Male Body References For Character Drawings

Human Male Body References from A Cartoonist’s Perspective

Human bodies can range highly on a spectrum from masculine to feminine. Just as you can have feminine male character designs, you can also have masculine female character designs. You can also have character bodies that are harder to read, such as the case of Rimuru from That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime.

When it gets down to it, there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to creating character designs for male characters because the human body can vary so much. Just look at the variety we’ve assembled in the images below.

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Because there is so much acknowledged variation in bodies today, smaller character design characteristics help establish elements of masculinity. For example, shape language can be a huge component in selling a design as particularly masculine or not. In cartooning, shapes are hugely important to creating characters, and in the case of human male bodies, there are some common tropes.

The Shapes of Male Bodies

In cartooning, the overall shape language of a character has a huge impact on their appearance. Sometimes an overall shape is used to imply something about a character. For example, take these henchmen.

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But if you are not aiming for a singular shape when drawing a male character, then you can at least borrow from nearly a century of existing shape language in cartooning. This can help sell a character as particularly masculine. In particular, there is one group of shapes that will be incredibly useful for this: trapezoids, triangles, and rectangles.

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When cartooning male bodies and working with male body references, you can often work from a central identifying element that makes a character easily readable as masculine: the torso. If you can draw a trapezoid and a rectangle, then you have the foundation for a cartoony male body. Take this stunning picture of Hubert after a workout; several key shapes emerge in designing a stereotypical masculine body:

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Of course, these aren’t the only shapes involved in drawing the human body, either. We’ve covered different elements of cartooning anatomy that you can check out

• Feet Drawing References For Character Drawings
• Leg Drawing References For Character Design
• Arm Drawing References For Character Design

We have even covered features such as eyes, mouths, and hands. These are filled with tips and references to tackling these unique parts of human anatomy.

Though, speaking of tips…

Tips for Working with Male Body References

Ultimately, your greatest resource when learning how to draw masculine (male) bodies is to reference existing examples, which we’ll cover as you read on. However, here are some general tips to keep in mind as you work to find drawing references for male characters.

• Masculine character designs tend to feature more emphasis on angles and straight lines. Curves tend to be associated with feminine character designs. That doesn’t mean you can’t use curves in a male character’s design.
• Be sure to assemble a wide variety of reference images based on the types of characters you are already drawing, but don’t neglect to look for references outside of your comfort zone either.
• Good character designs can often take advantage of a gimmick, so weigh out what makes your male character look unique.
• When dealing with male shapes you can sketch fast and loose to avoid designs feeling overly stiff.

Drawing References: Male Characters

There is no shortage of images out there of the human form, both men and women. A lot of free stock sites can be found with a simple search, leading to a wealth of resources. One such stock site is Unsplash, which features plenty of great images. Another great choice is Pexels.

While not royalty-free (something we need to be concerned about within the context of this post, but not a concern for a private collection), sites like Reddit and Pinterest can provide plenty of sources for male body references for artists. These can be invaluable resources to borrow from.

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Another option, if you are just looking for male drawing references with a focus on anatomy, is tools like POSEMANIACS. This free website generates 3D models of different body types that you can rotate around and use as a reference in your art. The emphasis is on anatomy, but it can still be an excellent tool for figuring out different muscles to emphasize in character design to achieve a specific look.

Most important, however, is building your library. It can be as simple as collecting images of male body types that can prove useful. You may even be able to arrange for a friend to model for you, should you need it. Needs will be different between artists, so it is prudent to find the materials that best help you.

Lastly, cartooning in comics and animation provides all sorts of great examples of male body references for character drawings. Hence, assembling collections of those examples is a smart move as well. Websites like CharacterDesignReferences.com have dedicated collections of anatomy guides for male characters to help you get a jump start on the process.

Just pick your favorite animated series and start taking pictures; you’ll have plenty of references in no time.

CharacterHub - Drawing References and More

If you’ve not started your own CharacterHub account yet, consider this a reason to start: outside of cool stuff such as character galleries and plenty of OCs to wrangle into an art fight, CharacterHub is a great source for finding all sorts of masculine character designs to learn from. Creators all over the world share their original creations and you may very well learn a thing or two from an artist who you may encounter for the first time on the site.

Simply register, set up cool, detailed, and customizable profiles for your OCs, and show off your character designs or your work-in-progress OCs. Enjoy the experience and you never know what fresher perspective or technique you may discover.