dancing my little freak dance as hard as i can

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First panel. The title reads "How to: draw characters with dwarfism". Below that, "The most important things by far are: proportions, not doing stereotypes, and knowing what condition your character has!", with the last one underlined in red. Under that is another section called "People with different kinds of dwarfism look different!", featuring fullbody stock photos of Ellie Simmonds, Warwick Davis, and Jyoti Amge. On the other side is a section called "TLDR: not these". Below is a simple drawing of a fantasy dwarf captioned "bro what year is this", a stock photo of an average height man stretched to be more horizontal than vertical, captioned "just making someone shorter (most of the time)", and a generic chibi drawing captioned "giant head".ALT
Second slide. There is only text, no drawings. It reads: ""I know which condition I want to give my character: dwarfism :D"". Dwarfism is a category of over 300 different conditions. There is no Base Dwarfism. They all have different symptoms, and they don't look the same (though many conditions will have similarities between them, which I'll talk about). For this non-medical, drawing tumblr post, I've separated all these conditions into 3 main groups: 1) short-limb dwarfism; disproportionate type with shortened limbs. Most common (>70%) by far. 2) short-trunk dwarfism; disproportionate type with shortened torsos (often necks as well). 3) primordial dwarfism; proportionate type, with overall very short stature. Rarest by far. This is not a perfect categorization, and doesn't catch every possible condition, like growth-hormone deficiency dwarfism. Here are some types of dwarfism of each of these, if you either want to make a character with dwarfism, or already have one but never decided which type: Short-limbed: 1) achondroplasia ("achon") 2) pseudoachondroplasia 3) acromesomelic dysplasia Short-trunk: 1) spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia (SED) 2) spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia 3) morquio syndrome Primordial dwarfism: 1) majewski osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II (MOPD 2) 2) russell-silver syndrome 3) seckel syndrome."ALT
Third slide, titled "Short limb dwarfism". The text before the drawings start reads: "Using achondroplasia as an example, but can be referenced for pseudoachondroplasia, hypochondroplasia, and probably other ones too. Some information: achondroplasia is the most common type of dwarfism by FAR. While there are hundreds of types of dwarfism, >70% of little people have achondroplasia. If you don't know which type to choose, achondroplasia is a great pick!" Then there are two drawings, one of a woman with achondroplasia, the other of the same woman but average height. Different body parts are color-coded to showcase differences in proportions. The text around it reads: "The most important thing is proportions! In achondroplasia, the torso is roughly the same length! An easy way to get the proportions is lining up the joints with the torso. As a guideline: the elbow is at the height of the ribcage, not waist, the wrist reaches the stomach, not the crotch, and the hand ends at the hip, not mid-thigh. Legs are a bit more complicated since there's nothing right by to compare them to. However you can use the total body height. In art, legs tend to be 50% of the total height. For a character with achondroplasia, that will be lower." Below are two drawings; one of bowed lower legs, the other of a torso from the side, with a heavily curved back. Caption: "Many (not all) people with achondroplasia will have bowed lower legs like this. Also many people will have excessive lordosis, which is this very curved forward lower back. Some people have it much more severe than this example, others don't have it at all."ALT
Fourth slide, titled "facial features". The text before the drawings start reads: "Using achondroplasia as an example again. Hypochondroplasia can share these features (usually they're milder/less apparent), while pseudoachondroplasia doesn't. Some information: facial features are an important part of achondroplasia (as well as many, but not all other types of dwarfism). It affects many bones, not just the ones responsible for height!" Below is a headshot of a person with achondroplasia from the front, the 3/4s, and the side. Caption: "There are three main things: face shape, forehead, and nose. They're not the same in every person, but have some common traits! In someone with achondroplasia, you can see a prominent forehead (frontal bossing), making the upper third of the face larger and more square, a very flat nose bridge, and a triangle-shaped button nose. You can try breaking the face up into these shapes." Below that is a step by step, starting with a generic face, then adding a square for the forehead and triangle for the nose, then adding lines to adjust the original face accordingly. There is a small drawing of a person's eyes and forehead, with the area between the eyebrows and nose bridge highlighted. Caption: "Also, note the shadow cause by the forehead/brow ridge!". After that there are four pictures of people with achondroplasia; Lauritta Onye, a Nigerian woman celebrating winning gold at the Paralympics, Lim Xavier Jie Rui, a Singaporean man shown during a badminton game, Fats Timbo, a British-Sierra Leonean content creator posing for the picture, and Ellie Simmonds, a white British woman holding multiple Paralympic medals. There is a text in the corner, reading: "as you can see these traits are present in people of many ethnicities".ALT
Fifth slide, titled "short trunk dwarfism". The text before the drawings start reads: "Using spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SEDc) as an example, SED tarda is similar but milder, other ones won't be as applicable, but will share similarities! Some information: SED (both congenita and tarda) are the 2nd most common type of dwarfism, or at least in the top 5 depending on where you look. A lot of other types of short-trunk dwarfism are very rare (which doesn't mean you can't make a character with them, but there's fewer resources)." Then there are two drawings, one of a man with SEDC, the other of the same man but average height. Different body parts are color-coded to showcase differences in proportions. The text around it reads: ""Short trunk" doesn't describe everything that's going on: in SEDc, limbs are still shorter than they would've been, just less than in achondroplasia. Here, the person is shorter in every body part, except the head, hands, and feet. Unlike in achondroplasia, in SEDc the proportions are much more similar to average height people. Here, the joints are mostly matching the torso; elbows are slightly above the waist, wrist reaches the height of the crotch, and the hand ends around the mid-thigh." Below are two drawings; showing a woman with SEDC from the chest up from the front and side, highlighting the neck. Caption: "A very important thing here is the neck. In someone with SEDc, it can look like their head is just resting on their shoulders because it's so short. Facial features are unaffected."ALT
Sixth slide, titled "primordial dwarfism". The text before the drawings start reads: "Using Majewski osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type 2 (MOPD2) as an example. In comparison to the other 2, very few conditions fall into this category. There are generally 2 'groups' (drawing purposes); those that are, visually, "an average height person, but smaller", and those who aren't. The former could be Russel-Silver syndrome, Meier Gorlin syndrome, or 3-M syndrome, and people with these are usually 4 to 5 ft tall (~120-150cm). The latter is MOPD2 (~3'3/100cm), Seckel syndrome (~4'3/128cm) or the mostly lethal MOPD 1 and 3. Some information: This is the rarest category of dwarfism by far. However you've probably seen a person with it before online, since every "shortest person alive" has had this, often MOPD2. While all of these come with microcephaly (overly small head/skull), most of these conditions don't come with intellectual disability (exceptions: seckel and MOPD 1/3)." Then there are two drawings, one of a woman with MOPD 2, the other of the same woman but average height. Different body parts are color-coded to showcase differences in size. The text around it reads: Primordial dwarfism is proportionate, so all the joints and body parts are at where you'd assume them to be. Yippee! At a basic level, you are scaling down a person to be somewhere between 33 and 40 inches (84 and 100cm) for an adult, but there are shorter people! At a complex level, there are differences. People with MOPD2 tend to have skinny limbs and a face that's proportionally large to the rest of the head. Ultimately, despite being called proportional dwarfism, there is a difference there as well; people with MOPD2 are 4.5 (at the absolute shortest; like 2'3) to 5.5 (~3'2) heads tall, while the average height person is 6.5 to 7.5 heads tall."ALT
Seventh slide, titled "facial features". The text before the drawings start reads: "This will apply to MOPD2, and Seckel syndrome to some extent. Some information: If you want your OC to be extremely short you need to lock in and draw a facial difference too. It's true." Below that are portraits of two people, each showing the front and side view. The text around reads: "There are 3 main characteristics to keep in mind: round cheeks, even when the rest of the face is slim; a very prominent nose' and micrognathia (very small lower jaw). The nose is probably the most important one; it is present in pretty much every person regardless of age or ethnicity. There is some variation to it, but not to the extent that someone will have a button nose." Below that are two pictures of people with MOPD2; the first is Nick Smith, a white American man holding up a pair of shoes, the second is Aditya Dev, an Indian man with blonde hair lifting a dumbbell with both hands. Next to the side view portraits is a photo of a woman without any facial difference, and the position of her jaw is highlighted when compared to the drawings. Caption: "The jaw can line up more with the eye rather than the brow ridge or nose."ALT
Eighth slide, titled "other things". The text before the drawings start reads: "Consider giving them a mobility aid! Many people with dwarfism use one", followed by drawings of a cane, a pair of crutches, and a manual wheelchair; and "Consider other aids as well; some types of dwarfism are associated with hearing or vision loss", followed by drawings of an ear with a hearing aid in and a pair of glasses. Below that are drawings of two couples; of two Black women, one with morquio syndrome, the other with pseudoachondroplasia, embracing each other; and of an average height white woman holding a baby with visibly bowed legs, holding hands with an Asian man with achondroplasia. Text reads: "Most importantly, make your OC into a real person with real relationships! Let them know others who have dwarfism too, whether it's friends or family! Disabled people stick together".ALT

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"Tutorial" on how to draw an OC with dwarfism (well, some of it).

Boring tired disclaimer: Keep in mind that this is an introductory "drawing" "tutorial" and has some generalizations in it, so not every “X is Z” statement will be true for Actual People. Which happens to be true for everything in general.

You are heavily encouraged to do your own research because this does not contain everything you should know before making a character with any type of dwarfism.

Consider supporting me on ko-fi if you find this to be helpful.

If (when) you repost this on pinterest at least put a link to the original post somewhere..

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