ratcreature | how to draw female comic characters (according to Wizard)...

brown_betty asked for examples "to illustrate the exactly how and why female comic characters are illustrated differently than the male." And I thought, really, what's better to illustrate these things than the books teaching the style in the first place?

A while ago I posted some scans from Wizard How To Draw series on drawing female superheroes (here and here), and I thought I'd post a bunch more from the first book of the series on "How To Draw: Heroic Anatomy".

As everything, it starts with the basics, i.e. proportions. First the male superhero

The female example is similar, but slightly different, notice how he stands firm and straight, wheras she stands with her hips cocked a little and the leg thrust forward?

Also notice in the direct torso comparison below, how the male one is ramrod straight, but she curves and leans just a little bit in the same pose?

Now onwards to the chapter "Sultry Women". It even cautions you against overposing! Yes, it's not as if Wizard wasn't aware of the problems! (Their definition and mine of which poses are already overposed might differ slightly though, heh.)

Next, Michael Turner explains "Sex Appeal". (Or what he thinks sex appeal is.) Incidentally it also illustrates the meaning of "overposed" that was brought up in the previous chapter very effectively...

Finally for compare and contrast purpuses the chapters on "Superheroic Men" and "Superheroic Women". For the male superhero it is all about more or less ridiculously enlarged muscles as we learn:

Female superheroes don't have it that easy, they need to worry about tilting their shoulder, nipple and pubic lines attractively at all times, not to mention legs, breast size, eye make-up and hair:

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'd ask you to google "male privilege" real quick, but something tells me it would be lost on you.

I am not screaming. I am not whining. I am not crying. I am not moaning or griping or doing anything involving female dogs. I am calmly, albeit passionately, discussing what I think is wrong. Yes, it's a little tiny minor thing. But the problem is composed of many, many little tiny things, and it is only thought changing them that we will fix the overall problem: women are still seen as second-class individuals by many cultures.

Hennalounge is one woman. She does not speak for all women. I'm also "not threatened by big boobs." I actually have a fairly decent pair for my size. But just because she realizes it's fantasy and that women aren't meant to look like that, does not mean that EVERYONE realizes this. Would you agree that it's a problem that female celebrities, role models for young women, are airbrushed into physical impossibilities? Well, these superheroines are female role models for young men, and that's keeping it in your parallel universe when teenage boys are the only ones who read comics. Is it okay that, in this imaginary paper world, women are to be physically attractive first, and powerful characters second? Is it okay that, in this alternate universe, men are generally physically male power fantasies, and women are generally physically male sexual fantasies?

And, even though you're going to continue to pretend that, just because women have more freedom than before, we're not still "enslaved" in many smaller, less noticeable ways, I'm still going to call it. May not be five in a row, but...

http://girl-wonder.org/girlsreadcomics/?p=66

Bingo.

Hennalounge is one women that in my opinion speaks for confident women. The security of herself an knowing of truth from fiction is what makes her strong and confident. It is not a "problem" to exaggerate, pretend, to make appealing, airbrush or use makeup. Are you telling me you don't use make up or shave those pits? if this pertains to you then good lord. What can i say but ewww, along with damn near the majority of everyone else, unless they just enjoy the natural look. In other words there are extremes. learn to live with them. Educate those so called influenced, that it is not real.

Besides the total off-topic fact that visible body hair on women is in no way universally considered "extreme" (like say where I live it is really quite common not shave anything), nor is make-up default (you see at least as many women without make-up than with), and your weird "eww" reaction to either probably means you ought to avoid holidays in largish parts of Europe lest you be squicked constantly, I really don't care to have personal hygiene discussions and threads with trading of insults going on in my LJ months after this post was even current. So consider this the moderation notice, and this thread now frozen.

how to draw female comic characters (according to Wizard)...

Re: "Hippo" Crits....

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