some tips on drawing figure skating positions for non-figure skaters, from an ex-figure skater with 10 years of experience
these are all the most basic versions of these positions of course. there’s a lot of different types of spirals and sit spins. some other notes i didn’t add:
on ALL spirals, the standing leg is always straight. if it’s bent, they’re doing something else/fucking up a spiral.
air positions get tighter the more revolutions the jump is. some single jumps (like waltz jumps) don’t even really have an air position. if they do, the bottom leg is straight, but instead of crossing over the left leg, it’s just bent in front of you. the arms might be in, they might be out, idk no one cares that much about singles lmao
if they’re in a performance, they’re looking up at the audience. remember, figure skating is performed in stadiums; rather than simply looking out, a figure skater has to look up to appear to be addressing their audience. they’re probably just doing it for show and focusing on their program, but the motion is still there.
if you’re in practice, however, you’re probably looking up at the skaters around you to make sure you don’t fucking crash into everyone on the ice surface. self-explanatory.
your face will literally never look good mid-jump or spin.
not technically figure skating, but pairs have more jumps and higher lifts than ice dance. there’s a specific rule regarding this, but since i never did either, i don’t know it.
this definitely wasn’t a vague at the yuri on ice fandom. okay, it was, but i’m mostly excited that so many people are paying attention to figure skating now, so y'all are chill.
just remember: head up, arched back, extended leg is probably straight. draw with motion. if you don’t know what a position’s supposed to look like, don’t just look at references; you can even google the test requirements for a specific jump/spin/move if you want to. (ISI is a good place to start, since they’re international and everyone uses pretty much the same criteria for individual moves anyways.)
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