Butterfly SittingPose Reference
Camera angles
Butterfly Sitting opens the wooden figure's knees to either side, with the feet close together and both hands lowered near the ankles.
Tags: sittingfigure drawingfull bodybutterfly sitting
How to draw the Butterfly Sitting pose
three-quarter view 
side view 
back view 
high-angle view
The legs create a broad, low shape beneath a comparatively narrow upright torso. Each thigh turns outward from the pelvis and each shin returns inward, bringing the feet toward one another in front of the body. This is a butterfly arrangement, not a lotus seat with one foot resting on top of the opposite thigh. The arms descend between the knees and gather near the joined foot area. Their nearly vertical lines provide a useful contrast to the diagonals of the legs, while the centered head keeps the gesture calm rather than dramatically twisted.
Place the pelvis and the two outer knee points as a shallow triangle before drawing the shins. Then identify where each ankle arrives near the center. A frontal view communicates the open knees most directly; an elevated or three quarter angle makes the returning lower legs easier to separate. In profile, compare the torso's upright direction with the forward location of the feet. The wooden rig approximates this folded position, so the shapes do not demonstrate exact sole contact, soft tissue compression or a guaranteed interlocked grip. Use the joint landmarks to understand the arrangement and refine human foot anatomy independently when needed.
More on angles and common mistakes
The most important error to avoid is switching the feet onto the thighs and turning the reference into a different seated pose. Also resist lowering the knees merely to make both sides perfectly symmetrical; a small difference can make the study more observant. The reference suits seated conversation scenes, centered character designs and exercises in tracing paired limbs through overlaps. Choose Edit this pose and move the hands a little apart along the ankle area. That creates a clearer opening between the forearms while preserving the butterfly silhouette. Examine the side angle after editing so neither hand appears to pass through a shin on its way toward the feet.
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.
Butterfly Sitting 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 sits upright in a butterfly position with knees opened outward and feet close together in front, not crossed onto the thighs. Both hands lower between the legs near the ankles. Show the full seated figure on a plain background.
Midjourney
full body seated person, butterfly legs, knees opening sideways, feet gathered in front, upright torso, arms descending between knees, hands near ankles, centered forward head, simple neutral background --ar 3:2 --style raw
Stable Diffusion
1person, full body, butterfly sitting, knees outward, feet together, bent legs, upright spine, arms between knees, hands near ankles, centered head, front view, symmetrical gesture, visible feet, floor sitting, plain backdrop, clean silhouette, relaxed shoulders
Negative prompt
lotus position, feet on thighs, crossed shins, closed knees, hands through ankles, backward feet, extra knees, fused hands, missing legs, broken hips, cropped feet, chair
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.