[zeebit]

Hey.
my mom thinks that all my female drawings look masculine. if anyone has anything they wanna say about this, please feel free.
oh yeah, no reference was used...
thanks
zeebit


[This message has been edited by zeebit (edited September 09, 2000).]

[Alcatraz]

Proportionally the figures are not entirely inaccurate but they are a little heavy... the thighs, hands, necks... quite often we superimpose our own physical characteristics onto the images we draw.

When I was at art school there was a middle aged man who wanted to specialise in illustrating wildlife books. All the animals looked like Brian somehow, especially the fish! He used photographic reference all the time.

You should spend some time drawing the female form from life as much as possible and trying to draw what you see, not what you think is in front of you. Try to develop a more sensitive line. Try drawing boldly in ink or without using an eraser and do not be afraid of making mistakes - the wrong lines help you to learn and improve hand/eye coodination. Look at some of Degas life drawing...he would draw the forms over again and again using transparent paper.

Try drawing larger; fill the page...this gives you freedom of line that you sacfrice using a tablet for digital rendering.

I have found that drawing stuff from life is like notation and improves my a visual memory and transforms design in a much fresher, truer more original way.


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"The final revelation is that lying, the telling of beautiful, untrue things, is the proper aim of art." - Oscar Wilde.

[This message has been edited by Alcatraz (edited September 09, 2000).]

[dEATH.Tool]

imo all you need is a bit of study! The first thing that I notice was that the female's shoulders were way too broad, the waistes are also a problem....they seem to thick and that lack of curves is what defines feminity. Go out and get a good anatomy book first...something that has to do with the anat as a whole! Focus on the body before the face is what I did when I studied! Maybe not the best way....but my way! Oh and don't forget to pick up your magazines....there's tons of references in them.....and imo it doesn't hurt to use refs when studing. Get something with a lot of women....one of those girly zines! I've heard that Playboy is a good mag for ref....I never used em! But please don't get a 100% porno mag....I hate porn (my opinion)....and it does nothing to tone your talent. LuCk!

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.we all have fallen victim to the evil which is ourselves.

[Dryfire]

IN my overall "study" of women, I have foudn that there are many distinct differences between guys and girls (Despite the obviouse), One is that there legs tend to be longer and more slender, yer first girl there on the left doesn't show that much, although u did get somewhat of another point which is that they have wider hips, Second is that they have more curves and single lines, try not to box them out or anything, just let it go with the flow, and third they mostly have skinny arms and the forearms arent much thiner that the upper arm. Hmm I hope this helps you and do that same as the others said, draw more women! There was a post around here a few days ago which was a brilliant umm picture of a female, i think it was two days a go, check it out, very well proportioned!

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-=DryFire=-
'Reality is just a dream'

[Rinaldo]

Whenever this comes up people always say stuff like "bigger eyes" "thinner" etc. This goes for comic book tricks and tomfoolery only. None of this is really true. What Dryfire says is a good way to make something look female but it is not how to draw females. They come in all shapes and sizes. A lot of the way that people tell is by pose and motion I would imagine. Shoulders bigger than hips is a good rule but definitly not always the case (especialy with the sort of athletic women that people draw for comics and stuff). Look at Frazetta, he basicaly ignores all the rules that Dryfire set out and his women look pretty much like women to me (hell yeah). In fact there are very few women that look like those "long leged" comic book heroins. Even super-models are more rounded. Not that there is anyhithing wrong with that sort of advice but it is at core untrue even if it does get you to drawing characters that look more female. Get a good anatomy book. Get some decent ref. I would levitate more towards a tabloid mag or a fashon one as opposed to porn. You get some drapery for free, a sense of friken design and good taste (ahem). and you don't need to be old to get them, (which might be an issue in your case....Heh I wonder what your mother would say to your anatomy after using that kind of ref).

Hope this helps

[SushiMaster]

Bleh... could you make the image a wee bit smaller? (like 10 times smaller). I can't even see much of it after waiting for 30 seconds...

Please be kind to people with 56k modems...

Daniel

[zeebit]

Sushimaster: sorry. I wsa in a hurry at the time. I will do better next time.

everyone else: so basically, they don't not look like chicks, it just seems like maybe i am trying to portray not quite comic style chicks thru a comic-esque drawing style. so i end up playing with the expectations of the viewer and i get a response of confusion. they do look like girls, while not looking like girls all at the same time.

thanks for your responses everyone. i plan on putting a lot of time into figure drawing this quarter at school so hopefully my figures will lose their comic-esque feel.

thanks again,
zeebit

[JaffaCAke]

IMHO the main things you have gotten wrong are...

the jawline: your jaws are very wide and and bulky-ly (sorry, bad English there) rounded. A woman's jaw (well the good looking ones) are usually pointed and thin like a triangle, nearly.

The thighs: they aint too bad but they seem just a bit too muscly. and you see how you start on a nice steady, slowly curving line then you get this dent inwards. which would look good on a man but thats not how a woman should be. It should be a lovely, slow and steady curve

The neck: it's too short and fat, try stretching it :-)

the lower face: when I look at your pic below I see a nice forehead but when it gets to the nose all the rest look scrunched up as if you are running out of space on the paper.

The butt: ;-) ok you got the right idea with the folds but it needs more curves. on the one to the left of the paper the butt on the left leg is really flat, you need to push it out a bit more

The hands: they look a bit bonny and manlike. a mans finger tips are rounded and flat but a woman's is like a point, like a spike of ice formed by the dripping water from a cave.

anyway when I think of a woman I think of slow curves and smooth edges and elegant points. It is far easier said than done though :-)

[SPike.CoM]

My advice is:
* Follow the guidelines above
* Get a Playboy magazine
* Start drawing the models in the Playboy magazine.

Hey I'm not kidding, it worked for me.
Eigther that or go to a nude-sketching class, it will really get you looking at stuff.

[mykscholze]

I agree with the playboy idea, your musculatory structures are incorrect for the female figure. Besides that the facial features great, keep up the good work