Portrait with folded arms
A square-on portrait crop closed off by crossed arms, with the shoulders brought forward.
Crossed arms in a tight crop take away the hands and much of the silhouette, leaving the face and the forearms as the two active shapes. The forearms cross below the chest, the elbows drop, and the shoulders roll forward slightly, which narrows the chest and pushes the head up a little to compensate.
That closed structure is why the pose reads as withheld. It is a strong choice for a character who is evaluating the viewer, and for portrait compositions where you want attention concentrated on the face with no distraction from the hands.
The drawing problem here is layering. In a frontal crop you have forearm over forearm, both sleeves crossing the body, and the shoulder line above. Sort them into three planes and keep the edges clean. Also watch the neck, which appears shorter because the shoulders have rolled forward, and make sure the head has not been sunk into the collarbones to compensate. A small amount of forward head is accurate; a disappearing neck is not.
Drawing notes
- Separate forearm, sleeve and shoulder into three clean planes.
- Roll the shoulders forward slightly to close the chest.
- Do not sink the head so low that the neck disappears.
Pose prompt
The description used to generate this study. Copy it into your own workflow, or hand it to the studio with your photo.
Adult woman, upper-body portrait, facing forward with folded arms.
Working notes
- A square-on portrait crop closed off by crossed arms, with the shoulders brought forward.
- Keep the arms below the chest so the face stays the subject.
Put this pose on your own reference
Take this study to the studio and generate a new image in the same pose, or browse the rest of the upper body studies first.
