Kneeling Back BendPose Reference

The shins and the tops of the feet lie flat on the floor, knees spread wide in front. Instead of rising upright from the knees, the thighs slant back at a steep angle so the hips hover over the calves without sitting on them. The spine continues that backward line and curves further through the chest. Both arms drop straight down behind the body like props, and the open palms press on the floor close to the feet. The head follows the arch, chin lifted and face turned toward the ceiling. With the hands and shins sharing the load, the figure stays low and stable, its centre of mass less than forty centimetres off the floor.

Read the profile from the figure's left as a ramp: flat shins along the floor, then thigh, torso and head climbing back up in one rising slope, with the vertical arm dropping from the shoulder to the floor beneath it. That open triangle between arm, thigh and shin is the key shape to get right. From the front the knees form a wide V and the arms frame it on both sides, so the pelvis sits deep in the middle. The three-quarter view shows how close the hands are to the feet, and the back view lines both straight arms up with the soles, the hands landing just outside the feet.