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:

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I found this on a Google search for drawing tutorials, and after reading all the comments, and being a LiveJournal user myself, I thought I'd post...

First of all, concerning Mike Turner: do not insult an artist for his personal style. Just because he draws unrealistic women, does not mean that he is a bad person or a bad artist.

Secondly: you forget that this is fantasy; it isn't real. Just because something appears one way in real life, does not mean that it has to appear that way in our fantasies, as well. That's the point of fantasy altogether: to escape reality and the ordinary. Fantasy is dependent upon each individual's imagination.

Just because they do not draw the average woman, does not mean that they are yelling at you, "You're not good enough!" I know the following will anger a lot of you. Just hear me out.

Even if people are stupid enough to bash women for not looking like these drawings (i.e. they are silly enough to be unable to distinguish the fantasy from the reality), that does not mean that you are "under attack" for being what you are. The rare few people who are idiotic enough to deny you for not being a super heroine are the ones who aren't good enough for YOU. You are not being called inferior, you are feeling inferior. There is a very large difference.

I am a woman. I am a bisexual. I am attracted to these fantastical women immensely in most cases, in particular the Turner and Lisner women. However, I know the difference. I do not expect women around me, or myself, to ever look like this, nor do I think that it is a healthy thing to aspire to. All of the men I know and have known in my life, even though they, too, are attracted to these girls, understand this as well. We aren't perfect. We have properly proportioned rib cages and we have internal organs. Our breasts are subject to the forces of gravity. I weigh about 115 lbs, I'm 5' 3", my waist is 26" in diameter, and I have B-cup breasts. Compared to the 105 lbs, 5' 9" height, 19" waist, and DD-cup breasts of the average comic book heroine, I'm short, flabby, flat-chested, and pathetic.

But I do not feel inferior while looking at them. Art depends solely upon one's own imagination. I idealize my men and women when I draw. Certainly not to that extent, but I am not about to personally attack, insult, accuse of some sort of intellectual crime, or try to boycott an artist because they don't do what I think should be done.

Once again, I apologize if I've insulted any of you, but this the way I see it. I could understand being upset over a comic book that says outright that everyday women are worthless; but even if there was such a book, I would still stand until the very last moment to defend that artist's right to create his tale the way he wants to. Because I want to preserve the freedom to create mine the way I want to. If you don't like the book, don't read it. If you don't like how Marvel, etc. women are drawn, then don't draw them that way. It's as simple as that.

And I apologize for elaborating on a similar point that was posted above. I didn't see it at the end there.

The problem for me really isn't realism or even attractiveness, but that the women in superhero comics in general are sex objects first and characters second, whereas the guys are characters first (even if they are also unrealistic and ridiculously muscled etc). Women, even though they are also readers aren't imagined as the spectators either. I *like* superhero comics, I wouldn't spend regularly over a hundred bucks every month on them if I didn't, but I would like them more if they didn't make me cringe quite so often.

The chapters dealing with female characters in those how-to books are all about sex appeal and attractiveness, the chapters about male characters and their examples are a wide range of characters from teenage sidekicks (which really could even with cliched stock characters be female) to armored villains. In the chapters explaining effective covers the ones with women are all porn poses, the one with men are sometimes fighting scenes, sometimes "iconic" poses (Batman looming, Spider-Man jumping etc)... it goes on and on.

You guys are douchebags. A bunch of jealous females crieing cuz they dont look that sexy. And guess what, no human ever will. Its a drawing, you have to exagerate certain aspects to make it look like you want. Get over it. These drawings are damn good, quit hatin on positions & curves & blardyblardy. Noobs

I find it entertaining that you can't find the apostrophe, nor consider this from another angle, nor come up with an insult that actually makes sense in this context. The comment that you replied to just explained precisely why most people here are upset - and it's true no matter what medium. TV, video games, comics, anime, manga - female characters are there to look pretty and sexy and get fans - and usually they're just there for that. Yeah, alright, they'll get an episode or chapter dedicated to furthering their characterization... but how often does it stick?

And wow, I just realized that all of this was posted over two years ago... Considering it still resonates and brings a strong feeling of disappointment to the media industry in me, I think I can safely say that it's not just about overzealous female rights activists getting upset.

If you really, really want to see people whining - why don't you search the "Sheik is male/female" arguments?

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

It's a matter of opinion.

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