The human body is mostly universal between the binary sexes ( and the many many constellations of gender and sexes inbetween the binaries ), so by practicing the base structure of the human body on a whole, you should be able to see a general improvement on bodies on either side of the spectrum.
However, if you’re looking for pointers as to how to draw bodies belonging to the two binaries, there are some differences to look for.
Consider this a breakdown of the ‘average’ male body. ( Torso particularly ). I say ‘average’ as there are so many variables between the two binaries, that drawing absolutes on what is more ‘masculine’ and ‘femenine’ is a finnicky matter. For brevity, i’ll refer to these two binary ‘averages’ as ‘traditionally female’ tradfem and ‘traditionally male’, tradmasc.
Sexual dimorphism: Torso
Let’s address the key differences in these two broad averages.
When looking around in real life, it can be hard to detect these differences since we are constantly presented with all shapes and sizes of masculinity and femininity, though - as it is with visual design, we tend to use shorthand from these averages - based on the key differences between the binaries - to distinguish gender-identities from one another.
You can think what you want of this use of shorthand; personally i’m all about switching things up for the sake of diversity, but ultimately - the method has proved effective all the way up until now for a reason.
A. First off, the shoulders.
Tradmasc individuals tends to feature a broad shoulder-to-waist ratio. Whereas tradfem traits can be seen aligning the width of the hips closer to the breadth of the shoulders. Tradmasc traits set the shoulders further out from the hips.
B. One of the most striking differences between tradmasc and tradfem bodies are the presence of breasts. Though, masculine individuals can also develop mammaries - they are genetically most prominent on average in tradfem individuals. No brainer probably, but worth mentioning.
C. On average, disregarding the weight of both tradmasc and tradfem bodies, the ribcage itself tends to be broader on tradmasc individuals than they are on tradfem individuals. The length and amount of ribs in the ribcage remains the same between the two binaries though.
D.Tradfem individuals tend to have broader hips than their tradmasc counterparts. This is in due to two general factors.
1: The pelvic structure of the tradfemme’s pelvis is typically wider due to its childbearing function.
2: The presence and balance of estrogen and testosterone determining where the fatcells store primarily. In tradfem individuals, fats store in the hips, breasts and thighs first - we call this gynoid fat storing. In tradmasc individuals, they tend to store around and on the stomache - this is known as android fat storing.
E. As previously mentioned ^ - the fat distribution patterns, gynoid and android also has an impact on the general volume of the thighs. Where tradfem individuals on average tends to have fuller and rounder thighs than that of their tradmasc counterparts.
With all of that out of the way, you should know at least a few of the predominant differences in the traditional perceptions of the binaries, and how they look.
So let’s try to break down the tradmasc body really quick.
I like to break it down into 3 parts.
A - The pectorals / chest
B - The ribcage
C- The stomache
These three parts can be composed in all manner of shapes and sizes depending on your characters build and weight. For the most part, the stomach © will be the largest volume of the torso, closely followed by the chest (A). Connecting these two sections, when seen from the front, is the ribcage (B) that arches from the sides of the stomach and touches on the breastbone ( solar plexus ) under the chest.
Depending on the bodytype you’re working with, you are going to look into different anatomical studies. Though i will always recommend at least sparing a look to the medicinal/anatomical references, as it will help you layout and recognize the musclegroups as they sit on the body. If you get a somewhat good grip on where which musclegroups sit and how they interact, it should be easier to add layers of bodyfat on top of it ( or not, if you’re drawing exceptionally buff people ).
I’m talking about pictures like this:
https://www.steadyhealth.com/slideshows/male-muscular-system-anatomy-full-overview
Now, the link might say “male-muscular-” but in truth, the layout of muscle and mass is very very similar between the two binaries ( save the fact that tradfem individuals have mammaries sitting on top of the pectoralis majors ) especially if you account for the huge amount of variation in dimorphic traits in every real person.
So really, you can use these kind of models almost interchangably if you’re just using them as reference for muscle-layout and not as references for tradfem features.
And of course, if i hadn’t made it perfectly clear in my writing through this post, i’d like to add that the illusion of one ‘standard’ male body and a ‘standard’ depiction of it is hard to really conjure up now-adays, since we have been made aware that the difference between individuals is far less black and white than what we previously thought.
That’s why i encourage you to consider which kind of tradmasc traits you pick out for your character and why. I am absolutely for depicting the traditional masculine body ( i mean..see my work ), but know that masculinity doesn’t have to come to that particular set of shorthand.
I hope this helped you on your way a little bit. It is always a bit difficult drawing sexes or genders one’s not used to, so i wish you the best of luck on your way of depicting masculinity.
For more relevant reading, here’s a list of posts we’ve made regarding the anatomy of the torso and waist:
The difference in buff:
https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/185528871950/do-you-guys-think-you-could-give-me-a-tutorial-on
The pelvis:
https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/179426713661/dear-redline-station-i-love-u-im-struggling-with
- Mod Wackart ( ko-fi )
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