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'd expect no better from these kinds of artists. For one, I don't really think they can draw well, especially when it comes to facial expressions (but who am I to talk?). One reason this is why I don't read these kind of comics. Go ahead, call me an manga freak, I don't care. At least in SOME manga women are strong and beautiful without having to have they're spines indented or big lips. And what about the guys? Why do they have to be so ripped they can't pick their wedgies out???? Why can't they be elegant?

BECAUSE THESE GUYS ARE OBVIOUSLY HOMOPHOBIC LOSERS.

*sorry* for the dis on american comics... D=

Well, to be fair, Manga isn't really any better. It has its own flaws, some of them massive ones.

Everyone man and women look more or less the same, body types never range from anything other then smooth looking with little detail on the bodies themselves. Everyone seems to be around the age of 14 years old and the hair styles and just looks are 80s American Hair metal bands to a horrifying extreme. Along with a same forumla is used in every manga where you have a main character, who always seems to fit "the one" category, and his cohorts in entertainment in whatever format who all seem to have more or less the amount amount of personalities and looks and attitudes and everything.

Very repetitious, which is a reason I tend to steer away from contemporary mangas. The massive eyed style of art as well gets sickeningly cute or is weird to look at over and over again along with the fact that alot oft he mangas, even serious ones always have a degree of silly qualities within them. Like two of the comical relief characters will just defy the laws of gravity for a chuckle on the reader's part to create some kind of mixed mood in the reading or some kind of break in the drama and seriousness of it all.

I find that so god damn annoying, that's what breaks alot of Anime series for me, if I see more then one gag, one electrical eye stare, one character that boucnes down a hallway from some kind of physical attack done to them, its over.

So yeah, Manga is no better when it comes down to it.(And I only defended it to be fair, at the heart of the matter this type of art style is pretty and in ways very nice, but it is proportionally wrong, especially Michael Turner's work, especially his. >.<)

Mmmm... Some manga are better than others.

A good deal of manga is virtually indistinguishable from the rest of that good deal. But some are actually creative.

Also, although manga also has lots of fanservice, at least there's fanservice to both genders.

But finally... Every picture in this book was so distorted it was nauseating. Manga has lots and lots of flaws, but at least the art is pretty and doesn't make my eyes bleed.

Oh, and finally, as a note on the book itself, or one of the comments, or whatever it was- Since when do comic books featuring more normal people not sell?

They sell, I just dislike the normal ones, they bore me or annoy me, take your pick.

And again, I was attempting to be somewhat fair on the matter though, at this point, I really forgot what the original point of argument was or why I even commented and exploded like that.

I appreciate that you got back to me however. :)

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

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