Back Arch, Arms UpPose Reference
Camera angles
Back Arch, Arms Up plants both heels hip-width apart and sweeps open hands overhead in a wide V reaching behind the head while the chest lifts.
Tags: leaning backfigure drawingfull bodyarms upback arch
How to draw the Back Arch, Arms Up pose
three-quarter view 
side view 
back view 
high-angle view
The feet stay flat and the legs straight, with the weight centred over both heels. Above the hips the spine arches back gently: the lower ribs lift, the chest opens and the shoulders travel behind the ankles. Both arms rise from the shoulders in a wide V and keep going past vertical, so the hands end up a little behind the head, palms open and fingers spread. The head tips back with the arch and the gaze climbs past the hands toward the ceiling. The arms carry the bend upward, so the line from pelvis to fingertip reads as one curve rather than a torso with two sticks attached.
Viewed from the figure's left, the arms and torso form a single bow that leans back over the vertical legs, the hands the furthest point behind the heels. Use that profile to set the angle of the arms; from the front they look like an ordinary raised V and the arch is invisible except for the shortened neck and the lifted chin. The back view shows the head dropping back between the raised upper arms. The low angle exaggerates the height of the reach and is a good choice for a triumphant shot.
More on angles and common mistakes
Unlike a jump or a tiptoe stretch, the heels never leave the floor, so do not lift the feet. The most frequent mistake is bending the arms at the elbow, which kills the reach; the second is pushing the belly so far forward that the knees lock back. The arch is moderate, and the hips stay over the feet. Make sure the hands are drawn open, since the mannequin's spread fingers are part of the expression.
Choose this back arch arms up pose for celebrating a win, greeting the sunrise, stretching after waking, or a character shouting to the sky in relief. Edit this pose by turning the palms to face each other and bringing the hands closer, and the V narrows into a prayer-like reach; or bend one elbow to break the symmetry.
Free to use (CC0). The pose images on this page are released under CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication). Use them for drawing practice, commercial illustration, reference sheets or AI image generation; no attribution is required. A credit to PoseMaker is appreciated but optional.
Back Arch, Arms Up pose prompt
Copy a prompt for your AI image generator. Pair it with the OpenPose skeleton in ControlNet so the generated character matches this exact pose.
General prompt
A person stands with feet hip-width apart and heels flat, both arms sweeping up overhead in a wide V with open hands reaching slightly behind the head. The chest lifts into a gentle backward arch and the head tips back to look up past the hands. Plain background.
Midjourney
full body person standing with feet hip-width apart, both arms raised overhead in a wide V, open hands with spread fingers, gentle backward arch, chest lifted, head tipped back looking up, joyful mood, plain background --ar 2:3 --style raw
Stable Diffusion
1person, full body, standing, arms up, arms raised, v arms, outstretched arms, spread fingers, back arch, arched back, leaning back, head back, looking up, joyful, side view, plain background
Negative prompt
bent elbows, arms straight forward, standing on tiptoe, jumping, hips thrust forward, looking down, closed fists, arms parallel, extra arms, extra fingers, bad anatomy, cropped feet
OpenPose skeleton for ControlNet
Load the PNG into a ControlNet OpenPose unit (preprocessor: none), or import the JSON into an OpenPose editor.
Have a photo of the pose you want?
Upload it to Photo to Pose. We detect the pose in your browser and put it on the mannequin, ready to adjust.