Hello there internet!
This is wooooonce in awhile Art Tips (sorry about that, lol) and I’m your host Ando!
If you’ve seen my 5 things that can kill an oc video, you’ll know that I took a slight
dip into posing for strong character design.
So, what do you say to getting into the topic a bit deeper?....
If you’re still watching I assume you do…
POSING!
Posing is a huge part of working with characters, whether it’s designing them, comic books,
storyboards, animation, etc.
Look through any “Art of book” and chances are, much of it will be made up of character
exploration and poses.
I should know, I’m running out of bookshelf…
Anyways, when designing a character, It’s important to capture what their essence is
in a visual way.
I’m sure you’ve heard of show don’t tell in writing, well this can go double for
art.
Posing can really help tell the audience a lot about a character by showing off their
personality, how they carry themselves and how they would react to a specific situation.
But, before we get started, I want to say that this video is about posing human, humanoid,
anthro and primarily bipedal characters, and while the examples I’ll be using can apply
to naturalistic animal or monster characters too, they may not translate in the same way,
due to anatomy issues or the way that animals move by nature.
Without further ado, let’s look at what goes into a good pose.
First off, what kind of person IS your character?
The strong silent type?
Hyper?
Adventurous?
Perhaps they’re a hopeless romantic?
All of these descriptions can easily be applied by using the character’s body language.
Keeping the character’s personality in mind can really help when choosing fitting poses.
Strong silent characters are typically reserved, they minimise their movements and would most-likely
keep their arms and legs closer to their center.
If the character is somewhat standoffish, they may choose to hold themselves upright
and have their head tilted at a higher angle.
A more lone-wolf type character may prefer to look down and coolly lean against walls
while crossing their arms and surveying their surroundings.
The silent type may have problems with being open about their feelings, so they might create
a foreboding atmosphere or create more “closed” poses as a natural barrier.
Hyper characters on the other hand might use bold, wide and expressive body language.
They may kick their legs out, wave their arms in open movements or bounce around.
Hyper characters might be more open with their surface feelings and leave themselves wide
open in their poses as well.
An adventurous character may make bold stances, leaning forward with one leg ahead, maybe
looking out at the horizon with a hand shielding the sun.
Leaning forward in anticipation.
Perhaps they are energetically running toward the unknown?
A romantic on the other hand may be leaning toward one side, hands clasped up by their
cheek.
They would probably have a smaller stance, arms and legs closer together.
They could be demurely looking away in an upward direction hands over their heart, daydreaming.
Or leaning forward with their elbows on a table, resting their chin in their hands.
A romantic, while longing for affection, is in a place of vulnerability, so they may create
a barrier over their chest with their arms, hands or whatever they seem to be carrying.
And these are just some basic examples of how you can get a character’s personality
across!
Also think about what types of poses those same characters would make when reacting to
something?
What if they’re sad, or embarrassed or they just woke up?
Chances are not all of those characters would be able to use the same poses without looking
out of place or changing aspects of their perceived personality.
However, if done intentionally, you can get some really interesting results, like a tough
guy, who acts like a little girl.
You can take poses even farther by thinking of what your character wants, what they secretly
think of other people, what their motivations are and add a whole new layer of expression.
Popular examples of this are the Double-crosser, the Tsudere, or the secret bad-ass.
Having context to why your character acts the way they do can really help in the long
run.
Even if they’re just standing still, each character has their own form of expressing
themselves, it’s just a manor of finding what works.
A good way to accomplish this is by paying attention to posture.
Some characters may lean forward, some may slouch, while others may puff their chests
out.
Even with their hands to the side, each of these poses say something about the person.
Maybe the forward leaning character might be expectant or maybe they might have a back
problem, the slouching person may be insecure or maybe they’re tired, and the person with
their chest out may be self important, or maybe they think they’re a bird.
Adding in expressions and positioning the arms and legs can really add to whatever the
character is feeling and doing by emphasizing the their emotion or personality.
A good way to keep this in mind, is to find their center.
The center is basically where the character’s posture is drawn, almost like a magnet.
A center is not always constant, in fact a character’s center can change dramatically
from pose to pose, but keeping a center in mind can help you decide on how the body should
be situated.
On a bit of an aside, using the character’s center can be a great way to visualize changes
in the character’s outlook or behavior.
Perhaps you have a character who often has a lot of confidence, chances are, their center
will be higher up on their body.
If their outlook shifts to become insecure, their center may end up shifting to a lower
point.
These contrasts can add a lot to storytelling, so keep it in mind.
Another thing about posture to keep in mind is balance.
When a person is standing there’s a direct line of gravity keeping them grounded and
upright.
Leaning too far in a direction without balancing themselves would most likely result in falling
over, so the same would apply to a character’s pose.
In a normal standing pose there should be a direct form of gravity keeping the character
standing, but you can also use the opposite for really interesting effects.
Unbalanced poses that lack clear movement are normally off putting, they might make
you feel like the person is about to fall over or if the character appears at ease in
said position they may seem unsettling, possessed or like a rag doll.
Creating characters with an off sense of balance can really help contrast with other characters
they may interact with as well.
A character in motion, on the other hand, can often have balanced and unbalanced poses
without feeling uncomfortable or looking like the character may fall because of the added
force of their movement.
Finally, we’re going to look at the line of action and silhouettes.
The line of action is basically an invisible line that follows the main motion of the body.
Having a strong action line can really make a pose dynamic, and create really expressive
imagery.
Have you ever wondered why every page of Tracy Butler’s Lackadaisy looks so natural?
It’s because she pays special attention to character posing as well as having strong
lines of action in almost every panel where you see a character’s body.
Even stationary characters have a clear line of action to them, and each character has
their own expressive form of posture and expressions as well.
Having a clear line of action can turn a good pose into a great one.
The key is keeping the character’s pose moving in a clearly readable arch.
Even if the character is just standing still, instead of keeping them straight up and down,
shift their weight, pop out a hip, have them lean to one side, and so on.
The line of action can go from subtle to exaggerated and keeps everything looking more natural
and pleasing to the eye.
Silhouettes, also come in handy with having clearly readable poses and even character
design.
A good rule of thumb when looking at a pose is if the character were to be completely
blacked out, would you still be able to tell what the action or pose was?
Could you tell WHO the character was?
Having a strong silhouette can really drive home the idea behind a pose and creates strong
compositions.
Strong character design also should have a strong silhouette as well.
The less overlap of the body the stronger the silhouette will be.
Being able to read a pose in an instant will give it much more power than having to look
for it.
Sure you can still get across the idea, but it’s like the difference between a punch
in the face and a tap on the shoulder.
I’m going to end off the episode with “supplementary materials” These are some extra things to
check out or do if you have the chance.
So, today’s materials are: Tracy Butler’s Lackadaisy, for real go check out this comic
folks.
The posing and expressions are just so natural and every panel has so much attention to detail,
I want to frame every page.
If you like 1920’s bootlegging cats, Lackadaisy is a must read.
Next, we got, Acting lessons.
If you have the ability to take an acting class, I cannot recommend them enough.
You will learn some really important information like how to block a scene, how to emote and
use body language as well as lots of exercises, like how to walk, stand and move in character.
Learning how to act can really give you a leg-up in your visual storytelling!
Finally, we have Extra Credit’s video on posing.
I really didn’t go too far in depth with silhouettes and Lines of Action in this video,
mostly because I don’t think I could have covered the topic as well as that video does.
Go check it out, it’s got great examples and is a really good watch!
Phew- and with that, we are done.
I really hope this information dump helped out a lot!
I’ll see you all next time!