Character creation issue

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Pivera
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Character creation issue

#1 Post by Pivera »

Hi everyone! Sooo....I was in in the middle of sketching my sprites for my VN (Have a rough sketch of The characters) until i came to realize something....I cannot draw a cute yet femenie males. Which came as a shock to me cause i have no issue drawing females who always look femenine and cute. However whenever i draw males it always end up looking masculine. So my issue is, how can i make some of them look a little more femenin and cute looking? I never realized i had this issue... Here is one of he sprites i'm working on. (When i mean cute i mean thouse small/young looking boys in an otome or on an anime)
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King-sama
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Re: Character creation issue

#2 Post by King-sama »

You mean shota?? 8O or just more feminine??? your character does look cute, tho~ XD

these examples can be helpful~
-https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-stati ... 614-10.jpg
-http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-53w6DauMQrY/U ... rge+40.jpg
-http://i.imgur.com/LRIw5aA.png
Last edited by King-sama on Wed Aug 31, 2016 5:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Character creation issue

#3 Post by Pivera »

King-sama wrote:You mean shota?? 8O or just more feminine??? your character does look cute, tho~ XD
Yeah! That's exactly it. I just can't seem to do it. Normaly they look very young and pettite looking and all. I would really appreciate if i could get would get some pointers of what should be changed in order to get that look. AND THANK YOU!

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King-sama
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Re: Character creation issue

#4 Post by King-sama »

Look examples above might help? owo

also, I made some changes~ XD
CUTE.jpg
He needs to be skinner to look cuter and more feminine~

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Re: Character creation issue

#5 Post by SexBomb »

Hello Pivera, I have some advice that I think might help! Have you tried playing with the pose? Right now his stance is very rigid, which is generally a much more 'masculine' pose. If you cock him a little bit, maybe jut his hip out and tilt his head/shoulders a bit more, he will start to look softer and more effeminate.

He is already thin and has a pretty face, so I don't think you need to concern yourself with those details as much. Try focusing on the posture.

And for the ultimate bishi-drawing advice... if all else fails, just draw a girl, adjust some anatomy, and voila.

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Re: Character creation issue

#6 Post by MoonByte »

You may also want to try working with his face.
Round it a bit, make the eyes more open and the lips maybe a bit less wide.
Think in the lines of Disney: big doe eyes and a tiny round mouth and nose.
After all, most cute guys often fulfill the measure by looking a bit like a kid.

Then again, you didn't really answer King-sama's question:
do you want them cute as in Shota (young, cute, etc) or more like "Dude looks like a lady"-feminine?
For the first, just try to apply a few rules that go for children. Big eyes, big face ratio, small hands, round head, tiny nose.
For the latter, look at the kind of woman you are trying to assimilate. The sexy kind? Nerdy? Beautiful? Cute? Analyze the difference between them and then apply it to the guy. Looking at pictures of "Bishonen" can also help since those are by definition extremely handsome men where some border on feminine. In any case, make your guy not so muscular, change his pose to something either more energetic or erotic (Here's an example that uses a similar pose to yours).
Consider maybe adjusting his physical body in general: a wide hip is usually something female, slender shoulders as well.
A good look at young asian men might also give a few pointers since their faces tend to be quite feminine from the get-go.

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Re: Character creation issue

#7 Post by truefaiterman »

If you want to go REALLY feminine, I'd say consider the main difference between male and female bodies (thinner hips and wider shoulders) and apply it just a little to a character with otherwise completely feminine proportions. I'd say the face looks feminine enough. You may also want to consider the pose, as others have stated.
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King-sama
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Re: Character creation issue

#8 Post by King-sama »

Oh! Also, I would like to add that giving him a shy pose can make him cuter //well, to most people eyes ; p

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcvfjxhGLQ1r9fevg.jpg
https://slm-assets3.secondlife.com/asse ... 1313379612
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3541/348 ... a0bdb9.jpg

Hope they help!!

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Re: Character creation issue

#9 Post by Pivera »

SexBomb wrote:Hello Pivera, I have some advice that I think might help! Have you tried playing with the pose? Right now his stance is very rigid, which is generally a much more 'masculine' pose. If you cock him a little bit, maybe jut his hip out and tilt his head/shoulders a bit more, he will start to look softer and more effeminate.

He is already thin and has a pretty face, so I don't think you need to concern yourself with those details as much. Try focusing on the posture.

And for the ultimate bishi-drawing advice... if all else fails, just draw a girl, adjust some anatomy, and voila.
I never really though of that :o I never really experimented with poses that much before so i'm glad to hear you opinion. Hahaha, if i do fail i just draw him with the female anatomy then, lol xD Thank you for the help!

MoonByte wrote:You may also want to try working with his face.
Round it a bit, make the eyes more open and the lips maybe a bit less wide.
Think in the lines of Disney: big doe eyes and a tiny round mouth and nose.
After all, most cute guys often fulfill the measure by looking a bit like a kid.

Then again, you didn't really answer King-sama's question:
do you want them cute as in Shota (young, cute, etc) or more like "Dude looks like a lady"-feminine?
For the first, just try to apply a few rules that go for children. Big eyes, big face ratio, small hands, round head, tiny nose.
For the latter, look at the kind of woman you are trying to assimilate. The sexy kind? Nerdy? Beautiful? Cute? Analyze the difference between them and then apply it to the guy. Looking at pictures of "Bishonen" can also help since those are by definition extremely handsome men where some border on feminine. In any case, make your guy not so muscular, change his pose to something either more energetic or erotic (Here's an example that uses a similar pose to yours).
Consider maybe adjusting his physical body in general: a wide hip is usually something female, slender shoulders as well.
A good look at young asian men might also give a few pointers since their faces tend to be quite feminine from the get-go.
The goal i wanted to reach with this one was the shota type "look" (Although, i don't want him to look like a child but more like a teen i guess). However i wanted him to seem like the Sweet/manipulative type of a guy. And thanks for the advise and the refrences, i really appreciate it. >w<
truefaiterman wrote:If you want to go REALLY feminine, I'd say consider the main difference between male and female bodies (thinner hips and wider shoulders) and apply it just a little to a character with otherwise completely feminine proportions. I'd say the face looks feminine enough. You may also want to consider the pose, as others have stated.

Thank a lot! This will be of great help! ^^ I see, i guess i should focus more on the pose rather than the face. Well i better get started then, thank you once again~
King-sama wrote:Oh! Also, I would like to add that giving him a shy pose can make him cuter //well, to most people eyes ; p

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcvfjxhGLQ1r9fevg.jpg
https://slm-assets3.secondlife.com/asse ... 1313379612
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3541/348 ... a0bdb9.jpg

Hope they help!!
Thank you for the refrences! It was of great help! >W</

Ps: So i made some changes on the character :D So what i had done was to make him look a bit slimmer and changed the hairstyle while i was at it. Cause i though maybe he looked a bit rugish/wild rather than cute. I made his eyes a bit larger and the mouth smaller. I tilted the head a bit as well and changed the pose. (I made him smile cause i thought maybe that would make him look a bit cuter) So what do you guys think? (Gosh, i hope i did well >///< ) :o Appreciate all the help!
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Re: Character creation issue

#10 Post by King-sama »

Is this look is what you are looking for??

you can give him cute outfits and colors , too~~ xD I may design some

Edit: I gave him red cheeks~ lol
Last edited by King-sama on Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Character creation issue

#11 Post by YonYonYon »

Yea, making characters cute and/or younger looking is giving them bigger heads and eyes, smaller noses and hands. But if you seek for a teenager-like boy I'd recommend keeping the proportions more adult-like. Otherwise, he'll look like a toddler, lol

Image

Maybe something like this? I don't think that muscly boys are more masculine than slimmer boys, everything depends on mannerisms. But your dude does look manly because young people usually don't have that much muscle mass. So, yeah, making him slimmer will help make him look more boy-ish.

As for a more dynamic pose, there's a thing called flow in the body. That flow leads the eye in a pleasant way without making it halt, thus making the body look dynamic. Think of it as energy and force, dynamism means energy.

That flow should look more or less like this

Image

So the energy goes like this

Image

And when the flow is like this

Image

The eye energy goes like this

Image

and CRASH!

Image

The energy meets with energy and halts, thus making the figure look stiff. That's why symmetrical poses are considered boring. And that's why people find contrapposto and 3/4 poses appealing.

Image

So I tried to use this for the pose, and additionally his right arm should lead to his face through his left arm

Image

This flow thing can be done in details too

Image

Anyway, I hope I was able to be of help
ImageImage

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Re: Character creation issue

#12 Post by indoneko »

Pivera wrote:how can i make some of them look a little more femenin and cute looking? I never realized i had this issue... Here is one of he sprites i'm working on. (When i mean cute i mean thouse small/young looking boys in an otome or on an anime)
For shota type, try drawing your character with narrow shoulder. It also helps if you give him childish face.

Most feminine looking young males in anime tend to have the same body build as their female counterpart (minus boobs), especially for preteen and early teens.

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Re: Character creation issue

#13 Post by Pivera »

King-sama wrote:Is this look is what you are looking for??

you can give him cute outfits and colors , too~~ xD I may design some

Edit: I gave him red cheeks~ lol
Well kinda, since im going more for a teen look. However, this would be a great tips for drawing someone younger than a teen. And please do! I don't mind you having fun with him ^^ huehue~ And the cheeks, kawaii (>///3///<)/
indoneko wrote:
Pivera wrote:how can i make some of them look a little more femenin and cute looking? I never realized i had this issue... Here is one of he sprites i'm working on. (When i mean cute i mean thouse small/young looking boys in an otome or on an anime)
For shota type, try drawing your character with narrow shoulder. It also helps if you give him childish face.

Most feminine looking young males in anime tend to have the same body build as their female counterpart (minus boobs), especially for preteen and early teens.
Thank you so much for the tips :D I need to make sure to note this down somewhere so i dont forget (cause i have a tendesy to forget sometimes xD
YonYonYon wrote:Yea, making characters cute and/or younger looking is giving them bigger heads and eyes, smaller noses and hands. But if you seek for a teenager-like boy I'd recommend keeping the proportions more adult-like. Otherwise, he'll look like a toddler, lol

Image

Maybe something like this? I don't think that muscly boys are more masculine than slimmer boys, everything depends on mannerisms. But your dude does look manly because young people usually don't have that much muscle mass. So, yeah, making him slimmer will help make him look more boy-ish.

As for a more dynamic pose, there's a thing called flow in the body. That flow leads the eye in a pleasant way without making it halt, thus making the body look dynamic. Think of it as energy and force, dynamism means energy.

That flow should look more or less like this

Image

So the energy goes like this

Image

And when the flow is like this

Image

The eye energy goes like this

Image

and CRASH!

Image

The energy meets with energy and halts, thus making the figure look stiff. That's why symmetrical poses are considered boring. And that's why people find contrapposto and 3/4 poses appealing.

Image

So I tried to use this for the pose, and additionally his right arm should lead to his face through his left arm

Image

This flow thing can be done in details too

Image

Anyway, I hope I was able to be of help


IT WAS OF GREAT HELP! Thank you Yon! >///< I had never though of that and have always drawn things the same way instead of experimenting with poses/movent of the body. Not to mention the whole thing regarding the flow/energy within the body open my mind so much. That's why i decided to try out the whole flow/energy that runs into the body first. Thanks again :D

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Re: Character creation issue

#14 Post by Pivera »

Gosh....How long has it been since i been on here. Almost a whole year huh? xD Well im finally back, yay. Well let's get straight to the point, after all, i am here for a reason. I really liked the critique and advices that i got from here and i was wondering if someone would be willing to give me some more qrituqe now aswell. I have been absent for almost a year now but i have been practicing drawing during the time that i been gone. I would really love to get some pointers now that i am back. ^^ If anyone reads this, please help a fellow artist out. I would really appreciate the help that i can get. Ps: If i did some mistakes on here, please bear with me. I been gone for a whole year and don't really remeber how this whole thing worked again.
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Re: Character creation issue

#15 Post by King-sama »

Your style has changed!! I think it's pretty good! maybe the legs are a bit long, arms too, unless the character design meant to be like this since it looks like is a monster of sort..^^'
Also, welcome back

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