Fencing Lunge Pose Reference

Everything in this pose serves reach. The sword arm extends straight forward at shoulder height carrying an imagined blade, since the mannequin holds nothing, and the body lines up behind it to reach as far as it can. Draw the blade yourself as a continuation of the arm's line, so hand, arm and weapon read as one spear.

Below, the front right knee bends directly over the ankle with the shin vertical, while the back left leg locks straight and drives through the turned-out foot. The mannequin's ankle cannot flex as far as a trained fencer's, so its back heel stays a few centimetres up; press that heel flat when you draw. The rear arm rises behind in a curve, a counterweight that balances the reach and gives the silhouette its signature hook. The torso stays upright between the legs rather than diving after the hand. With the head down at about 135 cm, the shape is a long, low base topped by a vertical torso.

Check the front view first, a near-perfect profile that exposes all three classic faults at once: a front knee drifting past the toes, a back knee that softens and bends, and a torso pitching far forward. Each one looks amateur, and the first is usually fixed by redrawing the front shin as a plumb line.

The side view looks along the lunge from behind the fencer, so the back leg and rear arm stack up in front of the reach, a good study for a duel drawn over the fencer's shoulder. The three-quarter view gives the stance real depth, while from above you can see the feet sitting on one line, as they do on a fencing strip. Use the figure for fencing sports art, swashbuckler and musketeer scenes, rapier duels in fantasy settings, and studies of a thrusting arm. In the editor, flip the figure to make the fencer left-handed, or set a second mirrored mannequin opposite to stage a parry and riposte.