Hi! I've been following you on DA for quite a while and here on tumblr for not quite as long, admittedly I don't think I've read enough of your personal posts so like, if you don't want to answer this question that is TOTALLY okay. Okay, um, well I was wondering what you do when you are making a character with an unfamiliar body type? Reference is terribly difficult for me to come by but your Character John is almost spot on to my situation? I struggle with drawing chub, mabye you have some tips
hmm well lets seeee. like, definitely what id do is scrape up ANY references you see. like, save them to your files, reblog it if its on tumblr, idek, keep track of them somehow especially if they may be things that are harder to come by and you happen upon them
unfortunately i cant say i have…very many online refs esp since i do a vast majority of my work from irl observation of people around me(i personally recommend it as it works very well for me but i understand not everyone works that way) however i do have these!
http://artiststoolbox.tumblr.com/post/45644747339/varying-your-body-typesthis is a good one for typically femininely-coded bodies
http://phobos-romulus.deviantart.com/art/Male-Body-Types-Tutorial-500949383and this one is pretty decent for typically masculine-coded bodies
http://prettystrongpowerlifting.com/2012/06/06/athletic-body-diversity-reference-for-artists/while this is more “in shape” bodies it also includes more stocky and “practical” body types that can fall under being maybe a little on the chubby side
those definitely handle more realistic portrayals of human bodies, but i do definitely subscribe to the idea of understanding realism at least in some form in order to know how to stylize and exaggerate it. you dont have to be able to draw like a renaissance master but knowing how some of the mechanics work is top notch imo
when you DO want to stylize things, you definitely want to keep these realistic ideas in mind but also understand basic shapes and their power. youre probably going to use a lot of rounded circular and ovular shapes when drawing heavier characters, depending on the level of detail and how close or far you are pushing it from realism
characters like my oc john i would say are definitely pushed more towards an aesthetic based on simplicity and starker shapes and lines, so it doesnt really include the aspect of like, fat rolls and how the skin and flesh creases and folds on itself. john is pretty much a smoothly round circle, especially since i pretty much base the idea of his shape on like, a weeble wobble bowling pin type of silhouette lmao
i personally do tend to gravitate towards those simplified rounded shapes due to them being generally pleasing to me with my love of circles but at the same time like i stated above, learning things from a more realistic standpoint is A+
the last thing i guess ill say too is like. practice. just practice. dont get too upset if things dont go right the first few tries because, hey, youre drawing something you are unfamiliar with and its still new to you! keep that in mind, and dont give up. youll get it eventually
im really not the best at these sort of art help things oops, but i hope this at least gives you something? ahha
