Kneeling Hip ShiftPose Reference
Camera angles
Kneeling Hip Shift slides the pelvis to one side and tips the torso forward, with the right hand on the thigh and the left hand resting on top of the head.
Tags: kneelingfigure drawingfull bodyhand on headhand on thigh
How to draw the Kneeling Hip Shift pose
three-quarter view 
side view 
back view 
high-angle view
The hips sit back from the knees and shift sideways, so the pelvis tilts while the torso tilts the other way and leans forward over the thighs. That counter-tilt is a kneeling cousin of contrapposto: the hip line and the shoulder line slope in opposite directions. The right arm hangs down to a hand resting on the right thigh. The left hand lies on top of the head with its elbow raised high, and the head leans toward that lifted arm, closing the gap between ear and shoulder on the left.
Draw the two tilted lines first, one across the hips and one across the shoulders, and check their opposition in the front view before adding limbs. The raised left elbow becomes the highest point of the figure and the main accent of the outline. In the back view the same lines appear mirrored, which helps you confirm the shift reads from behind. The side view, from the figure's left, shows the forward lean and places the lifted elbow ahead of the face. A high angle reveals the hand on the crown clearly; a low angle hides it behind the forearm.
More on angles and common mistakes
Avoid tipping the shoulders along with the hips, which leans the whole figure over instead of curving it. A hand hovering above the hair rather than resting on the head, and a right arm that braces stiffly on the thigh, are other common slips. This kneeling hip shift arm up pose suits relaxed or tired moments, a character fixing imagined hair, fashion-style kneeling and gesture studies of opposing tilts. No hair is modelled, so the fingers rest on the bare wooden head.
Edit this pose: raise the pelvis tilt a few more degrees and watch the shoulders in the front view; the curve grows stronger without changing what the hands do.
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.
Kneeling Hip Shift 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 kneels with the hips sitting back and shifted to one side, the torso leaning forward over the knees and curving away from the hips. The right hand rests on the right thigh, the left hand is on top of the head with the elbow raised, head tilted toward the raised arm, plain background.
Midjourney
full body person kneeling, hips shifted to one side, torso leaning forward, opposing hip and shoulder tilt, right hand on thigh, left hand on top of head, elbow raised, head tilted toward raised arm, plain background --ar 2:3 --style raw
Stable Diffusion
1person, full body, kneeling, hip shift, contrapposto, hand on head, arm up, elbow up, hand on thigh, leaning forward, head tilt, tilted shoulders, shins on floor, pointed feet, front view, relaxed, plain background
Negative prompt
straight hips, level shoulders, upright torso, both hands on head, hand floating above head, sitting on heels, standing, leaning backward, extra arms, extra fingers, fused hand, bad anatomy, cropped elbow, cropped feet
OpenPose skeleton for ControlNet
Load the PNG into a ControlNet OpenPose unit (preprocessor: none), or import the JSON into an OpenPose editor.
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