How to Draw a Person Standing and Walking on Tiptoe

Standing on tiptoe

I had a request about how to draw a figure standing on tiptoe. The drawing to the right shows the posture of a figure standing on tiptoe. Notice the tension of the figure's muscles. In order to get up on the tips of the toes the muscles of the calves and thighs have to be tensed. There is a natural inclination to lean the torso back slightly which is exaggerated in this figure because she has raised her arms and leaned her head back. The drawing comes from a photo, see it here.

The drawings below also show the tension of the muscles in the leg. The first shows a man standing on tiptoe and the second a woman walking on tiptoe. You can see that in both of them the lower leg is thrust slightly forward which will cause the standing figure to lean backward slightly from the torso. The gastrocnemius muscle at the back of the calf contracts, as does the biceps femoris at the back of the thigh. These two contractions cause the knee to bend slightly when a figure either stands of walks on tiptoe.

Left, standing on tiptoe, right walking on tiptoe.

An anatomical drawing of the knee, leg and ankle on tiptoe from Cunningham's Textbook of Anatomy By Daniel John Cunningham 

Cunningham's Textbook of Anatomy (Oxford Medical Publications)

Drawing Hands & Feet: Form, Proportions, Gestures and Actions (The Art of Drawing)

Comic Artist's Photo Reference - People & Poses: Book/CD Set with 1000+ Color Images (Comic Artists Reference)

More photos of people walking here.

How to Draw Posture and Balance in the Figure making a Forceful Motion

The animated figure above illustrates the follow through of a forceful motion. (Click on the picture to see the animation) In the animation I arranged multiple views of Bernardino Genga's study of the muscular anatomy of the Gladiator around a line representing its center of gravity. The torso is thrust forward from the center of gravity is supported by the left leg which is positioned beneath it and is balanced by the opposite arm and the right leg being thrust back. A similar concept, in this case the motion leading up to a forceful motion is  described below in the notes about Figure 19. from Trattato della Pittura By Leonardo da Vinci.

How to Draw Posture, Balance and Weight in the Human Form

Leonardo made an extensive study of painting in his treatise of painting. Along with many other subjects he addressed the portrayal of the human figure in action, showing how to draw a dynamic figure in order to bring life to paintings. The book is called Trattato della pittura By Leonardo (da Vinci), Preface of the life of the author by Carlo Amoretti, 1804. The plates reproduced here demonstrate some of the principles that he described.

Figure 22. The man carrying a weight on his shoulders illustrates how weight is balanced when a figure is carrying an object, as the caption states the entire weight of the object and of the man is balanced over a vertical line drawn through the foot which supports most of the weight. The figure bends slightly in a contrapposta pose in order to balance the weight. The right leg supports the weight, the left leg is thrown slightly away from the body. He raises the left hip and lowers the right to offset the weight. An imaginary line may be drawn between the weight on the man's shoulder and his right heel to demonstrate the center of gravity.


Translation:
CAP. CC. A Man carrying a weight on top his shoulders.
The man's shoulder that supports the weight is always higher than the shoulder without weight, and this is shown in the figure (Fig. 22.), the weight of the entire man and the weight he carries passes through the center line which passes through the center of the leg which bears the weight, the entire composition would be ruined if it did not do so, you need to ensure that the natural weight of the man is thrown to the side to equal the weight which he is carrying, you cannot do this if the man does not bend and does not lower his lighter side, and you cannot do this if the shoulder that bears the weight does not raise. By this means the artifice is found to illustrate this action.

CAP. CC. Dell'uomo che porta un peso sopra le sue spalle.
Sempre la spalla dell'uomo che sostiene il peso è più alta che la spalla senza peso , e questo si mostra nella figura , (Fig. 22.), per la quale passa la linea centrale di tutto il peso dell' uomo , e del peso da lui portato; il qual peso composto se non fosse diviso con egual somma sopra il centro della gamba che posa , sarebbe necessità che tutto il composto rovinasse: ma la necessità provvede che tanta parte del peso naturale dell' uomo si getta da un de'lati, quanto è la quantità del peso accidentale che si aggiunge dal 'opposito lato; e questo far non si puo se l'uomo non si piega e non s'abbassa dal lato suo più lieve con tanto piegamento che partecipi del peso accidentale da lui portato; e questo àr non si può se la spalla del peso non si alza , e la spalla lieve non s'abbassa . E questo è il mezzo che l'artilìziosa necessità ha trovato in tale azione.