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STEP BY STEP // referencing a pose (Patreon)

Published:
2020-03-09 18:41:28
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Here’s the reference images and a step-by-step for the fighting poses I posted last week! To create these sketches, I came up with the character and then searched for some reference poses on DeviantArt stock photos. I used these photos not for the details and proportions, but more as a reference for the energy and gesture of the pose.

In order to keep the character consistent, I constructed the poses using basic shapes - something that I learned from animation school! The more you can break your character down into basic shapes, the more easily you can maintain consistency when drawing the character.

Here are the links to the original ref photo posts on deviantart:

Hope you guys find this useful and let me know if you have any questions! 

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Comments

Sarah Birnbaum

This is really helpful and amazing. Can you show it with one of the other poses as well? Those lines of action and basically deconstructing the reference pose... thank you!

Delia

Gosh, this is so useful. Whenever I try to draw from reference, especially for poses I always end up with something stiff and awkward! And now I understand that it is because I get too bogged down in details! Thank you, Lois! PS: Any chances of having another step-by-step like this one but for hair? I can never get the right flow and shapes, whether from reference or not!!

Brittani Harris

I really need to work on identifying simple shapes. I struggle with drawing bodies and usually just stick to portraits because of that.

SK
>>33460421

I’d love to see a process video for hair! I feel video helps for hair more than step by step cause you can see what’s happening between stages with lines

Cortney Mahone

This is SUUUUUUPER helpful, most of the times my poses look stick because I try to get the details down and be anatomically correct during the first couple of sketches, thanks for posting this

Ameer Hamid

Do you have any tips on how to use the stock photo section in Deviantart? lol I know it sounds kinda simple, but i have the hardest time navigating that site.

Liese

I find this super helpful too! This is exactly what i expected when signing up for patreon. I must say, as I regularly attend life drawing classes in my town, I know how to draw people in a realistic way, but what I struggle a lot with, is how to exaggerate the poses.. somehow I always break the poses when i try to do that and it doesn’t look natural anymore.

Axel Oil

Thanks! I Loved the breakdown of how you approached this. Super helpful!

Loish
>>33484647

hm, that's a tough one. do your fellow artists / instructors agree that the poses don't look natural when you do that? or could it be stepping too far out of your comfort zone, which always feels awkward at first? I think the main thing about keeping the exaggeration believable is making sure that the porportions are still consistent.

Loish
>>33483654

haha, i think that has to do with eclipse. I have to log in, turn off eclipse, and then just navigate to the stock photos in the left menu bar.

Bastian Esteban Cruzat Cortes

woaaahhh!!!...this is really helpful!, love it, specially the breakdown of how you got the gesture and the movement of your character!

chiohui

Love the breakdown and explanation! Do you have tricks and tips on fore shortening angle, such at the toe pointing forward. My character seems to not be able to 'stand' on the ground n looks floaty. Thank you! ❤️

Scott Thigpen

Thank you, Loish. Your engagement with the art community is so awesome. If there is ever a time you show how you colored these, I’d love to see that too (I follow a lot of your video tutorials so I know how you approach it, I would love to shade/color that way myself)

Loish
>>33515245

hm, for that I really recommend making sure that the center of gravity is drawn right. if the character is leaning in a way that suggests she is putting her weight on her leg, then there's more a feeling of 'standing'. as for the foot, definitely make sure you're drawing the heel as well as the toes, so that you can envision the plane on which the foot stands! this is an interesting topic for a future tips sheet so I might make that in the future!

Niquey

This is great! I love seeing how people utilize a reference and make it their own. And I'm glad to get to source some new stock accounts!! Thanks!

Abby Warner

Where do you find the stock photos on devianart, I’ve never been able to find them.

Samawah

I can't unlock the rest of the tutorial pictures </3 :'c

sandviart

One of the problems that I have when I draw some character, it's the lack of movement and dynamism. This will help me a lot. Thank you Lois!

Kolja Kähler

I love how very much to the point these mini-tutorials are! Really helpful - I badly need to practice dynamic poses :)