#pose dynamics

We have a few resources on this! Check it out  Mod Wackart on “fluid posing”  https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/179527681309/hi-there-i-really-want-to-start-drawing-more Mod Future on “Line of Action”  https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/186778137851/whoop-i-think-this-one-got-deleted-somehow-but

Mod Wackart on “Mapping out poses”  https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/187541985300/i-just-asked-a-question-so-i-hope-its-okay-to-ask

Mod Wackart on “Energetic poses”  https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/184622960896/how-do-i-do-energetic-poses-i-cant-seem-to-get

Mod Future on “Tension in poses”  https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/185371284286/are-there-any-good-tricks-for-learning-how-to-add

-You will understand by force-

We have a few posts lying around about how to make poses look more dynamic :) here are the links

A baseline in pose dynamics:  https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/179527681309/hi-there-i-really-want-to-start-drawing-more

The line of action: https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/186778137851/whoop-i-think-this-one-got-deleted-somehow-but

Mapping out poses: https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/187541985300/i-just-asked-a-question-so-i-hope-its-okay-to-ask

Adding tension to a pose: 

https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/185371284286/are-there-any-good-tricks-for-learning-how-to-add

Retaining proportions between characers can be incredibly difficult, especially if height difference is either very dramatic, or subtle but visible. As you grow as an artist, you’ll pick up thumbrules about height ( how the length of certain limbs correspond to the length of another, or how the full height of a character corresponds to a certain set of heads ), but while practicing these anatomical thumbrules, which happen to fluctuate between characters as well ( which is why you sometimes might feel like you have to start over, when learning the height and proportions of a new character ), there’s a few methods and tools that you can use to reference the height of your characters. 

Mr Initial Man

This tool can’t show you any characters in motion, but it’s a good and quick tool made for you to gain a quick overview over the height difference between characters, based on their height in numbers. Through here, you can type in their height either in inches or in cm, and it will be converted to a very simple graphic. This is a tool i use a whole lot when constructing height chart sheets. And let’s talk about model sheets.  https://www.mrinitialman.com/OddsEnds/Sizes/compsizes.xhtml

Model sheets

A lot of animated shows, movies and productions make these height-chart sheets. This particular one is from the Hellsing anime, where the height-difference between characters is rather dramatic. If you’re planning on drawing two or more characters a lot, i’d recommend making model sheets, especially if you’re planning storytelling projects. Once again, this chart can’t show you how to retain proportion when drawing the character’s in action. But it can give a rough idea as to how the basic difference looks, from which you can make adjustments as neccessary. 

Terawell Designdoll

Posing software is probably one of the more versatile and easiest ways to set up a reference that you can use when drawing your characters. However, naturally this software needs to have customization available for your reference dolls, so that you can tweak them to fit the size difference you need. Terawell’s DesignDoll has a selection of tweakable features and a posing software that should help you get started with that. 

https://terawell.net/terawell/?page_id=20251

Other than that, it’s just about going through the process of laying out your characters and their poses again and again, while keeping their proportions in mind. You know the drill, practice, practice, practice. ‘’

We have a handful of posts about gesture/posing, and a few about loosening up when drawing them :)Here they are: Loosening up with arthttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/188287293699/how-does-someone-loosen-up-with-art-ive-beenAdding tension to a pose https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/185371284286/are-there-any-good-tricks-for-learning-how-to-addEnergetic pose tipshttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/184622960896/how-do-i-do-energetic-poses-i-cant-seem-to-getMapping out poseshttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/187541985300/i-just-asked-a-question-so-i-hope-its-okay-to-askThe line of actionhttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/186778137851/whoop-i-think-this-one-got-deleted-somehow-butStudying gesture with expressionhttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/185665501131/i-need-some-help-with-expressions-my-boyfriendCharacter’s standing straighthttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/182380124038/any-tips-on-drawing-characters-standing-up

Fluid posinghttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/179527681309/hi-there-i-really-want-to-start-drawing-more

Depicting personality through poseshttps://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/178975924328/idle-posing-idle-posing-seems-to-be-a-thing-most

Hmmm

Hmmm :) 

I’ve looked the character over and gone over a couple things.  Before I got into changing things, I rotated her a slight bit to make sure her figure was properly grounded and standing a little more upright. 

I really do like the pose though, and the little lighter prop is really cool.  What I recommend you doing is finding a way to make her blueish outline/aura a little more subtle. The stark colour and bulky outline make the piece a little disorienting to look at, and ultimately it can irritate the eyes. You could possibly pull down the saturation or opacity of it. Or even experiment with the colors.

- Mod Wackart ( ko-fi )

Mod Seraphtonin, chiming in (Ko-fi): 

I see you’ve used a lot of saturated colours in your piece and I’d suggest moving away from that. Using overly saturated colours throughout your work creates something that’s a bit too unnaturally bright and so a tad uncomfortable to look at - like looking into the sun. If you look around you, you’ll likely notice that few natural things are in bright, saturated colours. To reflect this aspect of reality in your art, it’s good to keep saturated colours to draw attention to a specific area. For example the dress, necklace pendant, blue outline, red outline, and eyes are all drawn with a saturated colour in your piece. I’d suggest maybe only making the eyes a bright colour. That way, you draw attention to your character’s eyes. 

Here’s an example of what I mean by too much saturation being… too much: (Picture from a tutorial on colour picking and palettes by @sarahculture, which can be found here.)

Re-submitting because I saw the rules. I drew this back in December, but the stiffness/awkward posing of the figures has always bothered me. This was meant to be in a Gravity Falls-esque style, if that helps. Please focus on the figures dressed in red, purple, and blue. Thanks!

Thank you for submitting! I love Gravity Falls so I hope I was helpful in my tips!

This post that we reblogged, originally organized by @helpfulharrie shows examples of how the line of action is used in various other cartoons!

Even in the show Gravity Falls, while characters may stand up straight and appear to not be doing much of anything, the style of the art is drawn in such a way that there are very subtle curvatures to the lines to help prevent it from feeling too stiff or “wooden”.

(screenshots taken from “Dipper’s Guide to the Unexplained Supercut | Gravity Falls | Disney Channel”)

Great work! I recognize that these characters are from Sander’s Sides, right? So with all of them looking like the same person (cause they’re all played by the same guy, of course) I think you still added some good details to each of the characters to make them stand out more on their own, and just the general acting that each of the characters are doing help represent who is who!

Hi! This is an old character of mine, who’s part snow wolf! I was just wondering what I could improve on with dynamic poses, coloring, and character design (like how could i give him more wolf-like characteristics). Thank you!

I amped up your pose a little bit. Quite frankly all I did was to distance the limbs a little more from the character’s core and added a bend to his spine. 

Usually, when adding drama to your pose you make it “ bigger” or have it “ take up more room”. Kind of like how a theatrical actor will throw up his arms in grief and wail, despite how very few would actually grieve like that. 

This is due to the drawing medium in its static form doesn't convey subtle movements and ticks too clearly. So always aim to give your poses some 110% when drawing up your sketch or gesture.  

There are two ways of making a character represent a certain aspect.  The physical traits: ie. Ears, eyes, tail, teeth, etc.  and the metanarrative traits: Pertaining to how the character acts and moves. I’m personally a big fan of the latter, but a healthy helping of both can make for a strong representation. You can see what I’ve played around with below. 

For the physical traits, I’ve shrunk the ears, laced the hair in over the neck, and drawn the character with an eye resembling that of a wolf’s. 

The posture, however, and the posing of the hand is part of the meta-narrative traits. It doesn't take many of these to convey a certain aspect, as we can immediately see his animalistic side coming through by the hunch of his back and the raised heels.  This is why I adore the meta-narrative level of character design, it takes so very little visuals, for us to form a comprehensive image of what sort of character we’re looking at. 

I don’t particularly have anything against the colours of the original image. Although I would recommend you add a hint of blue the greys you’ve had in the image. Such as the character’s hair and tail.  using greyscale hues is alright, but your palette is going to look a lot more dynamic if you add a hint of a secondary colour into it (although I think you might have sprinkled some red in there, I'm not entirely sure if that is my screen or not though, I’d still recommend going with the colour blue, as it leads our thoughts to the “arctic/snow” aspect). 

My second thought was to change the colour of the blue pants. As we already have an abundance of blue in the image. Either by tinting it more purple-ish, or changing the colour entirely to an earthy brown.  But truth be told I think the colours on yours are just fine, and for me as a critic to tell you exactly what colours I’d prefer would be considered rather nitpicky.  Perhaps, for the hell of it, you could look into colour symbolism, and create a whole new meta-narrative by using hues that communicates your character sub contextually.

(also i accidentally gave him long sleeves in my colour samples, so sorry!)