[advice wanted] how to vary poses?

hello! mind the typos, etc, i'm writing this in a rush since i have to go in like, 30 mins

i still struggle with this problem a lot myself, but i think one thing that has helped is studying less classically. that is, studying not from photographs for peak accuracy, but studying from illustrative masters and in particular, animation. the key for me was studying from 3d movies-- i did a lot of studies from rise of the guardians (2012), how to train your dragon (2010) the thing about poses in animation is that they're boiled down and exaggerated to communicate exactly what needs to be communicated.

if you're looking for something less cartoony to study from, i might suggest browsing through NMAI's collection -- https://americanillustration.org/collection/ and wiki-arting whoever catches your eye. a favorite of mine (he's cliche, you might know him) is JC leyendecker. his work is very commercial, but he exaggerates just enough in the right places that his illustrations are extremely eye catching.

obviously, you already have a lot of the classical concepts down, and have a very specific amount that you're progressing day by day. i think the key now if for you to start exaggerating where you feel comfortable-- for instance, with some of your studies. what if the figure's arm reached out a bit further to really jab the knife in? if what you're feeling in your art when you're finished is that it's stiff, uncomfortable, or uninteresting in some way, i think you need to consider what narrative you're attempting to carry through in the interactions you're portraying and exaggerate bodies to express that.

as a frame of reference, when i studied animation, our 2.5 hour classes were structured like this:

• 5 minutes of 15 second poses
• 5 minutes of 1 minute poses
• 15 minutes of 5 minute poses
• 40 minutes of 20 minute poses
• (break)
• 1 hour pose
  

I'm not sure how much help I'll be,  but I have trouble with posing too and am working on it.  

What I do is find one or more reference images for the pose I want.  Like for example the upper body of one refernce and the lower of another and the hands of one or two more.  My favourite kind of reference images are just out lines with no inner details. Unless I want a certain expression.   And I don't worry about drawing it without the reference if it's a pose I've never done.  The more you do different poses and get used to how the body moves the less you'll need references. And taking longer on the warm up sketches could help some too.  

Most important thing I can think of is being patient.  You may not improve really quick,  but each time you try you're getting a little better. And getting frustrated happens too.  At that point try just doodling without worrying about proportions or anatomy.  It's just for fun and to try to de-stress.  

I hope this helps you some.  

P. S.  I don't know  how to reply to thread comments yet,  so if you reply I may just put another comment here or if it's okay with you comment on your page. Sorry.  q-q

When im having posing block what i like to do is try to thumbnail a scene from a story or book. You'd be surprised at just how much you need to branch out when you have a specific thing that you need to draw. If scenes are hard for you to come up with on your own then you can grab a script from a movie or play and draw out one or two of the lines or a short scene from it! 

If your just looking to get better at posing then you don't need to make them too detailed either, its a fun excercise that i like doing

Sorry for the late reply, thank you all for the feedback so far!

Maixiem those are some interesting tips, I'll give them a go! I find myself looking at Disney and Dreamworks model sheets often enough (particularly when I'm trying to figure out how to get expressions, personality and emotion to read in a pose) but it never occurred me to utilize them and animation in general for pose studies. It makes sense though. I love Leylendecker's work - always loved his sense of motion, the clothing folds and overall aesthetic of his drawings so I'll def do some studies off his art too. 

I have noticed since I've been repeating not the same but similar awkward poses in my gestures I am starting to get more confident with crouching/sitting/kneeling poses. Recently I have managed to freehand a few awkward poses - probably got a bunch of anatomy errors in them but I was speed drawing and using them to figure what I'd learnt/what needed work. I wouldn't of been able to attempt without a reference prior to making gestures a regular practice. It's a small victory but an encouraging one. I've also started on your suggestion of pushing some of the gestures more, particularly with bringing out curves and straights. It seems to be helping. I still struggle with figuring out how to convey a narrative in a pose and I wonder if that's part of the problem. I can work on it, though. 

Thank you for the reference with the gesture studies, dang that's a lot! Another practice I have considered is studies from film screen shots.

Sesshomaru That' an interesting take! I prefer to use references as a study aid but I'm kinda doing that with some gestures at the end of a session. I'll take poses I liked and combine stuff to make something new and test what I've learnt. I should do more of that. I def need to learn to be patient and I know half of my trouble is with art I am an impatient perfectionist I come up with study schedules then expect improvement in the first week (kinda what happened here oof). I need to step back and remind myself it's not gonna happen overnight like that. I mean changing my style took just over 3 years. Either is fine by me, whichever you prefer! 

Kree-Kat that's such a simple exercise but it sounds invaluable. I'm def going to give it a go! That could also help me with working on my other problem of not knowing to build a scene to do more illustrative stuff. It is mainly getting better at posing I'm after though.

Oh yeah! I started to notice my posing ((at least in my sketches)) got better after working on storyboards and thumbnailing, but it reminds me that i need to start working on stuff again! 

GL with your posing practice!

thumbnailing has absolutely helped me personally when working on bigger pieces! ^^
that and the way i like to approach drawing is by starting with a barebones skeleton - simple lines and shapes
by doing it that way its easier (for me at least) to catch stiff/awkward posing early and adjust it. one thing i taught myself is that if i find a pose is too stiff, is to lasso the part that's bothering me and slide it around on the canvas to "exaggerate" it more :>
i most frequently do this with the hips! and since youre not putting too much detail in at this point its easy enough to "reconnect" the body. eventually your mind/muscles catch up and youre able to do these poses a bit easier without too much dramatic sliding, ime!

this is all from someone with no professional art schooling/training though, and someone who struggles a lot with focus wrt references/studies ^^;
basically i just like to tell people what helps me - which is, let your basic sketches be messy and chaotic, dont be afraid to experiment and push the boundaries, and you can always clean up the sketch once youre satisfied with the pose, and then add the Meats (muscles/filling in anatomy)
then once youre ready to line, you can adjust parts much quicker ^^

sorry for the rambling - im a more cartoonish artist, so i hope this helps a little bit at least!