not the only force that acts on them, as gravity makes their feet stay on land.

Remember that characters do not just float around in space, but are subject to gravity. This is just one type of force to keep in mind when drawing character poses.

When two or more forces interact with each other, a rhythm is set, providing balance and movement. Keep this balance in mind for fluid, natural, yet dynamic character poses.

Three simple reference diagrams that show how two or more forces will create movement. This concept is crucial for drawing poses.

If your character is pushed to the left, his body will fall in that direction (A), unless he puts up resistance to stand (B).

Two sample illustrations showing a character being pushed to the left with no resistance (A). The other example has the character resisting by putting force into their legs.

If the character tries to pull something that refuses to move, his body will lean in the opposite direction. Obviously, once the cat gives in to the force, your character will fall, as the cat was what kept him standing.

A dramatic example of opposing forces, with a character failing to pull a cat to its feet.

Strength and rhythm provide a lot of visual information you can work with: the weight of your character (1), the balance of their pose (2) or the lack of it (3).

Three reference sketches demonstrating rhythm and strength in different character poses.

Action lines

The action line is the imaginary guide that indicates your character’s movement. It focuses on actions and helps to unify the whole figure. Identifying the action line from reference poses and creating it in your own drawings will improve your character art.

Three example character poses, with the action line indicated by a curved pink line.

Below are a couple of examples of how strength, rhythm and action lines interact together.

Example 1

The character (1) has a relaxed stance, resting on her right arm. In Figure (2), we can see her action line, which starts from her head and curves down to one of her feet. The shape is slightly similar to an S.

The first example is illustrated in three drawings: the completed pose in Figure 1, the action line positioning in Figure 2, and the balancing of opposing forces in Figure 3.

We can see it is a relaxed pose because her weight rests on a single point in Figure 3, she only needs to maintain balance on her left foot, which remains taut while the right one rests.

When using pose reference images, pay attention to which leg carries the character’s weight. Small changes can make even standing poses feel much more dynamic.

Example 2

The next pose is more dynamic, with more elements working together to show motion.

A dynamic pose of a character crouching down and sliding slightly backward.

There are three action lines in this character pose, but the most important are (1) and (2). These lines are the ones that really tell the story. The first action line covers the entire figure from head to toe, and the second one goes in the opposite direction, keeping the balance and forming an X. The third one simply provides greater stability to the pose.

The same crouching pose but with three action lines indicated with different numbers and colors.

In this pose reference, we can see a force pushing the character in the opposite direction from her gaze. Elements such as the hair, the clothes and the dust on the floor suggest that the force comes from the right side, and as these elements are light, they are affected by the speed with which this force acts.

The red arrows are the force pushing against the character, and the lighter elements, such as the dust and the character's hair, flow in a way that balances the overall pose.

However, this girl wants to overcome this force with her own strength. She has no intention of losing the fight.

The green reference lines in the drawing show the strength that the character is bringing to the pose and resisting the red force.

Example 3

This time, our character is a baseball player. He’s spinning his body to get enough momentum and counter the ball’s force to hit it far away. Even before seeing the outcome, you already get the feeling it’s going to be a home run. That’s the power of anticipation. In drawing poses, properly using strength, rhythm, and action lines correctly helps guide the viewer’s eye and communicate movement clearly. Mastering these techniques is especially important for comic artists and anyone studying pose reference or drawing reference poses.

This baseball player reference pose shows all the elements that convey the movement and anticipated movement of the overall hitting action.

It’s important that you don’t overpopulate your drawing with too many action lines, because it could confuse the character’s intention, make the force go in different directions, and take the emphasis away from the most important action.

Body construction

The body is quite complex and it is difficult to draw correct proportions and move away from the 2D plane. I recommend you shape a base that helps you discern the volume of each element. To do this, we will use geometric figures such as spheres, cubes and cylinders to represent the body’s structure.

A drawing of the human figure broken down in simple shapes and holding a pose.

These figures can be freely rotated, stretched, flexed, and twisted according to the pose.

Example drawings of simple shapes that are stretched, bent, and twisted. These are references that can be applied to poses.

These figures represent the direction of the different elements of the body. You must pay special attention to the limits of the joints, since at some point you have to turn or twist the body to keep moving in that direction, changing the pose drastically. Remember to refer to references and examples when drawing complex poses.

Drawing of a person with their arm outstretched or bent at different angles. Learn how joints work and what their limits are for believable character poses. A simplified character made up of cylinders and circles, holding a twisting pose.

With practice, this process gets simpler. The better you understand how the human figure works, the fewer guides you will need. Study reference poses and how the body’s construction can be broken down and apply it to your own drawings.

Perspective

Perspective turns the 2D plane into a 3D one, adding more depth and visual richness to the composition than just looking at it from a frontal plane.

The eye level or horizon line represents the actual height of the viewer’s eyes (1), and the vanishing points are the lines projected from a point on the horizon (2). The following image has a perspective with two vanishing points with which we can appreciate two faces of the figure.

Sample image of a box in 2-point perspective.

The body is more intricate, but the principle is the same. For example, this figure’s feet and hands are smaller due to perspective, and even they suggest how we should project the vanishing point lines.

A figure in a pose with smaller hands and feet due to the perspective.

Action poses always look more dramatic when the perspective is exaggerated. Even when the poses are not entirely realistic, the figures seem credible and the scenes look more interesting.

Sample drawing of a figure in a running pose in an exaggerated perspective.

I recommend you practice and read about perspective as much as possible, as it is not something you can master in a day. Analyze as many references as you can. Eventually, you’ll end up seeing vanishing points everywhere.

Gesture drawing

You can speed up and improve your observation skills by drawing poses using photos or actual people as reference and setting a short time limit. The aim of gesture drawing is to capture the essential information of the figure and, of course, to draw as many poses as possible.

This exercise will also help you to increase your confidence when drawing. Don’t be afraid to draw the first line, and even if you make a mistake, avoid erasing the lines. Try to focus and draw clean, clear lines.

Below you can see some examples of poses that I have drawn within 45 to 60 seconds:

Two gesture drawing examples done in a short timeframe.

First, focus on drawing the whole body with smooth lines. Then, if you have more time, refine specific shapes and dig a little deeper into the pose reference.

2 sketches of human figures in different poses.

Don’t be afraid to draw what you don’t see or what is hidden, as it will give you a better idea of the figure’s structure.

Drawing poses reference that were sketched quickly.

Try to exaggerate the lines. It makes them softer and more credible, however crazy it sounds.

Be sure to reference poses, no matter what your style, realistic or anime.

Unless the model is in a very rigid pose, avoid straight lines. The most natural poses are built with curves.

Be sure to try drawing a variety of poses and don’t be afraid to sketch out the same reference pose again.

Conclusion

I hope these tips have been helpful! Remember that practice makes perfect, and keep trying. Soon, your characters will be free from stiff, unnatural poses and will be fluid and dynamic.

If you want to see more of my work, from these links you can access my social media pages and my portfolio:

https://www.instagram.com/eri_duh/
https://www.tiktok.com/@erideyart
https://www.artstation.com/eridey

Thank you so much for reading this article!
– Eridey

If you enjoyed this tutorial and want more help with drawing the human figure, check out the following guide that’s also by Eridey!

Learn Anatomy to Improve Drawing the Human Body