One Knee, Looking UpPose Reference
Camera angles
One Knee, Looking Up is a low half kneel: right knee down, left knee raised above the hip, elbow on that knee, chin in hand and eyes lifted upward.
Tags: kneelingfigure drawingfull bodyone kneechin in hand
How to draw the One Knee, Looking Up pose
three-quarter view 
side view 
back view 
high-angle view
The hips sit low and back. The right knee and shin lie on the floor with the toes pointed, while the left foot is planted flat well forward, pushing the left knee up above hip height. The torso folds forward over that raised knee, and the left forearm rests along it so the hand can cradle the chin. The right arm reaches down to the kneeling thigh, the hand resting near its knee. Against all that forward lean, the neck tips back and the face turns upward, so the hand supports a lifted head rather than a lowered one. With a head height near 94 cm, the figure is compact and close to the ground.
Begin with the triangle made by the forward shin, the raised thigh and the leaning back; the side view from the figure's left lays it out clearly. In the front view the raised knee overlaps the belly and the left forearm becomes a near-vertical strut in front of the chest. The three-quarter angle reveals the planted foot and how far ahead of the hips it sits. From behind you see the kneeling shin, its sole and the curved back. The high angle is the most expressive: it looks down on the bowed shoulders while the face tilts up toward the camera.
More on angles and common mistakes
Mistakes to avoid: letting the hand push the chin down, pulling the forward foot in until the pose collapses into a squat, dropping the raised knee below the hips, and lifting the rear knee off the floor. This kneeling on one knee looking up pose works for daydreaming, stargazing, waiting on someone who stands above, and quiet listening scenes. No second figure appears; whoever the gaze meets must be added.
Edit this pose: lift the chin a few centimetres off the hand and turn the head slightly toward the raised knee, which shifts the mood from patient waiting to sudden interest.
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.
One Knee, Looking Up 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 in a low half kneel, right knee and shin on the floor, left foot planted forward with the left knee raised high. The torso leans over the raised knee, the left elbow rests on it with the hand under the chin, the right hand on the kneeling thigh, head tipped back looking up.
Midjourney
full body person half kneeling on one knee, right knee down, left knee raised high, elbow on knee, chin in hand, torso leaning forward, head tilted back, looking up, other hand on thigh, plain background --ar 2:3 --style raw
Stable Diffusion
1person, full body, kneeling on one knee, half kneel, one knee up, foot planted, elbow on knee, chin in hand, hand on thigh, leaning forward, head back, looking up, pensive, pointed rear foot, three quarter view, plain background
Negative prompt
both knees down, squatting, standing, looking down, head bowed, hand pushing face, rear knee lifted, raised knee below hips, straight back, extra arms, extra legs, extra fingers, bad anatomy, cropped feet, chair
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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