Posing Characters by SVS Learn

SVS Posing Characters is an online class from the School of Visual Storytelling, taught by illustrator and cartoonist Jake Parker. It teaches three ways of posing your characters, from photo reference, from other characters' poses and from a posable model, and shows how to draw the same character from different angles. Along the way it covers the proportion, perspective and basic anatomy you need for convincing poses. The class has 18 lessons with about two and a half hours of video and five downloads, and is included in the SVS Learn membership.

A pose often tells the story more than anything else in an image. This class focuses on that storytelling role, with process demonstrations for the five poses illustrators draw most: standing, walking, running, jumping and sitting.

What You Will Learn

• Common pose problems and how to spot them
• A quick perspective primer for figures
• The bean and hose method for building a body
• Using an action figure, and placing it in perspective
• Drawing poses from photo, character and model reference
• Rotating a character to draw it from different angles
• Inventing new poses from imagination

Who Is SVS Posing Characters For?

The class suits illustrators who have designed a character but struggle to draw it doing things, and comic and picture book artists who need the same character in many poses across a project. It also helps anyone who relies on a single favourite angle.

It assumes some figure drawing experience; Figure Drawing for Illustrators and Introduction to Gesture Drawing are good preparation.

How the Class Works

The early lessons give you tools, the bean and hose method and the action figure, and the later ones apply them to different kinds of reference. The second half is a series of process demonstrations, one for each common pose, followed by printable exercises. Drawing along with the demonstrations, then repeating them with your own character, is the most effective way to use the class.

Course Structure

• Introduction and pose problems
• Perspective primer
• The bean and hose method
• The action figure, action figure perspective and applying it
• Poses from photo reference, character reference and model reference
• Rotating character poses
• Process demonstrations: standing, walking, running, jumping and sitting
• Conclusion, exercises and files to print

Price and Access

The class is included in the SVS Learn membership. SVS lists its Studio membership at $29.95 a month, and class pages show a $300 annual option. A 14-day free trial is available with a card and becomes a paid subscription unless cancelled. Members also get live events and a monthly art challenge.

About the Instructor

Jake Parker has worked for about 25 years across animation, comics and picture books, including projects at Reel FX and Blue Sky Studios such as Horton Hears a Who, Rio and Epic. He created the Inktober drawing challenge.

How It Fits the SVS Curriculum

Posing Characters closes Level 2 of SVS Essentials. After you have learned figure drawing, gesture, character design and stylisation, this class makes your characters usable in real projects by keeping them consistent across poses and angles. It prepares you for Level 3, where those characters need environments to live in.

Things to Consider

• Time: two and a half hours of video plus exercises.
• Tools: a cheap posable figure helps with the model reference lessons.
• Use your own character: posing someone you designed makes the practice stick.
• Next steps: Building Backgrounds for Characters in Level 4.
• Feedback: share your pose sheets in the SVS community.

Start the Course

Interested in learning with SVS Learn?

Start Posing Characters

For the full curriculum and membership options, visit the official SVS Learn website.

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Last verified: October 26, 2026