Depicting Middle Age and Older
Added 2017-05-19 16:12:55 +0000 UTCGuess what! I am in Sweden! I am in Sweden as a guest of the Stockholm International Comics Festival, holy cow!!!! They flew me out and set me up in a hotel and all I gotta do in exchange is talk with some really sweet Swedes on a stage and sign some books! Amazing. I feel like the organizers must have me confused with somebody who actually deserves this treatment.
Of course I picked up a cold two days before my International flight :-/ I pushed myself to get out and socialize with the organizers and my fellow foreign guest cartoonists yesterday and I have been paying for it today by being bedridden in my hotel. Blarf.
While everyone else is rubbing elbows at the opening night mixer party (at Culture House, if you are in Stockholm and know where that is!) I figure I can use this downtime to ask you dudes for some help.
The one bit of feedback I've gotten more than any other over the course of drawing OJST is the request that I draw middle age (and older!) bodies. Yes, I freely admit that my default body age is somewhere in its late 20s to mid 30s, but I... I do also make a point to draw older bodies in the comic on a regular basis! My photo reference folders have a really broad range of ages and I'm *trying* to represent them through the Masturbateers, but clearly I'm not doing a good enough job.
So I ask you, my Dearest Perverts, if you have seen cartoonish illustrations that do a good job of depicting older bodies, would you please link me to them in the comments?
I'm looking for simplified drawings, like for animation, not rendered, realistic illustrations. Bonus points if they're naked! Or some of their body is exposed.
Hopefully looking at examples will help me figure out how to do this better!
Comments
Yes, thank you so much!!!!
Erika Moen
2017-06-06 00:09:12 +0000 UTCAlso, in terms of skinny = pointy, Yzma from Emperor's New Groove is a good example. Check out her pointy, low-hanging breasts, prominent cheekbones and hip bones, etc: <a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/6a/7d/70/6a7d70b5c39e68a429905c2a12e27bbb.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/6a/7d/70/6a7d70b5c39e68a429905c2a12e27bbb.jpg</a>
FaroreNightclaw
2017-05-19 20:09:23 +0000 UTCOkay, here we go! I'm going to be going with older/elderly people here since middle-aged is just a half-way point between them and the younger characters you already draw very well. I think one of your biggest problems is not showing enough sag - you add some wrinkles but not a lot of droopyness. Here are some examples of good sag/wrinkle combos in the face: <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.creativemarket.com/images/screenshots/products/31/316/316656/9266-f.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.creativemarket.com/images/screenshots/products/31/316/316656/9266-f.jpg</a> <a href="https://img.clipartfest.com/eda2c7a6bb2fd7bf96ead58043c951a3_funny-illustration-of-old-man-with-cane-cartoon-character-stock-elderly-cartoon-characters_1300-1130.jpeg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://img.clipartfest.com/eda2c7a6bb2fd7bf96ead58043c951a3_funny-illustration-of-old-man-with-cane-cartoon-character-stock-elderly-cartoon-characters_1300-1130.jpeg</a> <a href="https://image.shutterstock.com/z/stock-vector-funny-illustration-of-old-woman-cartoon-character-set-isolated-vector-illustration-383045263.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://image.shutterstock.com/z/stock-vector-funny-illustration-of-old-woman-cartoon-character-set-isolated-vector-illustration-383045263.jpg</a> As you can see there tends to be some floppiness around the mouth and cheeks, with defined smile lines, jowls, and flesh sagging away from the cheekbones to make them more prominent. Other important facial wrinkles include crows' feet and forehead. One a middle aged character, smile lines and mild crows' feet are probably the most important. For slightly more complex characters, this is a great reference: <a href="https://img.clipartfest.com/4bf6f1229e28e1cb1a83c7b855defe54_funny-old-people-eight-cartoon-characters-stock-vector-379825168-cartoon-elderly-people_1500-1600.jpeg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://img.clipartfest.com/4bf6f1229e28e1cb1a83c7b855defe54_funny-old-people-eight-cartoon-characters-stock-vector-379825168-cartoon-elderly-people_1500-1600.jpeg</a> You can see things other than wrinkles like age spots, larger/droopier ears and noses, receding hairlines, and different body types. The most common cartoon elderly body types are thin and bony, and saggy and fat(ter). The whole body has a lot of sag to it, even on the bony type. Breasts, both DFAB and DMAB, tend to be saggier and places further down the body. Wrinkled, sagging stomachs are also important on nude characters. Stretch marks can be found on the breasts, belly (especially lower belly), hips, and thighs - these often go unused on DMAB characters especially, and there are different looking stretch marks (wrinkle-like ones, reddened/darkened 'stripes', raised lines, etc) so you can use that to help make the character look more unique and realistic. DMAB people tend to have paunches whereas DFAB people tend to have more sagging, bottom-heavy fat (even on skinny characters). On thin characters, they are much bonier than younger characters, with ribs showing, sharp shoulders and hips, knobbly knees, bony fingers and knuckles, and so on. You have a tendency to draw all characters somewhat soft and rounded, and this is not the case with thin elderly (and some middle-aged) people. Facial hair can be important to - a 5 o clock shadow ages a DMAB face, and many elderly DFAB people have some scruff on their chins or jawlines. Another great simple example of drawing cartoony old people is Mr Magoo. <a href="http://www.alumni.rutgers.edu/s/896/images/editor/mrmagoo.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.alumni.rutgers.edu/s/896/images/editor/mrmagoo.jpg</a> . He has all the classic signs of aging such as smaller/squintier eyes (though not usually to the extent of his always-closed-looking ones, obviously), eyebags, smile lines/jowls, larger nose, hunched posture, and more rounded ears. Very good example of a toony older person done right. Less to do with the body and face, but I think it might also help to depict elderly people especially with more mobility aids. I see you use canes and wheelchairs occasionally but I can't remember ever seeing a walker (of any type; there are multiple different styles for different levels of mobility/different needs). This of course does not mean you've never drawn one, but nothing stuck in my head. Walkers are very common for elderly folks (especially DFAB people it seems; I suspect a higher likelihood of hip problems). There are different styles of cane as well from the standard hook-handled simple stick to flat handles, four feet, and so on. I think probably the big thing here is more variety and more exaggeration. Sadly in cartoons it often requires a lot of exaggeration to get things like more advanced age across. Just look at how many cartoon parents in kids' shows look like they're in their early 20s - it's not easy to do it well! It's all about the details. You don't necessarily need to stack on as many signifiers as possible, but doing at least two or three (or more, for more elderly folks) can be important to really getting the point across in a simple cartoony style. You want to emphasize that it's signs of aging, not just appearance quirks (as in, just eyebags won't get it across). Hope that helped!
FaroreNightclaw
2017-05-19 19:59:54 +0000 UTCI like the examples in this book which I highly recommend. Terry Laban's softback collection of Eno and Plum. It may be harder to find but also his 99 Girls: The Legend of Oom-Chucka-Willy. I also recommend Hunt Emerson's Firkin Collection Vol. 1 softback collection of Firkin the Cat strips. Both are very stylized in the big nose style.
Dale Peter Cipperley
2017-05-19 19:21:42 +0000 UTC
