Topic: HIDE YO WIFE HIDE YO KIDS THEY POSSESSING EVERYBODY ALL UP IN HERE

[BLOOD MONKEY]

Yes, I suppose the soft jawline, full lips, rounded eyes, soft pupils, soft iris highlights, and thin nose bridge aren't feminine after all. All that armor bulk and toned body (because what knight wouldn't be toned?) are unexplainable, too.

C'mon, ZSG. I've studied human anatomy for years, I know how to draw a woman. Just because she doesn't have tits the size of basketballs or enough curves to make a racetrack blush doesn't mean she isn't feminine. In actuality, with the size of her shield and how exactly she wields it, she'd most likely be buff as hell.

And a third of her body is obscured by darkness, how can you even come to the conclusion she has a masculine build?

Masculine Build: Arms and legs.
Her eyes don't look too rounded, and her jawline actually looks kinda manly. The bottom of the jaw should bee a little bit sharper. I'm not denying that it's good artwork, it just looks a little odd.

Now that I think about it, it might just be the pose of the body.

[Dracula9]

I don't think you understand the concept of a toned woman.

Let's look at this rationally. Shield Knight carries around a massive shield that's large enough to hide her entire body behind. She has the smaller one on her wrist as a counter-weight and smaller defense. She also has very large pieces of armor; while not full-body, the pieces are large enough - and surely quite heavy given her role as a defender - to make wearing and fighting in them very strenuous. She has been a knight for quite some time. From this, we can very easily conclude that wearing heavy-ass armor and swinging around a giant plate of metal would very quickly tone her muscles and build.

Her arms? Well, those are what she swings that shield around with, so of course they'd have buffed out accordingly. The forearms being very bulged? That's the way her bracers are stylized, feel free to check her concept art.

Her legs? Well, again, they'd need to build muscle mass to support her upper body when swing that giant shield around. And she's also got some pretty large thighs in the concept art, if anything I toned it down from the original.

Her eyes? Not sure how well you understand drawing theory and how visual subtleties influence the way the human form is percepted (the fact that we're still having this conversation leads me to believe you don't understand it much, which is why I'm trying to explain it to you), but the tiniest details will change the way a person views something. Had I drawn a man, the rim of the eyelids would have been much sharper, and I would have had crisper linework along the bottom edge of the eye. The brows would have been slightly thickened, and I would have put in very light shading in the brow and forehead to hint at a scowling browline gesture, as body language hints are key to determine character types. Also note that the brow ridge and eye hollow of the actual skull are barely there at all; had I drawn a man or masculine character, that feature would have definitely been more pronounced.

Her jawline? Consult the concept art for Shovel Knight once again, Shield Knight's face is impossibly soft and rounded. This can somewhat be chalked up to her have a chinstrap for her helmet, but even when she's in Enchantress Mode her jawline is crazy soft. If anything I made it more realistic, once again. If I made her chin sharper, that would likely make her look more masculine or just plain out of character. You also need to consider the fact that her head is slightly tiled back, which realistically blurs the contour of the chin and jawline depending on the angle (this one does) and lighting. So there's that.

And really? Her pose makes her look manly? Male or female, if a giant fucking shadow monster was in the process of invading and assuming control of my body, I'd be thrashing around too.

I think you have some underdeveloped standards of masculinity and femininity there, ZSG. Whether you think it's good or not isn't the problem here. It's quite annoying to have someone as young as you try and tell someone who's studied and worked with this sort of thing for a long time that they're wrong...even more annoying when there aren't really any good reasons for it. If you think she looks masculine...that's kind of the point. She's a fucking KNIGHT for Christ's sake. In a realistic setting, she's not going to be the soft curvy cartoon character you see in Shovel Knight's concept art. She'd be lean and toned and yes, probably a little masculine by generic female standards. But don't try and tell me I drew her "wrong" and talk like you know the technicalities when you very clearly don't.

[BLOOD MONKEY]

I never said you drew her wrong. I just said she looks more manly than usual.

[Dracula9]

She looks like a man... And her body build is like a man's too.

Not the message I got from it.

But then I am taking a cartoon-styled character and turning them much more realistic.

Edit: SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATURN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN GIMME MY MASK SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN STAN SATAN SATAN SAIYAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN

[BLOOD MONKEY]

You now have 666 posts, Drac!

[Dracula9]

Huh, so I did.

[theANdROId]

Not the message I got from it.

But then I am taking a cartoon-styled character and turning them much more realistic.

Edit: SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATURN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN GIMME MY MASK SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN STAN SATAN SATAN SAIYAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN

What about SATIN...or SANTA...maybe SATYR

[VladCT]

Or TANZRA :V

[Shiroi Koumori]

Castlevania fans were spoiled by Kojima's artwork, everyone who looks like a girl is a guy. hyuk hyuk hyuk.