Lying on Back Pose Reference

Start from above. The high angle is the most useful of the six views for this figure, because it lays the whole body out like a map: the long straight leg, the bent knee rising toward you, the left arm resting out on the ground and the right hand on the belly. With the head only about 9 cm off the floor, the front and side views squash the figure into a low strip, which is good for checking contact but hard to read as a full shape.

List the contact points before drawing. The back of the head, the shoulder blades, the back of the pelvis, the heel of the straight leg and the sole of the bent leg's foot all press into the ground, and the spine relaxes flat against it. The raised knee makes a tall triangle of thigh and shin with the foot planted. The left arm lies on the ground with forearm and hand in contact; the right hand rests on the stomach so its forearm crosses the torso. The head turns a little to one side.

A frequent mistake is drawing a standing figure and rotating the page, which keeps the standing curves of the spine and makes the body seem to hover. Others are a raised knee that sags too low to read and arms floating above the floor instead of letting their weight sink into it. A soft contact shadow under each pressure point anchors the figure.

Down at floor level, the low angle turns the scene cinematic: the bent knee towers in the foreground and the face is sharply foreshortened, an effect worth practising. Use the figure for sleep and daydream scenes, sunbathing, stargazing, picnics, or a character knocked flat in a comedy beat. In the editor, lift the resting arm behind the head for an open lounge, or lower the knee and cross the ankles for a lazier version.