Click DOWNLOAD to get the PDF!

Here’s something I do that will hopefully help you, too. As artists, we all need to practice to get better and every last bit of practice helps! Even if you just spend 10 minutes a day drawing, you’re that much better than you were before! We also occasionally have to draw things we’re not comfortable with, like dynamic poses and angles or men or women, and so on. By encouraging yourself to draw things you’re not used to, you’ll find yourself getting better over time!

This file is an example of something I use to encourage myself to practice and keep in shape. If you hit “download,” you’ll get a PDF that has two pages of tiles. Print the tiles out on something sturdy, like card stock, then cut them out and put them in a safe place. Each day, randomly pull one of the tiles from the box and spend about 15-30 minutes covering a single sheet of paper with poses that depict whatever tile you pulled.

Work loosely and quickly. Don’t strive for perfection, just try to get the figure’s feel. Try not to spend more than a few minutes on each pose -- set a timer if it helps! The point is not to produce a finished product, though. It’s just to sketch, to get the mind flowing and pour creative energy onto your paper. Again, don’t go for perfection or complete accuracy or anything. Stay loose and sketch freely! If you keep at it, you’ll be amazed with how much you can improve over time -- and it’ll help you overcome some of your uncomfortable areas! And you’ll have a collection of your very own pose references.

I’ve divided the tiles into categories and I’ll explain each one below. Don’t add the black-colored tiles to your collection. They’re only meant as category-markers.

Most of the tiles are meant to be fairly common activities or scenes. They’re actions and images you’ll use over and over. I tried to include a few unusual ones in each category, though! If you get stumped, try looking through stock photography for ideas!

Getting around -- Methods of getting from here to there.

Around the House -- Casual activities you do at home.

Fighting -- Combat-related actions and different fighting styles!

Body Types -- A range of body types from emaciated to obese.

Emotions -- Emotions to help you portray feeling with body language! For added challenge, don’t draw any facial features. See if you can convey the emotion using only the figure!

Grab Bag -- A catch-all category for assorted other actions and verbs.

Open-Ended Words -- This is the tricky category! I listed several words that don’t necessarily evoke a clear and immediate image. Rather than simple verbs like “walk,” you get words like “supervise” that can be visually interpreted in a wide variety of ways. Remember, there is no correct way to draw these -- just draw whatever comes to mind. What is important here is how you interpret the words.

If you’re stumped, look the word up in a thesaurus. I recommend a thesaurus over a dictionary for this because you will get other words from a thesaurus. Some of those words may evoke an image in your mind.

Remember, keep it all loose, work quickly, and have fun!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Been meaning to do this for a long time, finally got around to it. Let me know if you use it and if it helps!

If you have any suggestions or comments, those are also welcome. I'm going to make other charts with different words and categories over time, so keep an eye out.