A question about art, I would suppose- how do you pick a figure pose?

[Batty Buddy]

Que Passa!!!!

I'm not sure if this counts as miscellanious, or art, since it IS a question about art- so please don't get mad if you feel its missplaced.
When you draw a figure, regardless of what it is, or wether its your own creation or a piece of fanwork, how do you deside on the the right pose for the characters.

Me, I act out all mine- if what I want to draw is a physically possible position, I'll bend myself into it- if it's impossible, it just takes a little more imagination.

[Captain Spam]

Yep, that's fairly well how I do it, too. I put myself in the pose and either use a mirror or 'feel' how it looks. That is, if it isn't a simple pose, like walking or whatnot. :-)

That method also helps with finer points, like placing hands properly. Keep a few odds and ends around as props so you can put your hands around/in/on/etc them so you know what it should look like. I, for example, use a 4 D-Cell Maglite to simulate the grip of a sword and figure out how my hand should fit around it.

[JJ BBoy KS]

I do the pose before I draw too. I like to draw superheros, so I can exagerate sometimes, but......yeah.

I also like drawing lots of stick figures of my characters, and just expirementing with different poses that way.

[JJ BBoy KS]

I would too if I were a girl, and had to take my shirt off for one of your pictures with a smilie face as the thumbnail. :lol: (j/k) :D

[Batty Buddy]

Que Passa!!!!

Yah know, Captain Spam- that whole prop idea of yours is pretty good. Think I might try it...

[Captain Spam]

Believe me, Batty, it's incredibly useful. All you need are enough props to make any sort of hand gesture you need. Start with things like flashlights (Preferably tube-like, like Maglites), small bags (There's a brand of champagne that has a purple bag, that works... don't drink it beforehand if you're not of age, of course. :-) ), that sort.

<small>(No, I don't drink champagne... my folks don't drink that brand, either, since they tell me it tastes pretty bad, so I don't know how I managed to find the purple bag)</small>

[StormyThunder]

If I'm having trouble drawing a position, I always act out how it would look. Then my drawing turns out pretty good. A couple of years ago I didn't know how to do the straps from Jazz's backpack and I got really annoyed. So, I went to get my own backpack and I saw what it looked like.


So now I know how to do Jazz's straps.


I draw Jazz pretty good since I've been drawing him for 5 years.

[Batty Buddy]

Que Passa!!!!

Wow, I had no idea this technique was so well used... To tell you the truth, since I've been useing the prop technique, it's gotten a lot more fun- mostly because the average character I draw is under 3 feet tall(Well, the Gargoyals and Insect characters are significantly smaller then THAT! The baby gargoyals are the size of rats and the insects are the size of... well... insects...). I myself am over 6 feet tall(I like small characters despite my own large size... Don't know why- just do.), and it gets pretty creative trying to find something that is large enough compared to me, to be the same size of something else compared to a character half my size(I have a wooden board that I use as a crowbar for example... and a body pillow I use for a running gag where one character throws another like a javaline.)
So far, the only things I'm still no good at are toes(I don't draw them. I draw either shoes, or boot-like feet, unless the character is a bird, or a creature with clawed feet.) and certain types of hair(All mine looks pretty genaric.).

[Captain Spam]

See? I <b>do</b> know what I'm talking about sometime. :-)

It's especially fun trying to find props that you don't have readily laying around. Like using Maglites for swords, or Xtreme Gulp mugs as tavern mugs or whatnot. Be creative.

Hm, feet... I usually draw shoes or such on my characters' feet. Not sure how I'll deal with bare feet, but it might just wind up similar to how I do hands, that is, I don't draw fingers unless the pose requires them. So, everyone looks like they're wearing mittens until they need to point at something. :-)

And hair's a bugger. I still haven't quite figured it out.