Drawing characters of different races?

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Tsui
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Drawing characters of different races?

Post by Tsui »

I mean like human races, not different species, though I struggle with that too lol

Obviously, not all of my characters are the same race. I'm currently experimenting with stuff outside of my usual style - I want to be able to draw faces a little more realistically. Not like super realism but. anyway. I know not everybody shares the same facial structure - for example, white people supposedly have pointier noses or something like that. So, I'd like to be able to draw believable characters of different races, without just changing the skin color only.

To be specific here, one of my main OCs is Japanese and I'd like to make her recognizably so. But I'm just not sure how to go about that. Is there some way to make what is essentially a cartoon character look, believably, like a certain race, without over-exaggerating things? :o On a related note, how do I avoid sameface/samebody syndrome with child characters? (Or just in general, I'm not great at character design)

Sorry if this comes off as racist?? I don't mean for it to be at all, I just don't have enough experience with this... :herocry:
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Pumpkinium
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Re: Drawing characters of different races?

Post by Pumpkinium »

its totally cool to not be used to making whole different shapes for characters and i think almost everyone has that stage where they focus on a single body shape to get it down before attempting to try diverse body shapes, this includes the specific traits that are commonly seen on different races. i dont think im good at it myself but ill try to give some advice as best i can, because im planning on doing a project with similar requirement for different humanoid bodies

some things i would suggest is thinking about specific features? like for example, japanese, as well as any asian people, commonly have the epicanthic fold, which are a more sharp slightly-closed/dim eye if that makes sense. so i usually imagine a character that doesnt have those eyes, like an american or w/e would have wider eyes. the fold also affects the appearance of the nose bridge so take that into consideration.

honestly theres a whole bunch of stuff that can define how to make different shapes and its a pain in the bum to go over it all. basically you research different notable features of a race that you want to draw. for example, black people have a totally different kind of hair compared to white people that is naturally afro-textured. they also tend to have wider noses and bigger lips so these are all things to consider when practicing to draw that stuff. piercings, tattoos, clothing styles, all that other crap are things to consider sort of too but thats based on the character and not precisely relevant to what youre lookin for.

heres some body refs ive got for ya:

Image

this one is in a spoiler bc its got boobs. theyre for anatomy purely but i dont want anyone cryin about it anyway.:
Spoiler:
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Jeffery Mewtamer
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Re: Drawing characters of different races?

Post by Jeffery Mewtamer »

If it makes you feel any better, I couldn't reliably tell people of different races apart visually back when I could see. Is that pale-skinned blonde Scandinavian or an albino of african descent? Is that Dark skinned person of African or southwest Asian descent? Is that tanned person a lighter skinned African-American, a well-tanned caucasian, an East Asian, or Hispanic? are just a few of the questions I couldn't reliably answer just by looking at a person. Even when I could see, voice was generally the most reliable means I had to telling a person's ethnicity without asking or being told directly.
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