Lets Talk About Chicks

[Garneta]

I have a bit of trouble drawing both (mainly because I don't usually use any form of reference for my comic), but the girls are easier for me, since I am one.

[VinnieD]

Not that difficult. You just change up your mannequin a bit to reflect skeletal differences and the anatomy pretty much flows out. Getting the boobs right is a hassle though. There are whole drawing tutorials on just that one part.

Though since most of my comic has rabbits as the character whom naturally would have sloping shoulders and big hips, it's more difficult to make any of them look masculine. I usually do it by making the males a little chubbier thus flattening out their features and making them larger even if they still have the narrow shoulders and big thighs. I mostly have to use facial differences.

[Jackhass]

I'm pretty good at drawing the girlies. Probably one of the things I do better. So of course I draw a g-rated animal comic where I rarely get a chance to actually draw them.

[Pencilears]

I have a good friend with the same problem, in his case it's a matter of growing up on superhero comics and an art style that's inclined to being angular.

i'm inclined to say what you should do is just sketch women, you can do it to draw what you see but a quick scribble or bubble jointed-stick figure that conveys gesture is good two.

the only problems I tend to run into is gender ambiguity in my doodles, my cast is about an even ratio of guys/girls so its getting better with practice but in the beginnings I had to make more of a formula to get it right

guys have thicker eyebrows and a more pronounced brow ridge, women have larger eyes and show more of the white of their eyes.
women tend to be curvier and softer, their jawlines are less defined than in males, the tenancy for tanga to skew towards feminine partially results from feminine jawlines.

also ladies have different fat distribution from guys, women put more of their weight on their hips, thighs, bosom and butt, where guys tend to put it n their belly and cheeks. even if the people you draw are skinny remembering where to put some curves can be handy.

[Geekblather]

Practice will probably help the most with this. That and studying anatomy. I used to have a terrible time drawing guys (as a girl) and, I feel like I'm finally getting to a point where I can draw masculine guys, pretty girls, awkward girls, and pretty guys. Which is good. Because I have all of them in my strip.
One really good practice exercise, was to take my characters and gender swap them in some drawings, which really made me think about WHY a certain feature reads as masculine or feminine, and also to translate a masculine face to a female one and vice versa. Sounds kind of crazy, but it helps I think. Definitely requires a lot of thought.

[Arkaina]

I don't know which one I'm better at (maybe women) but I find that with men I have a hard time showing variety. Most men I draw have that somewhat curvy pro-swimmer body, no one is really lanky or chunky or anything.

[Allan_ecker]

Not that difficult. You just change up your mannequin a bit to reflect skeletal differences and the anatomy pretty much flows out. Getting the boobs right is a hassle though. There are whole drawing tutorials on just that one part.

Are you sure that's because it's difficult?

[Siabur]

When Keenlace gets done and up you will get an idea of who can draw the mens and the ladies.

[Snail]

I've always enjoyed drawing girls much more than drawing guys... Dunno why. Maybe it's Because their .. curvy and the such...

[Geekblather]

Your eraser is a Gelfling too, huh?
Hate it when they take off on me...

[Aiken]

Women are easier to make look attractive, men tend to have too many visible muscle groups, and the whole thing gets complex.

[Snail]

Your eraser is a Gelfling too, huh?
Hate it when they take off on me...

I know eh? What with their fairy wings and all *sigh*
If it wasn't so darned cute I'd prolly just get rid of it

[Geekblather]

I would also like to point out that this is still pertinent, because they both have to be female Gelfling erasers, because they're the only ones with wings...

[EvilChihuahua]

Women are easier to make look attractive

I personally don't find that to be true. I can throw together a vaguely dashing male in a few minutes, but drawing a chick can take me up to half an hour of minute changes to the eyes, jawline, eyebrows, ect. before I finally think "well, that looks alright." Maybe I'm just pickier than you.

[Bustertheclown]

I've been drawing the ladies since puberty.

[Lei]

I like to draw both genders, but I have an easier time drawing girls (probably because I am one). Of course, my girls all turn out busty and buffed up, but hey, everyone's entitled to wishful thinking.

So of course, I wound up doing a comic about two middle-aged men. (?)

[Levi-chan]

I draw women better...

...Since I check them out all the time.

[Cope]

I've long had more of an incentive to draw the ladies. I don't feel like I have the hang of it yet, though.

[Kirb]

I've always been somewhat better at drawing females.


The overall rule of thumb is:

Females = softer jawline, facial features, slimmer arms, hands and feet. Hips and thighs are large. Curved lines, pretty much all the way. Eyes and lips are a very large factor in making the character seem more feminine.

As for males, it seems there is a lot more variation as to body type and facial shape. But that's just me.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with dynamic stylization of how one draws males or females.

[Aiken]

If you want to get technical and strip it back to the bones, so to speak, men have two bumps on the frontal bone (forehead), about where the eyebrows meet. They also have a raised rigde along the occipital bone (back of the head), due to the attachment of a larger deltoid muscle than females. Finally me have flared protusions on either side of the mandible (Jaw Bone), and a square chin, which makes of a nice manly jaw.
In contrast female skulls have none of these, they do however have sharper orbital ridges then men.

Incidently, since I started Anatomy and Physiology as part of my degree im finding that my art is starting to improve.