Kneeling Lean BackPose Reference

The hips sit a little behind the knees, so each thigh slants back from its kneecap instead of standing upright. The torso keeps going in that direction, the neck tips far back and the face ends up pointing at the ceiling. The result is one long curve that starts at the knees, runs through the belly and chest and finishes under the chin. Both arms follow the front of the thighs downward, the hands lying near the knees where they act as light reminders of the leg line rather than as supports. Weight stays over the shins; with a centre of mass about 55 cm high, the slanted thighs counterbalance the leaning chest.

Make the side view, from the figure's left, your master drawing, because it is the only angle where the whole arc reads as a single stroke. From the front the face vanishes: you see the underside of the jaw, the throat as a column and the top of the head foreshortened behind it. The high angle is the opposite case and gives the most readable face, turned up toward the camera. A low viewpoint enlarges the chin and the knees. In the back view the head drops behind the shoulders and only its crown shows above them.