Standing pose reference for artists: six stances and seven sitting poses to study, where the weight goes in each, a balance check and a 20-minute drill.
Good reference for sitting poses and standing poses shows where the weight goes. A standing figure puts most of its weight on one leg and tilts the hips against the shoulders. A seated figure rests on the two sit bones of the pelvis, and everything else hangs from that base. Study those two facts before you study style.
Look for the leg carrying the weight. In a relaxed stance most weight rests on one leg, the other leg stays loose, and the shoulders twist off-axis from the hips. Art historians call this contrapposto, and the earliest known example is the Greek Kritios Boy , made around 480 BCE ( Wikipedia: Contrapposto ).
The practical check is the tilt. If one hip rides higher, the opposite shoulder usually drops. When you copy a standing reference, draw one line through the hips and one through the shoulders first. If the two lines are parallel, the figure will read as stiff, however well the outline is drawn.
Three things to note on every standing photo:
Which foot is under the head. That is usually the engaged leg, the one carrying the weight.
Which knee is softer. The free leg bends slightly and often turns outward.
Where the ribcage sits against the pelvis. The torso compresses on the side of the engaged leg and stretches on the other.
Start with six standing poses that cover most scenes: a relaxed weight shift, an even stance, a slouch, a lean against a wall, hands on hips, and arms crossed. Each one moves the weight or the shoulders in a different way, so together they teach how a standing figure balances over its feet.
Relaxed weight shift. Weight on one leg, the free knee soft, hips and shoulders tilted against each other. The Doryphoros of Polykleitos, cast around 440 BC, is the classic study of this stance ( Wikipedia: Doryphoros ).
Even, formal stance. Weight on both feet, hips and shoulders level. It reads as alert or polite, and it is the hardest pose to keep alive, so look for small asymmetries in the arms and head. Standing at attention is the strict version: arms at the sides, heels together, toes apart ( Wikipedia: List of human positions ).
Slouching stand. The pelvis pushes forward, the chest sinks back and the head drops. Draw the spine as one long C-curve before any detail.
Leaning on a wall. Part of the weight moves to the wall through a shoulder or the hips, and the feet step out from the base. Draw the wall first, like the seat in a sitting pose.
Published 2026-10-04 on the Refimages blog.