Thread 7765497

Over the last few months/year my focus as been figuring out how to draw attractive and interesting female characters.
What is it that makes my female character more or less appealing? Is my art style just not suitable for what im trying for or is there some basics im missing that makes them seem uninteresting?

It seems like your rendering and painting abilities aren't good enough yet to draw appealing features. You could drop the features and go for a more anime aesthetic or you can go into more realism. Gil Elvgren would be a good artist to copy maybe?

Everyone sexualizes women so much that when clothed women came out, they stood out like a sore thumb

Go against the trend and be more conservative, I guess

>>7765497 (OP)
This reeks of gacha. I dont like that.
>>7765603
This but with armor, cloaks and coats. All at the same time.

>>7765616
>gacha
What do you mean by this exactly? Like with the line art or?

>>7765497 (OP)
rendering and lineart not good enough for modern standards.
boring facial expressions, they look dead inside.
coomer designs make it look like fetish art, especially the bimbo in heels. just go full coomer that's what you're going for. otherwise tone it down for a more general audience appeal.
the lich is too generic/copied from Warcraft.

work on your rendering and lineart skills.
study facial expressions.
try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjiKlLE3NuI
for character designing.
pick a trait. cool/sexy/cute and make the design reinforce that. try to make them look like they have a personality.

>>7765652
thanks for this
no i dont think I want to do coomer art but id like to be able to attractive and sexualized women. Its not like a focus but its something I dont know how to do well (obviously)
Funny I had this video lined up in my que. Glad it will be helpful.
I think I have some rendering and lineart skills but I have trouble transferring it to women. It always feels wonky

>>7765652
this would be an example of a style id like to utilize but I suppose im lacking in skill to fully develop.

>>7765497 (OP)
The shading/coloring is just really not great. I know this is going to be a very /ic/ answer, but I don't get the sense that you really know how lighting fundies work, it's symbolic in a way that only comes off as amateur, like pillow shading, and some obvious form mistakes makes this very clear. Nothing feels like a real form with a sense of volume. Which is pretty important when you're trying to accentuate sexy anatomy bits. Form should be your number 1 priority with these, everything else is secondary, tertiary, quaternary, whatever.

>This reeks of gacha
Also this. I cannot see these characters being slotted into a world regardless of fantasy level. The snowflake runway fashion look just doesn't work. Apart from maybe the fox girl thing, they come off as wildly impractical. Even if you're doing high-fantasy designs, they still have to work in-universe.

They're also just... boring. I'm not feeling any thematic followthrough with these either. I don't get the sense that there was much of a 'character' intended with these, but more like they're a bunch of visual tropes stapled together. Like a naive assumption of 'anime cyber sword girl', but lacking any actual depth to what that implies. Your characters should still be a defined character, even if you're just doing one-offs. Even if you're just focusing on outfits, your outfits have to be doing something interesting and novel.

>>7765650
It looks generic, a combination of overdesigned outfits, sexualization and big weapons.
Having 1 is fine, 2 can be made work, but the 3 of them at the same time just pushes things too far for me.
If you want to sexualize women, go for it fully, dont try to mix it with other things, because it will clash and the end result will feel mismatched and forced. The things on the OP piss me off, dont make me aroused, because I can see that they are trying to hard to make me feel aroused and they fail because of it.
Disregarding the lolicon allegations aside, you should go an analyze Blue Archives character designs, if you extract the design from the kids and put it on adults you could see how and WHY they work.

>>7765497 (OP)
You have a decent base line in terms of general anatomy and themes, but also some very glaring issues in your work.
>Also try using more contrast between skin/metal/clothes, mono colored designs standout alot.
>Too many colors that are too similar in too little space. Makes the character look very washed, try zooming out or using diff brushes.
>You have an uncanny valley of details, not enough where its impressive and not too little to where its charming.

In the case of women being more appealing
>Work WAY more on the eye area, its the first thing people see in character art, yours is noticeably underdeveloped (specially the iris).
>Same face, same expression and same body problem - Atleast from what youve shown, dont be afraid try exageration or Asymmetry. For example: the rabbit gal would look tons cooler if the gauntlets looked more gigantic (same goes for the sword/armor of the cold elf or the ears of the cat lady). Maybe add some scars or defects.
>Your chars look too distant (like puppets or dolls), put them in unusual/cute/everyday situations.

>>7765497 (OP)
I was wondering if these drawings were all done in the span of the same few months you were talking about or not. Because it seems to me that your stylistically inconsistent. Which is fine, i think, as it just means you are still growing as an artist. Im not the best artist in the world but i would say that the upper right work to be the best as it is the most appealing, and showed your skill in a few different textures. The rest feel a bit lacking in the facial structure and are generally more muddy it terms of color and texture as the other anons have mentioned. I would also argue that the fashion choice, for lack of a better word, particularly with the blonde neko could used a bit of work in my opinion. I feel the fishnets, armwarmers, leather tube top and pants, and those straps, AND a spiderman glove was a bit much. Forgive me if i sound arrogant, but i tried a slight redesign with a bigger emphasis on the leathery material, i hope you like it. But i think you are well on your way to making it friend, i wish you the best of luck, is it that you are going into character design? Or do you just like drawing hot girls?

>>7765603
Gooner porn/"""anime""" "artists" dont know how to create a character thats attractive without making her a nympho slut or giving her a stripper outfit. Even famous risque characters like Rouge from Sonic are beyond them; its either sex or absolutely nothing at all.

>>7765921
You could say they lack the ability to see the differences in the designs and character writing that make people like the characters, and think everything is the same.
>>7765497 (OP)
>Is my art style just not suitable for what im trying fo
Yeah, this is it but not many people here will tell you this because they're in the same predicament as you.

yeah they look too generic, you're missing out on the basics. don't listen to the people complaining about how sexualized they are; sexualization doesn't play a role in whether or not they're attractive or generic.

1. they don't have a recognizable silhouette. especially the second one, she doesn't have anything that stands out except her ears, and catgirls are everywhere. the one that stands out the most is the first, since her ears are longer and her hands have a unique shape. the first is definitely my favourite. the third one is definitely going in the right direction.

2. they need more information about them in their designs. i don't know what their personalities are from their designs alone. what are their occupations? their backstories? personalities? aim to show that first and foremost.

3. their weight is unbalanced. the fourth one is very top heavy; unless you want them to feel unbalanced/heavy, aim to balance the weight in your designs. make the fourth's tail or boots larger maybe, give the third something on her hips.

also, work more on your values, contrast, and colour variation. the third one has very little of that, which makes her look incredibly unappealing. spend some time doing studies for that. look into different colour palette types: analogous, complementary, triad, etc. ensure you can tell what is going on in a design just from values alone- toggle grayscale on while working.

>>7765933
I think their brains are so porn rotted they cant even really comprehend the idea

>>7765897
Awesome redraw!
That one was an OC redraw so I can’t take credit for it. Yours is still awesome.
>>7765934
Generic is what Iv been told before but I can’t seem to make interesting characters without overdoing them.
>>7765937
I see what you mean, I definitely could improve there
>>7765695
This is great crit, thank you
I thought my eyes were ok but I guess I need to do more studies and improve.
Everything else you said I agree with.
I’m a little unsure what you mean by detail. Should I be doing more or less?
And I can put them in backgrounds but Iv been working on character designs so hence why there just white/grey

>>7766186
>Generic is what Iv been told before but I can’t seem to make interesting characters
well i literally just told you how to fix that? stronger silhouettes, show their personalities, stories and occupations in their designs, balance their weight, work more on colours. basics of design.
>I’m a little unsure what you mean by detail. Should I be doing more or less?
i'm not who you're responding to but do less until you've studied more. less will be charming, so go with charming until you get good.

>>7766260
Will do!
Thanks for the help.
Hopefully after some studies I can improve.

>>7765897
Blog? please

your lighting setup is bland and simple, it feels like the character is being lit frrom all directions, so it doesn`t create much room for focusing on areas where you want the viewer to look, and then everything else stays in shadows

i learned recently that a good lighting setup will generally be working to accentuate areas of interest, i thought the gauntlet looked cool, so i tried putting a light scene shining directly at it

i don`t have much free time, but it`s just to show how it can look better if you implement it

also, someone already said it in here, but it`s good to do minimal and simple designs when you`re studying, it`s quicker and your brain organizes stuff better (plus you don`t burnout as often)

>>7766795
stronger shadows

>>7766797
ngl, this kinda looks worse.

>>7766798
why

>>7766799
Very muddy, too dark for the background, and not really even accentuating the gloves.

>>7766801
nigga i' don't have time, i got shit to do
the point was made, now smd or do something better

>>7766799
Because you pushed it so hard you can't even tell the left gauntlet is a gauntlet, it just melds with her leg. Also looks muddy as hell as the other anon said.

>>7766806
tada

The leg armor is kinda fucking it up, but that's mostly OP's fault.

>>7765497 (OP)
Not trying to be insulting, but I don't understand the appeal of this kind of "character design" for adults. To me, this equates to "person wearing ridiculous costume."

I know he catches a lot of shit around here for his BBC porn, but Frazetta's women are very appealing because of how he draws/paints them — I mean, his very personal interpretation of proportions, fat distribution, posing, facial features and expression. Furthermore, he paints them in environments that make them even more alluring, mysterious and exciting.

Another example is Robert McGinnis. His women are very sexy not just because they are scantily clad but because of their elongated legs and feet, like they are believable but not of this world.

There are even some cartoonists who draw very sexy women. I remember a thread here a while back discussing the women in a political strip; people found them sexy even though that wasn't the thrust of the cartoon and probably not intentional.

Anime is sort of "attractive on easy mode," in that it presents a "type" analogous to the standard idealized face in classical/neoclassical art. The problem is we're saturated with anime and it isn't well suited to representing very different types of beautiful faces (although some manga artists, like Urasawa, manage to get some individuality in their characters' faces, this is the exception rather than the rule).

I'm rambling a bit here but those are my honest thoughts, FWIW.

>>7766874
>isn't well suited to representing very different types of beautiful faces
>manage to get some individuality in their characters' faces, this is the exception rather than the rule
As a simple example, when people who don't usually know anything about manga or anime see a manga or anime picture, they may say, "anime pictures are just pictures with big eyes, aren't they? "Are there any differences in the designs?" They are unable to recognize the difference between the two. This is the state of low cognitive resolution. People with the low cognitive resolution are unable to notice differences even when they are different, and think that everything is the same. People whose paintings have not yet been appreciated by the public are in just such a state. Because the resolution of their perception of the picture is low, they are unable to judge whether it is a good picture or a bad one.

>>7766874
>attractive on easy mode

This is largely true. And it's as much a curse as it is a blessing. It's an art style tailor made for a very specific mood and style, and it just does not at all work if you try to deviate away from that. You don't want to draw kawaii ugu loli trash? Well fuck you, it's the only thing you can draw. It's very very good for vapid spammable slop, and that is about it.

>>7766946
dont want to post the image anymore nigger? because you KNOW people will be easily able to just ignore you if they see it without having to read your shit? niggerfaggot

>>7766967
He's right.
>Anime is sort of "attractive on easy mode," in that it presents a "type" analogous to the standard idealized face in classical/neoclassical art. The problem is we're saturated with anime and it isn't well suited to representing very different types of beautiful faces (although some manga artists, like Urasawa, manage to get some individuality in their characters' faces, this is the exception rather than the rule).
Is just typical pseud nonsense from anon who hear about anime from 9gag.

>>7766977
sick samefag bro

>>7766874
>Frazetta's
I would love to paint women like him but im about 10000 painting hours away form that. Its a good goal but i think i need to shoot lower.
>>7766795
I like this alot actually,this shows what I can fix shadow wise.

>>7766988
If you aim low, you hit low.

>>7766989
Reddit.

>>7766994
I know, too much ambition for 4chin

>4chin
Kys.

>>7766989
Heres one I did a while back thats more Painterly i think. Dunno maybe its better then what im making now.

>>7767004
It's not much better for the same bad form fundies reasons. But using this style is going to fix that much better than continuing to cover up the issues with stock anime styling.

>>7767006
>But using this style is going to fix that much better than continuing to cover up the issues with stock anime styling.
Post your anime art.

>>7765497 (OP)
your faces look bored and uninterested.
your colors are muddy and aren't saturated enough
your noses need work
inconsistency everywhere

>>7767008
Sure.

And that isn't to say you can't do anime. There isn't some sliding scale of artstyle difficulty. They all take about the same amount of work to master. You might be 10000 hours from painting like Frazetta, but you're also 10000 hours from painting like Dino. And while being a bad anime artist might make it a little easier to attract viewers, it certainly doesn't make being a good anime artist any easier to actually achieve. What it does do, is trick you into thinking your bad art isn't as bad as it really is.

Why aren't you working toward this if that's what you want to do? >>7765665
It's pretty achievable mid-to-low-skill work, all things considered. And you're certainly not going to learn to paint a face like that by drawing anime pancake faces.

>>7766541
God bless friend. I never got asked that before, so that means a lot to me, thank you. Unfortunately i only post here occasionally. Hope to see you around again soon, though!

>>7767032
I suppose not sure whats the best way to go about fixing what im not confident in.
So far iv been told everything is wrong haha

>>7767043
There is no best way. You find faults, you look at what nature or other painters are doing, and you fix faults. Repeat. That's all it is. No special sauce.

You want to fix your form? Go study what makes things formy. Find a whole bunch of form tutorials and see if you can glean what the common threads are. Do some form studies. As much as I'd like to just give you an answer, that's really not how this works. Your eyes are only found in your head, you have to figure out how to see things on your own.

>>7767047
Understand, Suppose just gotta keep at it.
thanks for the time

>>7767032
But flat pancakes are yummy Fuji. Care to show OP how to be a great big character designer who slaps anime girls in front of pictures meat? I’m sure they’d love that…

>>7767234
Ey, that ain't any meat, that's the gabagool

>>7767041
sad.. what threads are you usually in?

>>7766946
>>7766977
This is funny to me because I was into anime and manga when it was a tiny niche in the United States. Ever heard of Animerica magazine? It was published by Viz back in the 1990s. I had a subscription until they stopped publishing. It was a beautiful, large-format English-language magazine written mostly by westerners who lived in Japan and were incredibly knowledgeable about, and respectful of, anime and manga. It included some serialized manga as well. I used to order anime on VHS by mail order before the internet. All of which is to say, I have a great deal of affection for anime. I'm not an anime hater. It's not a knock against anime to say that pretty girls in the medium tend not to exhibit much variation in facial features. They have large, sparkling eyes, tiny noses, slits for mouths, a pointed chin. Variations are subtle and a matter of degree rather than kind, unlike the differences in features and proportions between, for example, Anya Taylor-Joy and Sophie Marceau, picrel.

>>7767562
>tiny noses
I miss when anime characters had noses. Now it's just a dot or hint of shadow.

>>7765497 (OP)
put a smile on their faces to start, add some life/spring to their poses, you have some nice designs there and even if we're gonna call the "generic" card like some other anons have your issue isn't one of design originality but of life and vibrancy in your characters

anons who brought up:
>lineart
>rendering/values
>design
>over designed/sexualized

these are all secondary to posing and expression when it comes to the buzzword of "appeal", appeal is about striking an emotion in the heart of your viewer, at its core this means conveying energy through physical expression

>>7767647
>I miss when anime characters had noses. Now it's just a dot or hint of shadow.
I could take it or leave it. It has to work within a very specific style or it just looks off. Plus anime creators nowadays are deathly afraid to use still frames for some fucking reason so everything has to be constantly moving or they won't do it. In general I think the gestalt of media like animation is getting overlooked for visual fidelity and smooth animation, which is a shame because it kills an anime's ability to be interesting past its visuals.

>>7768226
I thought 1&2 where somewhat dynamic but I could have pushed it further. 3 and 4 are definitely not very dynamic.
Thanks for the crit