#someone draws a character as fat.

[moxley]

i'm about to make the lamest post possible: i rlly don't like comments like "feed that boy" or whatever other references to food when someone draws a character as fat. are you not capable of looking at a fat person without immediately connecting them to food.

i never, ever see comments about people's eating or food when thin characters are drawn unless that character is extremely thin, and even then it's usually with sympathy. i don't know man - i can't tell if y'all are fetishists or just fucked in how you think about fat people, and i'm really not sure which is worse.

[bixels]

I'm so in love with everything about your art!! I wanted to ask something about your MLP human designs in particular. all of them have really lovely and interesting face shapes/details. even though all the pony designs have the same head molds (save for eye shape), all the unique characteristics you gave them just... look RIGHT. is there a particular method or design principle you used? thanks for your time!! I can't wait to see more of your work!

It's all about shape language and how they inform a person's read on the character.

I talked about this before, but each of the Main 6 were paired together so I could design them in contrast with each other. For RD, I wanted her short hair to have a wind-swept look, as if she's constantly running. So bare forehead and hair spiking out at the bottom. She contains lots and lots of sharp lines and shapes to give her the look of a speeding arrow.

Felice, on the other hand, droops down a lot to reflect her solemn, shy disposition. I didn't want her hair to be perfectly straight though, as that'd suggest she spends a lot of time fretting over it and isn't outdoorsy, so I made it a bit of a tangled mess too.

In short, RD's features are sharp and point upwards, Felice's features are round and droop downwards. (Think Joshua tree vs. weeping willow.)

For these two, I specifically wanted to include non-Western facial features, as I found I haven't really included them in my character designs up until now.

Pinkie's bold and loud, so I gave her bold eyes, bold eyebrows, a bold nose, etc. I worked on Thea's nose for quite a bit and ended up abstracting the shape a bit to look more cartoony, borrowing from Pixar's Soul's character design notes. In cases like these, I recommend finding ways to simplify features and break them down into easily-recognizable shapes and forms (Cartoon Saloon are masters at this). The less visual noise, the easier their expressions are to read! And it's generally more fun to draw.

In short, diversify, exaggerate, and simplify. Figure out what works for you and get a little wacky with it. Character design is all about finding a balance between maintaining your voice and vision and creating something unique and lively.

[kyo-hiki]

woe, the duke be upon ye

[godbirdart]

if there's one [1] thing i will be forever grateful for in the internet era it's the vast variety and availability of pose / anatomy references supplied by photographers and models

i can go online and find PERFECT references for how fat folds crease the skin or how muscles wrap around the body and as someone who habitually draws most of his OCs ~modestly lean~ and wants to hone his skill in other body types, it is literally a godsend to have those refs so readily available

seriously, thank you all models and photographers for providing me the resources i need to expand my art skills i owe u my life

[mikatoonist]

anne maria! 💎💅

in my own headcanons, she’s def plus sized!

we need more fat total drama girls tbh

[saintbleeding]

[ID: Two digital drawings of Georgie from TMA, made to look like polaroids. She has medium brown skin, dark curly hair, and brown eyes. In the first picture, she is younger and thinner, and her hair is long, with artificial highlights. Her eyebrows are pencilled in conspicuously and she wears a light green sleeveless top. The front section of her hair is straightened where it falls over her face. She is laughing, and writing at the bottom of the polaroid says “End of spring term party at Kate’s, 2007 (the Night Jon Quit Tequila, Permanently)”. In the second picture, Georgie is older, her hair greying and cut in a short mullet. She wears a bleach-stained shirt and purple ghost earrings. She has one eye closed in an exaggerated expression of amused incredulity, and the caption, presumably written by Melanie, reads “Asked G if she would still love me if I was a worm… :(“. End ID.]

i just. have. Some thoughts. about georgie and what recovery, such as it is, would look like on her. also i love her.

[lethiepie]

its 2024 stop drawing willow park thin or skinny already

SHE IS A CANONICALLY FAT CHARACTER

FAT. CHUBBY. PLUS SIZED.

and we LOVE HER THAT. WAY.

[peridots-pixiwolf]

[Start ID. A digital drawing of Minos Prime from Ultrakill, who's wearing a strapless slit dress and sandals of the same deep purple. He faces towards and slightly to the right of the camera, his head is tilted further right. With one hand he gestures in a vague pointing motion, his arm folded and held close to his body. There is nothing in the background, but bracing himself on one arm, Minos is implied to be leaning against something about the height of a countertop. The background is a blank purplish black, save for three diagonal stripes in the colors of the bisexual flag. End ID]

Shading study that quite literally came to me in a dream two weeks ago, after this post apparently beamed itself into my mind

(also a few edits below the cut! they're very slight but whatever :])

[Start ID. Three different versions of the previous drawing. The first changes the tone of the lighting from blue to pink, and similarly the shading from pink to blue. The second replaces the faint black border with pink, purple and blue, syncing with the stripes in the background. The third combines both these changes. End ID]

[reanimatedgh0ul]

because i've seen that there are some dp artists that struggle with how to draw fat ppl i'm now going to share some sources that i have found that i think could help other ppl out

#1 tutorial

#2 tutorial

#3 tutorial

#4 tutorial

#5 tutorial

a link to how you can access morpho: anatomy for artists (fat and skin folds) for free

lastly this website is also another great reference source but you will have to request permission by the ppl in charge of it in order to gain access first as it's protected

this should be a good starting point and i encourage y'all continue to seek out other sources where you can👍

[sunsetcorvid]

me watching some folks draw Split skinny as shit (she is canonically fat)

[lucifer-kane]

the idea of fantasy characters having abs is so wild to me, there's literally no reason for it other than aesthetics, because really anyone who would be muscled wouldn't be in the way we know of, especially when it comes to things being that defined

[screwpinecaprice]

I know it’s not a question but i can’t help but appreciate the fact that you draw adult Steven as a chubby guy! We big boys need some positive representation in here. Also, i’ve been following you for almost a year now!

Btw sorry for my English lol.

Hi! It's very pleasing to know you've been around for as long! 😁😁😁 I absolutely appreciate the appreciation! And no worries, your English is super fine! 😁 (Relatable actually. I am also apologizing in advance if I can't exactly have my point clearly across because I'm not well at English myself! lmao)

It took me quite some time to learn how to draw chubby characters but it's so satisfying to have eventually. ( *`u*) (I mean, there's still so much to learn, but still.)

Having a chubby main protagonist is so wonderful to have. And a good kid at that. (Ngl I'm attracted to kindness. haha So of course it's very important to me that he's fat AND kind.)

Also design-wise, I personally think it fits his character so well. Soft and huggable, shaped like a friend. Thick arms to hug people with snuggly. Body wide like a shield. etc. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And I just really like to capture these elements when I draw him as an adult. Also that it's just fun to draw.

Simply personal thoughts about it, nothing against any other ways he's being portrayed by others of course.

[lesbiandardevil]

im gonna have to be so strong during artfight this year i fear

[honeybyte]

there is one thing that bothers me a little bit on here, and that's the definition of "chubby" that's applied to some of my designs.

i'm kind of known for putting weight on my characters, and that's good, that's what i wanted! people have weight to them, they have fat and muscle and organs, and i want that to be felt when i draw, it's important to me.

however.

some of the characters i draw will be skinny little things, or have a lot of muscle, and people will interpret that as fat or chubby. i do draw fat/chubby characters, but some people will apply that to any character i draw, and it feels like some of ya'll have lost the plot of what fat characters actually look like.

[lunathewafflelord]

I see a lot of art tutorial posts saying how to draw black people or fat people (just some examples I see most often, I’m sure this applies to other things) and a lot of them say “if you don’t draw x people well you’re a bad artist” and many people comment that on art posts where someone doesn’t draw a character’s body type (or other physical trait) accurately because apparently they didn’t even try to represent their body accurately.

Personally, I think it’s a bad message to tell people they’re a bad artist for not drawing certain traits accurately. While it may help some people, for many it’ll just discourage them from drawing as they feel like their art is bad.

Many people genuinely are trying their best at drawing certain body types or physical features, but since they’re still practicing it’s not going to look perfect. And that’s okay! Let people know how to improve, but don’t tell them they’re bad at art. People aren’t going to improve if they’re told their art is bad, it’ll just discourage them.

Insulting someone for drawing a character “too skinny” even if they clearly made an effort to draw their body as well as they could will just make them feel bad. Why not encourage them for trying to draw the character’s body accurately, and tell them how to improve on it? Provide reference images for certain physical traits and say how they could be applied to their style. Don’t insult them. Especially since many artists who struggle drawing certain traits are younger or beginners.

I’m not the best at drawing fat bodies or black features, but I am trying to improve on it. I have many sketchbook pages where I practice drawing different parts of the body. There’s always room to improve! But telling someone they’re bad at art doesn’t help. You can teach people how to improve without insulting their art.

So many tutorials have helpful information yet they can be quite rude towards people who don’t draw things accurately. People are more likely to listen to advice if you’re encouraging, not if you’re insulting.

(Note: I’m not black so I didn’t make any remarks about drawing black and other POC features accurately as I didn’t want to say anything incorrect. If you are black I’d appreciate your input! I’m just speaking from my perspective about drawing fat people, I’d appreciate perspectives of other people who are commonly drawn incorrectly!)

[plasma-packin-mama]

My hot take is that if you don't know how to draw fat people and aren't going to try you should not accept commissions of fat characters