a lot of people draw fat characters as like Vaguely Round stomach, throw on stretch marks (drawn in a way that stretch marks DO NOT work) and often body hair (for some reason?? like i’m fat and have body hair but it seems like fat artwork is OBSESSED with adding it on as some sort of statement), pert boobs, maybe the glimmer of a double chin, big ol’ thighs cause they’re in vogue rn, and maybe round upper arms
and it’s like… zero acknowledgement of sag
or how you can be fat and have small boobs/ass/thighs/hips
no thick neck along with the double chin
no fat rolls
all fat people are also drawn to have looooong legs as if to apologize for the rest of the proportions
i look at a “fat” character and what i see is just a skinny character with weight added on, even though that’s not how that works
and it’s just very clear to me that some artists want credit for “diversity” but don’t want to actually look at fat bodies. they apologize with hyper feminine outfits or the implication that the fat character is athletic or something. the fat character still has the perfect figure because “well, some fat people DO still have curves like that!”
we’re thicc and thick and “chubby” and plus size.
but we’re never actually fat. even the “largest” characters i have seen drawn are just… larger chubby girls. zero acknowledgement of how fatness actually works.
Anyways! I don’t want this to be a wholly negative post with no takeaway other than “You should feel bad” (but you probably should), so here is what looks like a good resource:
Here’s a link to the tweet.
Too many people base their understanding of fat bodies on plus size models, who are photoshopped, molded with cut outs, and chosen specifically because of how they still fit conventional beauty standards. They are not indicative of how most fat bodies look.
Please take the time to look at fat bodies that aren’t marketable and appreciate them for their own worth, beauty, and fortitude. Do not let fat bodies be alien to you, do not otherize us. This should be normalized.
Fat people deserve art and media that reflect fat bodies honestly. Seeing plus size models as our only rep only ends up setting out a new, impossible goal for fat people. We’re made to feel that we aren’t fat in the right way. It sends the message that you can fail at being skinny AND fail at being fat, which is an awful thing to do. No body is a bad body. All bodies deserve to be seen and to see themselves.
Fat people deserve to be seen as fat people, not as skinny people with added weight.
May I recommend the Morpho book about fat and skin folds! For people who are looking for a source that explains/shows how all the folds and sag actually work and affect the body. I imagine the info provided in this book can work very well paired with those reference photos. The chapters of the books on any topic are always divided into 1. head/neck 2. torso. 3. upper limb. 4. lower limb ( even includes drawing babies)
I’m a whatever artist but I did do art from live models, and I’m a fat woman so I think you should draw fat people anyways, but also this is important because fat can be specific and doesn’t just act how you think it should around muscles.
So this is a great exercise and is super helpful to help with drawing!
I can’t speak to every single area with students, but for me and other people I met, the point was “learn how to draw this person’s body accurately”, so I would have loved to have more fat models to draw from.
