W-SittingPose Reference
Camera angles
W-Sitting places the figure on the floor between its own heels, knees together in front and both shins folded back and out to form the letter W.
Tags: sittingfigure drawingfull bodyw sittingkneeling
How to draw the W-Sitting pose
three-quarter view 
side view 
back view 
high-angle view
The pelvis rests directly on the floor in the gap between the feet, lower than it would be in a kneel on the heels. Both thighs point forward and almost touch, the knees bend fully, and the shins lie flat as they angle back and outward, with the tops of the feet down and the soles turned up. That spread of shins gives a very low, very wide base, so the upright torso needs no help from the arms. The hands simply rest on the thighs near the knees, and the head dips a little forward and to one side, a quiet, attentive tilt.
Choose the view by what you need to explain. The high angle and the back view are where the W actually shows: you see both shins fan out from the seat like the arms of the letter. From the front the shins vanish behind the thighs and only the feet peek out at the sides. The side view, from the figure's left, hides the far leg completely and reads almost like a kneel, so never rely on it alone. The three-quarter view sorts out the overlap of the hands on the knees.
More on angles and common mistakes
Many drawings slip into seiza by sitting the hips on top of the heels; here the seat is lower and the feet sit outside it. Another error is drawing the toes curled under, as if the figure could spring up. Keep the knees closed; once they spread, the shape becomes a frog sit. Not every real body rotates at the hip enough to sit like this comfortably, so it suits flexible characters best.
The w sitting pose appears constantly in pictures of children playing on the floor, in anime and manga scenes of a character settled on a rug, and in dancers' warm-ups. The mannequin sits on nothing but its shadow; the mat or carpet is yours to add. Edit this pose: move both hands to the floor between the knees and tip the head the opposite way for a more curious version.
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.
W-Sitting 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 sits on the floor in a W position: knees together in front, both shins folded back and out to the sides with the tops of the feet on the floor. Upright torso, hands resting on the thighs near the knees, head tilted slightly forward and to one side. Plain background.
Midjourney
full body person w-sitting on the floor, knees together, shins folded out to both sides, tops of feet down, upright back, hands resting on thighs, gentle head tilt, calm, plain background --ar 2:3 --style raw
Stable Diffusion
1person, full body, w sitting, sitting on floor, knees together, legs folded outward, feet out to sides, soles up, hands on thighs, upright posture, head tilt, calm, from above, high angle, plain background
Negative prompt
seiza, sitting on heels, knees apart, cross-legged, toes tucked under, hands on floor, leaning back, standing, chair, extra legs, extra arms, extra fingers, bad anatomy, cropped feet
OpenPose skeleton for ControlNet
Load the PNG into a ControlNet OpenPose unit (preprocessor: none), or import the JSON into an OpenPose editor.
Have a photo of the pose you want?
Upload it to Photo to Pose. We detect the pose in your browser and put it on the mannequin, ready to adjust.