Day 27 // How to Draw a Leaping Pose

It’s time to jump for joy…today, we have a lesson on leaping! This action is all about the body being suspended in the air, be it jumping, hopping, hurdling, diving, flying, flipping, etc. Observe how the limbs, hands, and feet are either loose and relaxed or flexed and engaged, depending on the type of jump. What fun kinds of leaps will you draw?

If you wish skip ahead to the LEAPING poses section, go to 29:00 in the video.

But be sure to watch the first 7 minutes of this video to learn how to create your skeletal structure.

Let's learn about standing poses

My Observations

These are the observations I made when studying people in a leaping pose. You can make these types of observations by completing the steps in today’s homework. These generalizations can help give you a foundation for drawing your own leaping poses freehand.

Lots of energy!

Bent knees due to legs hanging

Relaxed feet when in the air

Outstretched limbs

There are many different types of jumps

What else do you notice? Be sure to make your own observations as well!

Homework

Set up a Skeletal Structure

Watch the video tutorial to help you learn how to set up a skeletal structure you can use in your pose studies.

Get some Reference Photos

Collect as many reference photos as possible of the particular action you are studying, in this case, leaping. I’ve provided the images I use in the tutorial below, along with some tips for finding your own.

Superimpose Skeletal Structure

Use Procreate to trace over the photos to create a posed skeletal structure. Repeat this for as many photos as possible. This process has three important benefits:

You will become more familiar with how to set up the body in a leaping pose
You will make essential observations about how to depict someone leaping
You will create a “Page of Poses,” a library of ideas you can reference whenever you need to draw a person leaping

Draw the Pose Freehand

After making observations about walking from your page of poses, sketch out a running pose freehand. If you want, refine and finish your sketch with all the details, including facial features, clothes and hair.

Photo References

Two great resources for free-to-use stock photos are pexels.com and unsplash.com. Below are the photos I used in the tutorial. I’ve linked each image to its source. I encourage you to find even more reference photos. You can even take pictures of yourself or your friends!

Keep researching, observing and learning! I’ve made a Pinterest board full of additional resources to help you learn more about drawing bodies and poses.

This lesson is a part of a month-long series that will get you you familiar with the basics of drawing humans, and help you develop your own people-drawing style. To learn more, check out the People Skills Intro, or continue on to the next lesson below.