Shapes, body types, stereotypes and artstyle

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Nyann

Nyartist, Female
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Hi guys! I thought of writing this while walking on my terrace for fresh air and blah blah
Aaandd earlier today I made these sketches.
[​IMG]
Based on principles of shape language and stuff, based on some art videos I watched before.
Some of the words were "Oh the most distinct and successful/memorable character designs have the right shape language and blah blah, they can be told who they are from the silhouette itself".
Welp, many people may argue that "Artstyle! Irl it doesn't depend on what a person looks like! Stereotypes!" Welp, subconsciously even anime artists use these stuff (or even people irl use these stereotypes).

What do I feel about it is again conflicting. I have always been against pure stereotypes, like "more round = more friendly", "more athletic/hourglass shaped = more confident" BUT we do apply the logic subconsciously.
In most cases, in anime, it's mostly through eyes and hair shape. If the character has curly hair, we consider her to be friendly and nice, a bit dumb, triangular hair (?) and eyes: more proud and confident and strong, square shaped eyes/hair : smart, cool, cold sometimes, quiet.

Soooo imo as an artist it IS important to be able to convey a message about the character just with the design as long as people don't apply it irl. But ironically these stereotypes are formed because of what we see around us irl. Not the other way. We consider triangular jagged, pointy stuff in nature to be intimidating and strong, round things like the sun and moon and rounded clouds and fluffy rounded cotton to be warm and soft, and square shaped buildings and stuff to be related to "perfection, smart, organised" and so on. But to judge people on the basis of "shape language" is rude and dumb imo. Ofc certain shapes help in balancing out the shape of the body, like, for a round face, round glasses don't look that good, but then again. "aesthetics" is different and judging people by shapes is different.

Which means, I see little connection between shapes and stereotypes in art with reality, meaning, I am not against it. Lol.
Also I realised I really like the "round" girl. Might design an oc like that. It's rare for me to use that shape, and I think I should try lol. Especially since I have a body type similar to her.

Anyways it's really just a opinion piece, not a philosophy or anything. I am not saying anyone has to agree, but. Yeah. To sum it up
* No matter what our artstyle we subconsciously end up using principles of shape theory because of what's already being portrayed around us and our natural thought process too.
* Not applying them, is ok, is good too. No need to feel bad about your art style if someone calls it "too realistic/ too exaggerated" I am sure many won't most of the time. (Personally is into realism than cartoony exaggeration, so not a fan of exaggeration tip)
* what we draw does reflect our tastes and what influenced us, but we don't need to dwell on it. Don't go harassing artists for not drawing what YOU think they should have because most of the time they mean no harm, they only care about aesthetics (which ends up harming a lot of people sometimes but it's a different story if it does harm a lot of people).

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You, RaiLi, TokioftheBel and 10 others like this.

Comments

    1. TokioftheBel Jun 18, 2020
      On a side note, your art looks really good
    2. Needyneedle Jun 16, 2020
      Don't forget a character's eyeglasses became a personality too, in a sense that's it's been associated with someone is smart and the silent type.
    3. pass1478 Jun 15, 2020
      Fit/sexy/muscular = hardworking/determined
      Fat/chubby = lazy
      As for a "average" body shape, I don't know. I know genetics' involved when it comes to physique, but what you do or what you've done to get said body also contributes, and said actions can correlate with one's personality, attitude, or mindset. The "how" and "whys" comes into mind when people see said body shapes, basically. It's like seeing hitler, when you saw him, you'd assume he's very charismatic and outgoing, knowing he became the leader of said country and succesfully convinced them to do the things they did.

      I'm making these statements purely based on physique, by the way (except the last one). If one were to ask me on what basis do I judge someone's personality, there are multiple factors, but it's mostly in how they speak and act.
    4. Cutter Masterson Jun 14, 2020
      I think of it as a vicious cycle. You can’t help how your born. So you are who you are. Than society comes in and tells you who you are. Hence stereotyping comes about. Chubby people are usually the beaten down type that become shy. Athletic are built on drive and become confident. As to the sex bomb they are give free reign because they are push to that point by society.
      Personally people are people. There are no perfect person or people out there. Just a bunch of needs a person has. A person is not bad or good. They are who they are.
      I don’t think stereotyping people is bad, but if that’s all your basing it on. Than that would be incorrect. You can’t base a book by its cover. But you can at least see a little about the persons style or even personality.
      Than that leads me to reality mimic fiction or art. There has to be a connection in order to have an equal connection between readers and writers. A common ground to make it believable. Hence stereotyping. Preconceived notions plays a major part in any novel/ art piece. Sure we yearn for the original, but we take comfort from the common.
      At least that’s what I think.
    5. Evil_Ginger Jun 14, 2020
      I think their poses do more to express what personality they have rather than their body shape. Try changing their poses and make a confident plush girl! A cutesy hourglass girl and a shy block girl! Try changing the hairstyle, too. A ponytail seems more sporty to me, so giving that to the small girl will make her probably look hyper and annoying, like a boyish little sister type. Make the hourglass girl have a French braid. And the love handles girl I think can have a curlier hairstyle? Idk about that one. But I want to see you try and break the stereotypes! That would be a fun exercise
    6. Effugium Jun 14, 2020
      I think there might be a little relation between body language and personality... For rounder girl, maybe they would lack confidence because of people keep telling her to diet. and after losing confidence she might turn out into someone who is shy. as for people with atlethic body, they would keep being praised and complimented. The result would be them having more confidence.
      Of course those all come from my imagination so don't take it too seriously~
      TokioftheBel, Lurking and mir like this.
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