Arms CrossedPose Reference

The figure faces the viewer straight on. Both upper arms hang close to the sides, then bend sharply at the elbows so the forearms run horizontally across the front of the body at the bottom of the ribcage, one stacked above the other with the left forearm riding slightly higher. Each hand travels to the far arm and wraps it just above the elbow, fingers curled around the outside of the upper arm and thumbs closing in front. Because the grip is firm, the hands partly disappear behind the opposite arm. The shoulders stay level, the head is upright and centred, and the weight rests on the left leg below the frame, giving a settled, slightly guarded stance.

Block the crossed arms as one wide horizontal shape before thinking about hands; it should span from elbow to elbow and sit lower than you might expect. Then decide the overlap order, since the higher forearm covers part of the lower one and its hand tucks out of sight. The front view is the clearest for that stacking. The high-angle view shows the folded arms as a shelf jutting out from the body, the side view from the figure's left shows how far forward that shelf sits and how the elbows stay close to the waist, and the low angle shows the undersides of the forearms. Fingers that wrap an arm are seen only from their tips, so draw short curved strokes rather than full fingers.