How to Choose a Good Pose for Your Fashion Drawings

Not all poses you see on real-life models translate well onto paper, but it’s helpful to recognize different poses and understand what types of poses work well with different types of clothing.

A fashion model in an evening dress doesn’t strike the same poses as a teen dude in an urban outfit. The fashion model stands tall and straight to show off the gown’s bodice and skirt; the teen dude is likely to assume a slouched pose to demonstrate how the clothing moves with ease over his body.

In fashion illustration, you utilize four different views of poses for most of your artwork:

• The back view (a)

• The front view (b)

• The three-quarter view (c)

• The side view (d)

  

To draw a basic fashion figure, you must first understand what a “good” pose is. When drawing fashion poses, follow these informal rules:

• Make sure your model isn’t leaning on anything. She should be standing on her own two feet.

• Keep your model from falling over on the page. You create balance by keeping the head, shoulders, hips, knees, and feet in a straight line from head to toe.

  

• Angle the shoulders in one direction and the hips in the opposite direction. Doing so gives the impression of movement and attitude — two must-haves in fashion drawing.