Dealing with stiff poses?

akitsukino 2021-07-31 20:52:04 UTC #1

I always pay attention to critiques I get when I see them frequently in multiple places. And one is get often is that my characters fell too “posed”, and the poses feel too stiff. I spent forever trying to learn anatomy but don’t think I ever really picked up on translating it to character design properly. I think there’s a part of me that would rather it be stiff and “right” than fluid and “wrong”. These are the two episodes where I feel like I struggled.

https://tapas.io/episode/2186060

https://tapas.io/episode/2201512

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

YS_og 2021-07-31 20:57:02 UTC #2

Im not an expert so I can only take my best shot, but I think its not the pose but drawing around the corners like the backside of the shoulders, and the shading which could be done to "round off" the posed frame.

artamazon 2021-07-31 21:58:01 UTC #3

Best place to start is to learn where your line of action is and practice gesture drawing. It's less focused on proper anatomy, and just getting used to drawing a form with fluidity and motion.

I just did a quick search to show you what I'm talking about, there's tons of other tutorials out there.

Also, don't forget to use reference if you're having trouble and to make sure poses look natural.

Good luck!

jeffanime1 2021-07-31 22:27:45 UTC #4

Try looking up gesture drawings and learn out the line of action.

DokiDokiTsuna 2021-07-31 22:33:09 UTC #5

With all due respect, I think that's your problem right there. =/

Like, it would be one thing if your art were photorealistic-- then all you'd need to do is get better at what you're already doing, and the issue would fix itself.
But it's not. The characters are cartoons, and you're reining in their range of motion based on standards that don't even fit their proportions. ^^; Doesn't really make a lot of sense.

I'm not saying to let them go full rubberhose or anything, just ease up on your corrections. Like, if you draw a gesture in a way that looks good, even though you know it's not 100% realistic...maybe try just leaving it there? Try to get into the habit of emphasizing aesthetic over accuracy, and see what you can learn.

I think that's something a lot of artists struggle with. When I first started trying to study anatomy, all my poses looked stiff, too. ^^;
I actually got better at doing realistic styles AFTER I got into studying cartoons: when you learn lots of basic, general rules for moving bodies and where things are supposed to go, you can look back at realistic drawings and see where they all came from. Everything starts to make more sense in both directions.

Like, for example, you know how some cartoon fists are drawn like this, with the index finger poking out?

It feels kind of extra, but it's actually a good example of a general rule I call the 'loose index finger'.

Make a gentle fist with your own hand-- it's not gonna look as exaggerated as that, but you'll notice that the index finger is noticeably higher up than the others, due in part to the slanted ridge of the thumb muscles in your palm.

But this rule isn't limited to fists: in dozens of hand gestures, you'll find that the index finger is either higher or lower than the other fingers to a large degree. It always seems to be especially separated, off doing its own thing...cartoonists love to exaggerate this for effect.
And if you take this concept back to a more realistic context, you'll find you can use it to make gestures look much more purposeful and directed. Good hand and finger placement can often breathe life into otherwise static poses, so it's a valuable skill to gain.

And that's just one example. Like I said in another thread, study cartoons too! They can help you learn anatomy much more than you think.

lexandlyza 2021-08-01 19:17:17 UTC #6

What helped me a lot is this website called JustSketch.me there's a relatively good variety of bodies which you can position however you want and the shapes are quite simple, so you can easily get the anatomy right.

darthmongoose 2021-08-01 20:55:31 UTC #7

After looking at the pages, I think I see the issue and it's a pretty common one that a lot of anatomy books and tutorials don't teach; humans (or um... orcs, in this case?) are mostly kinda squishy and can squish in on ourselves a lot.

At the moment, you're drawing your characters like those figma dolls. Not badly proportioned, but quite stiff because they're made of plastic and can't squash in on themselves. You need to bend your characters at the waist and slouch the shoulders. Though I will note one area where the anatomy is off in most panels, which is that the neck should connect a bit further back on the head. A common issue is people putting the neck under the head and pointing straight up like the head is a lollipop, but actually the neck is a continuation of the spine, it connects to the back of the head, and even when you stand up straight, it's at a slight diagonal or a little curved. Knowing that the "pivot point" for the head is at the back always helps me with the range of movement a head can have.

Another thing is.... clothes! So on one of the pages, a character raises his arm to wave and he's wearing a tailored italian cut suit jacket that judging from how it pinches at the waist is currently buttoned up. So the whole suit should actually get pulled up a bit like this:

Clothes can be incredibly effective for emphasising movement and adding dynamism, or for creasing to emphasise slouching. Honestly it's always funny that when people think "life drawing" they think "drawing people naked". It's valuable to do a mixture of both so you can see the connection between how the body moves and rests and how that affects fabric wrapped around it.

ZatchZ 2021-08-02 03:32:55 UTC #8

That's the issue, you're trying to learn anatomy. What you should be doing is copying anatomy. Look up reference poses or play with a super articulated action figure with a base so that you can draw poses.

The difference between a pose that looks stiff and a pose that feels lively is being DYNAMIC!!
The issue with your poses is that looks like the subjects look like they completed an action and are staying still for the camera, awkwardly. Their clothes to straight, stiff and jagged.

Think about capturing moments in time.

Tooting my own horn, look at these poses in my own web comic.
https://tapas.io/episode/1511463
https://tapas.io/episode/1497635
https://tapas.io/episode/1521743
https://tapas.io/episode/1662679
https://tapas.io/episode/2222508

It's about direction.

I've drawn up some crude drawings to demonstrate.
To avoid copyright infringement, let's call them Dirby.
As you can see demonstrated below, I have Dirby looking up, which pose looks dynamic?

If you chose the bottom one because of the arrow, then you'd be right. Because when Dirby looks up, Dirby also moves their body along.

Next let's look Dirby run, which of the following looks like Dirby is running?

If you chose any of the latter two, then you'd be right.

What's the difference? In the first image, Dirby has their legs at each side, which might imply a walk or a trot, but not a definite.
The second image implies that Dirby is having a nice casual stroll. Not really running. Notice the eyes and how it's pointing away slightly from the direction that Dirby is walking towards.
In the third image, you can definitely tell that Dirby is running. Eyes pointed in the direction that they're heading towards and feet in a position as if they're switching between strides.

Next, move on to something more humanoid, we'll call this Dirby's brother, Dod.

I don't have to ask which image looks more alive. It's the one on the right. How come though? Not because of curves, but because of implied motion. The way Dod tilts implies that he shifted his weight in a 3D space. Even though Dod is not animated, you can assume that Dod did in fact tilt and shrugged his shoulders. The magic of the human brain is that it looks at things and it makes connections before you even realize it.

This image represents engagement. Something that should be carried in from theatre to comics is to NEVER turn your back to the audience. It breaks engagement and leaves the audience alienated. You want your audience to feel what your character is feeling. You want the subject feel alive, not be alive.

Final case, exaggerate. Just because you have a pose down, doesn't mean it conveys what you're trying to say or what you're trying to picture. Body language is a huge factor in comics. Imagine that your audience can't understand what your comic is saying because it's in a foreign language of sorts. What's the next best thing that they can interpet? Body language!

Take for instance this Scrooge McDuck Comic. You probably don't understand what they're saying, but you can probably interpret from the body language what is going on.

So if your character is afraid of something or cowering at the thought of something, make it so that they dread the thought of it. As if the thought itself was real and that they're physically cowering away from the thought to the point where they have to sink down, maybe lift their feet up, slowly scrunch into a fetal position because that's the last place that they were last comfortable in.

So what's the lesson here?
Anatomical poses =/= Dynamic Poses!
Your poses need intent, purpose, and most of all DIRECTION!!

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talks.
If you haven't already, please visit my webcomic Zeta Bits for zany poses that POP!!