Posing Your Character | 04 |How to Pose the Female Figure

drawing the female form gesture line

Drawing the Female Form: Line of Action

In the last lesson on drawing the female form, you started off with an “S” curve for the line of action. In this lesson on how to pose the female figure, we’re going to change things up a little bit so you can use a “C” curve.

After you’ve drawn the line of action, start adding circles to the body for the main parts of the torso:

  • Chest
  • Abdomen
  • Hips

If you think of these sections of the torso as different sized beads on a string (like a pearl necklace) it will help you to find the correct angle to bend them as the travel along the curve of the line of action.

Draw the Center Line and Legs

While the character is following the “C” curve, it can get a little confusing because that “C” doesn’t always follow the center line down the middle of the torso along the front.

When learning about drawing the female form, it can be very helpful to draw in the line down the middle. Remember to take into consideration the twist of the torso as you draw this middle line because it should naturally follow the rules of perspective, which will cause the middle line to be pushed to one side or the other.

drawing the female body leg position

drawing females refining pose

Refine the Pose

As you continue to work on drawing the female form, feel free to erase your sketchy construction lines.

Take note of how the drawing has evolved from step one to the final step for this lesson.

Notice how dark the lines become as the pose is fleshed out.

Working like this where you draw lightly and loosely to create the construction lines in the beginning is an excellent way to experiment with your character’s design and pose.As your drawing moves from the ‘exploration’ stage, where you are feeling everything out and settling on the final look, the lines become darker and more confident.

Use tapered cylinders to quickly create the upper and lower leg.

Simplifying the shapes of the body down to such basic geometric primitives when learning how to pose the female figure will let you work quickly.

And, you can try our several variations of the pose without much hassle until you get just the right mix.

We hope you enjoyed this article on drawing the female form. Why not leave us a comment below?