So it’s the ol’ B-day today, and what else should I talk about but dames? Most artists will have figured out by now that broads are about 10x the better looking and 10x the easier to f*** up on. The common convention in comics is to draw as little as possible, letting the reader’s mind fill in the rest. Jim Lee, Marko Djurdevic, David Finch, a lot of the high-profile artists do it. It’s a solid method. Even a rule that transfers over to everything else, if you want it to.
But there is a more important reason they do this, and why too many lines can easily ruin a dame’s face. An actual dame’s face. You might have noticed that when you look at miss femme fatale’s face, immediately, there are still lines and shadows all over it, wrapping around the nose, eyes, mouth, lips, cheekbones, dimples, forehead, etc. etc.
Just taking Marisa Tomei’s face for instance:
Beautiful, yeah, but there’s more lines there than say:
So why get rid of the detail? Well, most of those lines, as it happens, actually describe a smoother, less prominent surface. And seeing as comics are generally done with a lot of black lines, for most artists, they would just end up as wrinkles. So you have Charles Bronson in a dress instead of a beautiful woman. Something I’m pretty sure no one should have to see. Ever. And if you’re like me, the back of your head just brought up Oscar de la Hoya’s fishnet escapade. Icky. Two in one day? Yup. That’s what kind of guy I am. I hope that haunts your thoughts like I’m sure it will mines.
Back on topic, it is possible to avoid the pinhead-bearded-leatherface-Clint-Eastwood-lady if you remember that the principle to feminine beauty is subtlety. The female face is soft and tender, so treat it appropriately. Who knows, you might just be pulling this off:
Broken Sanity 