7 Reasons Why Your Women Look Horrendous

There's an old saying that goes "An artist that knows how to draw beautiful women will never go hungry."  There's almost nothing more beautiful in this world than a woman.  Art attempts to capture that beauty in the form of illustration.  This is very apparent in comics through out history.  But unfortunately its a complex concept to grasp for many artists.  Drawing gorgeous women for your comic stories is more dynamic than just squiggling a couple of round boobs and a big butt.

Reason #1

The face of a women is incredibly important so if the proportions are off it will affect it tremendously.  Most artist have that down for the most part, but where it becomes insanely tricky is the expression.  A good deal of the attraction starts off in the face.  As an illustrator you must master the art of expression, specifically suggestive facial expressions.  A good exercise is to draw several faces from sexy advertising...or "other places".  You know what I'm talking about, don't make this awkward!

Reason #2

Hands.  Yes, hands.  Some new artists avoid drawing women's hands as much as Rob Liefeld did with drawing feet.  They can only hold bouquets of flowers for only so long.  I know it's a pain in the butt to draw those five to ten pages of hand studies but DO IT!  And remember to study WOMEN's hands.  Its so very surprising to see a drawing of a sexy comic book heroine with big gorilla hands.   Remember, thin and round off the knuckles a bit.

Reason #3

And while we are at it lets also mention FEET!  Same as with hands.  Go through those exercises and learn the correct positioning and movement of feet.  This is actually a big one.  Practice drawing toes from up close.  No one likes gargoyle feet on a nice looking women.

Reason #4

Character depth.  Personality.  The half nude women heroines in leotards might work well with the young adolescents but adults prefer to be romanced a bit with personality and character.  Don't make Latoya a black female just to have diversity in your comic.  Give her likes and dislikes, a genuine history, and make her real, in other words have her react to situations that stimulate mature thinking.  "No Don, I'm not going to be one of your side chicks.  Go play with your girls because you're messin' with a REAL WOMAN now!"

Reason #5

Drawing realistic and relevant hair.  You better believe it.  Women's hair is biblical.  You need to understand women's hairstyles and how to best draw those curls and shadows.  Please get out of the habit of drawing these 80's big porn star hair styles.  Your readers are palm facing and you're just not getting it.  Once again, use references.

(Continued in Issue #1) 

Create the Drama Through Expression

Comics are usually stories filled with drama and there's no better way to show it than the expression on your character's faces.  To really drive the story forward and emphasize the dialogue your characters have to show what they are feeling and how they are reacting to situations in your story.  The concept is easy to grasp but its in the application that artists have trouble with the translation.

There are many expressions to match the vast kaleidoscope of human emotion.  As an artist, especially a sequential or comic artist, it is important that you not only understand the expressions related to the scene, but also know how to draw it in your characters.  Facial expressions enhance panels and take them to a whole another level.  Make it a habit to practice human expression on your character when your sketching studies.

A few basic expressions that you need to master as a comic book artist are: happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, confusion, fear, and determination.  These are the fundamental emotions in almost all great comics.  Learn to build from these emotions like from anger to rage or from happiness to excitement.  Those changes elevate your scenes to create a much better story. Remember, characters need to react to situation and dialogue.  If everyone maintains the same level of seriousness the reader will find it difficult to understand the moon of the scene or even the whole comic.

Rather than starting at the beginning, how to draw a head or face for this matter, I invite you to explore the incredible amount of comic "How to Draw" books, as mostly all of them are very similar in that they introduce you to the variety of artistic tools available in today's market and the basics of drawing simple anatomy, such as that of the head.  No, we're just going to dive right in to some of the common expressions you will use to improve your comic panels and drive that drama right up there.  

Here's a drill that will help you start building your repertoire of facial expressions.  Everything is quality and time.  Take a sheet of paper, usually your sketchbook, and draw 16 to 20 faces per sheet, preferably of the characters you work with, and create as many different expressions as possible in a single view.  A single view would refer to making all the faces a front, profile, or 3/4th view.  Give yourself about 30 minutes.  Remember that working quickly will improve the quality of art per the amount of time spent.  You would be training yourself to make deadlines.

Each expression is a combination of eye brow positioning, eye exposure, and mouth shape. Learn to mix these combinations to form elaborate expressions such as despair, sarcasm, and a spark of insanity.  Practice these dynamic expressions on both male and female characters.  Don't be afraid to push the limits and try something new.