Day 26 // How to Draw a Running Pose

Things are moving along quickly now…today, we will be drawing people that are running! The running pose covneys a ton of movement, no surprise there. There are things you can change to make someone look like they are sprinting vs. jogging.

If you wish skip ahead to the RUNNING poses section, go to 25:14 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 running poses

My Observations

These are the observations I made when studying people in a running 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 running poses freehand.

Both feet are never on the ground at the same time

Legs are pretty much always bent

Body leans forward to go faster

Arms out and bent and elbows – one arm forward and up and one arm back and down

Hands are engaged – splayed fingers or in fists

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, running. 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 running pose
You will make essential observations about how to depict someone running
You will create a “Page of Poses,” a library of ideas you can reference whenever you need to draw a person running

Page of Poses

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.