I'm feeling discouraged because of my inability to draw women. I have an incentive to learn and that incentive is my card game, Blue Mist. My long lasting inability to draw women explains why male characters dominate the vast majority of my drawn fiction. I find men much easier to draw simply because men are all hard lines, shapes and definitively solid while women are soft lines, curves and definitively fluid. The stances women have are different from men, even when put in the same pose. There are poses women can pull off that men cannot, not without raising some eyebrows or looking absolutely foolish. Even in the world of modeling and cosplay, male and female cosplayers pose differently. This fact is one of the many reasons why The Hawkeye Initiative was insufferable.
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| Exact same pose but everyone complained that Spider-Woman was being sexualized as she was presenting herself to be mounted... SEE HERE |
Different topic, I know but related. The point is I want to get better at drawing period and I feel like women are the key to that. I've made (what I think, anyways) considerable improvements in my artwork and while I still have much ground to cover (landscapes, animals, shading...general objects...) I think the women I draw at least look like women. And at least I can draw a variety of women so when I improve again I'll already be ahead. Still, I'm worried my current art style is holding me back and I'm not sure how to fix that. Some artists can start drawing from any point in the picture starting at the hand or from the chest but I ALWAYS without fail start drawing from the head down...I'm not sure if that makes a difference though.
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| From then to where I am now...not much has changed... |
The thing is guys is that I don't feel like my women look feminine enough...screw mincing words, I'll just come right out and say it, I don't think my women look hot. That's not to say I haven't drawn women that I consider attractive, I have but not without considerable difficulty and concentration. I don't even mean drawing sluttly large breasted chicks just for kicks, I mean just drawing a female character in general and making them pretty, that's difficult for me. The reason I bring this up is because whenever I have people assess Blue Mist for the purpose of understanding the rules without fail THE FIRST THING they comment on is how much the artwork needs to improve...
Look, I understand I may not be Volkan Baga, but seriously?! My brother (an amazing artist!) tells me not to worry about such things, he says everyone has their own art style and art is a moderately subjective medium. He told me this while I was reading a graphic novel titled "Metropol" which had some pretty aesthetically displeasing artwork. And while I'm not saying the artist of "Metropol" can't draw what I am saying is that I didn't find his art enjoyable. Unfortunately, MANY feel the same way about my artwork. People even hesitate to call it good. Don't get me wrong, I'm not fishing for compliments, I'm just wondering how I can change my style up slightly to account for the new skills I'm learning drawing things digitally now. Stuff does get lost from the paper to digital transition and I feel like I'm adjusting quite well, but still women allude me. I understand I'll never be Bruce Timm, J. Scott Campbell or Jago (artists who draw some INCREDIBLE women) but I at least gotta try, right?
Maybe I just gotta try harder, practice makes perfect and all that...I don't know gang...I still have a long way to go when it comes to art and I'll be enjoying every step of the process. Hopefully, one day my chicks will look as good as Bruce Timm's...but I'm not holding my breath. Until then, catch you guys later.
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