A male pose reference needs to convey the message that the artist has on his or her mind. Let’s start with the build. It could be a skinny little boy, a tall athlete, a muscular man, a sickly senior, and so on. The physical condition of the reference is important in developing the character for story-telling purposes.
The kind of pose struck by the model will also be crucial. Perhaps the skinny little boy is actually happy and jumping for joy. Maybe the tall athlete is walking with a hunched back and looking down because of a loss. The muscular man could be performing a pole dance routine while the sickly senior has his hands raised over his victorious chess match against his nurse.
The pose can change the context and make the characters show their inner selves. It can provide depth in a single frame.
