If you’ve been feeling like your character drawings are stiff and boring, and you can’t figure out why (or how to liven them up), this post is for you.
I’m Carlianne, the author illustrator behind Indie Book Award Winner How to Draw Adorable: Joyful Lessons in Creating Cute Art, and best-selling children’s book Even Yetis Get Colds.
Today, I’ll prove to you that poses don’t have to be complicated to be fun!
Knowing how to pose a character is an essential skill for anyone who wants to draw humans, animals, or even personified objects! Whether sassy or serious, there’s so much fun (and personality) to be found in poses.
So, without further ado, let’s get started!
Present a Personality
Poses, whether for objects or characters, exist to tell a story. If you’re an animator, they’re often the strongest “keyframes”—the peaks of movement where your character is at their most expressive. Why? Because a pose should say something about your character.
For example, the same emotion can appear differently in different people or creatures. A character with a stiff back, squared shoulders, and chin tilted up is going to seem haughty and confident. In contrast, rounded shoulders, a downcast chin, and loose posture might read as shy or insecure.
Even when doing the same activity, the way they’re standing or moving will reveal a lot about their personality.
Here are two characters, doing a similar activity, posed in similar ways.
If I asked you to describe their personalities, chances are you’d come away with very different answers!
Before blocking out your pose, ask yourself: What kind of personality does this character have? How are they, as a person (or cat, or dog, or humanoid cactus), likely to express themselves?
Emotions & Expressions
Just like poses reveal personality, they’re also essential for showing emotion. Body language can tell us how a character feels—even without seeing their face. Think about how our posture changes based on our mood.
- When we’re happy, our movements are open and light. We might lean back, raise our arms, or stand tall.
- When we’re sad, our body closes in on itself. We slump, fold our arms, and move downward, as if the weight of the world is pulling us down.
Here’s a simple visual comparison between Happy and Sad poses:
Even without faces, you can tell instantly how the person is feeling simply from the pose.
Start with Line of Action
Now that you’ve thought about your character’s personality and emotion, let’s dive into the technical side of poses. The line of action is your foundation for creating movement and flow.
A line of action is a single, sweeping curve that represents the main movement of your character. It’s the skeleton of the pose that helps everything flow naturally.
Think of it as the pose’s energy line.
For example:
- A joyful jump might have a dramatic upward curve.
- A sneaky crouch might have a sharp downward arc.
- A character feeling relaxed might have a gentle S-curve.
Start every pose with this simple line. It’s a guide that helps keep your drawings dynamic from the start.
Can you identify the emotions these characters are expressing just by looking at their lines of action?
Symmetry = Stiffness
Symmetry is the silent killer of dynamic poses. When both sides of your character are perfectly identical, the drawing often feels unnatural and stiff.
Think about this:
- Man-made objects like buildings and machines are symmetrical because they’re engineered.
- Nature is rarely symmetrical, which makes it feel organic and interesting.
If you’ve unintentionally drawn a symmetrical pose, don’t panic! A few small tweaks can break the symmetry and breathe life into your character.
Here are some easy fixes:
- Shift one hip slightly higher or lower than the other.
- Move one arm to a slightly different angle than the other.
- Add a twist to the torso so the upper body faces a different direction than the lower body.
For example:
Even a small change, like tilting the head, creates visual interest.
Exaggerate Emotions for Impact
When it comes to poses, don’t be afraid to push the boundaries!
Over-exaggerating certain movements or angles can amplify the emotion in your drawing.
Think of it as an extension of squash and stretch in animation. When you want to sell the ‘impact’ of a position, pushing the anatomy a bit further than you’re used to can really sell that motion.
For example:
- A sad character might slump so far forward that their head nearly touches their knees.
- A celebrating character might jump so high that their arms stretch above their head, with their legs kicking backward.
Exaggeration is especially useful in animation-style art or comics, where clarity of emotion is key. The more you play around with extreme poses, the more confident you’ll become in using them.
Final Thoughts: Keep Experimenting
Remember, drawing is all about practice and experimentation. Play with asymmetry, exaggeration, and body language to make your poses more dynamic. Even small changes can turn a stiff, boring drawing into something full of life and story.
If you try these tips, I’d love to see your work—tag me on Instagram so I can cheer you on! And if this was helpful, consider subscribing for more bite-sized art tutorials.
Keep Creating,
Carlianne 🎨
P.S If you find this helpful, I have an entire chapter dedicated to poses in my book How to Draw Adorable: Joyful Lessons in Creating Cute Art!
You'll not only learn the basics of how to create punchy poses, but how to combine elements of different emotions to tell complex stories with a single image.
