Drawing Males

[kaishi]

Oou, thank you XD;

I still feel like my art looks stiff and boring a lot of the time =A=;; But then I remember life isn't a cartoon and humans generally can't bend all over the place, so I am a little consoled.

I am certain I started OFF drawing girls, because my first anime drawing was when I drew Sailor Moon all the time when I was 11. Before that I drew really scary cartoons, lmao. But when I started drawing my own things when I was 13, I drew both. I wasn't good at either, but hey XD Then there was this loooooong time where I drew a lot of dudes.... I dunno.

Honestly, though, practice is the only thing to do. I'm still practicing too >3</

[sweet]

i prefer drawing female more than man..

just because when i draw man, they look really blunt and boring..i cant draw them well, specially their hairstyles XD

[Regina]

I began drawing females, and I still can only draw females today. D: I can't draw men or tomboys. For some reason, they always look more feminine than they should. I also feel like something's missing if I don't draw long/medium length hair (to cover up how badly I draw faces. xD) Also.. muscles? Way beyond me. x_x

[glimpse]

Oh god Regina, I'm so bad with drawing muscles too. xD But I can't really ignore muscles when drawing either gender, so I just keep trying. And trying. And trying. Also, studying actually helps me remember where the muscles and bones are whenever I start drawing people. YAY ANATOMY BOOKS

@sweet I LOVE men's hair. So. Much. I love drawing it, but it's incredibly hard to do. >>

@Kaishi, I STILL THINK YOUR ART IS AWESOME KEEP PRACTICING <3

[Tsumi]

I have the opposite problem xD I dunno why but I'm better in drawing guys... (maybe because I always prefered drawing man? .___.) every time I try to draw a women she ends up looking like a guy with boobs TT-TT I think it has something to do with the shoulders >___<
I guess it's all about practice ^^

[Neko Dawn]

Argh, I can't draw males well.

Probably due to the fact that I first started drawing females, but I'm trying to practice drawing guys now.

They still look way more feminine than they should be when I do.

[IndigoButerfly]

My guys look like females and my females look like guys that look like females only have more curves xD technically, I can't draw both right... so I prefer to draw cute guys <3 ... or.. anything chibi :3

[Kasumi Ocada]

I have kinda an odd mix: I'm better at drawing males in a 'bust' composition but I'm far better with the overall bodies of females. I think this is because I understand the female body better because I have one. lol

Don't really understand why I draw male faces better.

[Yazoo]

The more you draw a certain gender, the easier it is to draw that gender, that's all there is to it in my opinion.
Like, I'm used to drawing females so I think I pull them off better then males, faster at least because I'm familiar with the curves after this time.
It doesn't mean I have a hard time drawing males, I would just need to change my mind-set into drawing the anatomy of guys.
That's basically the same for everyone, I guess.

If people want to improve on drawing males, maybe they should try focussing on males a bit more for a period of time? Look up how to draw them the nicest, draw them and focus on it completely?
I did that for a while to improve on my drawing guys, but then I had to get back into drawing girls xDDD
It might work if you draw fanart of male chars you like, it makes it more fun to practice :3

[MelancholyMelody~]

[NamiAmagawa]

I don't really have problems with gender. I have never confined myself to one or the other, or told myself I couldn't draw them. Generally when people say they can't draw something, it just means they lack the experience to do it well, or they don't have the patience to learn. I believe that, given the right motivation, people can do just about anything they set their minds to, but it's not easy and it takes lots of perseverance.

I've been drawing since second grade, and I still struggle with stuff like hands from time to time. The best way to get in the game and overcome insecurities is to practice with live models--preferably nude or as close as you can get. If you don't have the money to attend a studio, pose maniacs is a pretty useful tool as well.

I think it's also helpful to avoid orienting on the same detail every time you start a drawing. I used to always draw the eyes first and ended up completely reliant on them for the entire picture. If I had to redo the eyes, I had to trash the entire picture. Use base gestures for guys and girls if you can--head circle, motion line,etc-- it really helps with poses and composition. I agree with what everyone has been saying, the shapes are different. Guys are generally some variation of an inverted triangle and girls are more of a jointed hourglass.

This is pretty basic, but on the off chance someone needs the advice: flip your picture before and after you flesh out the details. That's a whooole lot of heartache avoided. Nobody gets the alignment 100% right when they start drawing. You don't even need a fancy light-board (but it helps), just a good old light bulb to check for flailing limbs. I still remember spending hours trying to repair misaligned faces and limbs. If there's a hell that might just be it...

[MelancholyMelody~]

Ah, thanks very much Nami for the tips. I do use pose maniacs from time to time. I like to do a lot of my doodling on the computer desk as I can use online references, listen to music, have a real desk to draw on etc.

And the flipping the image tip is a good one. I'd forgotten about that, comes in handy a lot to keep flipping it back and forth from time to time as mistakes become more obvious when you look at it from a different view. You get used to looking at a picture after a while and need to either change your view of it or take a break, maybe do some more sketching/doodling and then look back at it afresh; the little things you may have messed up on or that need work become much more obvious then.
Also a very good tip to not start with the same thing all the time. I used to start with the face but it just became too hard in case I did need to go back and change something, but now I usually start with the position of the head and then flesh out the body around that point. It'd be good to try drawing from different parts of the body first, actually.


That's the best advice of all when it comes to art: don't be afraid to try new things. You'll never get better at something if you don't practice, and when it comes to art you just need to keep drawing, and especially trying out new things. If there's something you can't draw well and avoid drawing, start there: draw it again and again. Always include it in your pictures, and before you know it, you'll be great at it.
Practice makes perfect, and it's very true that the only reason you're unable to draw something is due to lack of experience. The more you draw something the easier it gets. So draw everything!

[Kylana]

I'm better at drawing at women because that's mostly what I draw, and when I do draw men they're usually elves and pretty girly anyways. I had to draw a guy and various hairstyles/clothing/faces and it took me forever.

I definitely third the Posemaniacs suggestion, as well as Loomis/Bridgman studies which definitely focus more on the male form.

[MelancholyMelody~]

[kerryfox]

I would say what really helped me draw males was learning the proportions. It was all out of a textbook I had for a figure drawing class but I am sure any of the other sources listed can give them to you. That and using a ton of reference images. I know many people get rather uppity about that as it heads in to that gray area of copying but I know of a few stock artist who specifically do stock for people who need that kind of tool. It has been probably the best thing to help me break the I can just draw girls syndrome.