(Posts tagged drawing tips)

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".

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."

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."

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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."

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."

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."

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".

[ID in alt text]

“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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First slide of a series of drawings. It's titled "How to: Draw a Blind Character". It reads further "But first: a quiz." It then shows four portraits of four different characters that look very average and do not have any special characteristics. Under each one of them, there is text: First character: Is this: a) someone sighted, b) someone with Leber's congenital amaurosis, c) someone who could be either of the above? Second character: Is this: a) someone sighted, b) someone with optic nerve hypoplasia, c) someone who could be either of the above? Third character: Is this: a) someone sighted, b) someone with neuromyelitis optica, c) someone who could be either of the above? Fourth character: Is this: a) someone sighted, b) someone with retinitis pigmentosa, c) someone who could be either of the above?

Second slide. The text reads "If you answered C: congrats! There is no magic way to tell if someone is sighted or blind just by looking at them from the outside. There are some conditions that have a specific look that might let you know they're blind, as well as some conditions that have a specific look that might make you think they're blind. It's true! "Blindness" is not a single condition. It's a spectrum with thousands of conditions that could cause someone to be on it." There are three portraits of different characters below that. The first person has long silvery straight hair, very light skin, and blue eyes that point in the opposite directions. The text under her reads: "This person has Chediak-Higashi Syndrome, which causes: photosensitivity, nystagmus, immunodeficiency, neurological abnormalities, ataxia, etc., high mortality, oculocutaneous albinism (OCA), blindness/visual impairment [the last one is underlined]." The second portrait is of a Black man with dark skin, black hair, and blue eyes that are shaking from side to side. The text under him reads: "This person has type 1 ocular albinism (OA), which causes: photosensitivity, nystagmus, reduced eye pigment, blindness." The last portrait is of a South Asian woman in a purple hijab. She has black bangs sticking out of it. Her eyes are very small. The text under her reads: "This person has microphthalmia, which causes: significantly smaller eyes, blindness/visual impairment depending on severity, other things if syndromic." "As you can see, these are not the same. Even though they are all blind or have low vision, their symptoms are different." Below is a chart. It reads "consider", and shows two options. The first one is marked with a red X. It reads: "I want to make a blind OC → [gives them white/closed eyes and/or a blindfold and calls it a day]." The second one is marked with a green checkmark. "I want to make a blind OC → I will decide what medical condition they have → [gives them symptoms and aids that make at least some amount of sense]."

Third slide. It's titled: "Okay, but how do I signal that my OC is blind if they're not wearing a blindfold or at least have that blank stare??" "So glad you asked!" Below is a diagram titled: "Aids to Give Your Blind OC." It shows multiple drawings of a stick figure with various aids. It reads: "These are the main basic options:" "Mobility white cane! "Literally just a stick. White length with red on the bottom. Tip can have a billion different shapes (check description)." Next to it is a scale comparing the size of the cane to a person. Three lengths are marked: nose, shoulder, and sternum. The text underneath reads "longer = better for fast walkers". Next to that is a diagram of a striped cane. Text reads: "A red-and-white striped cane symbolizes deafBlindness in many countries." Below it is a diagram showing a shorter, thinner cane being held. "Identification cane! Shorter, thinner, lighter. Designed to inform others that the user is low vision/blind, not to aid mobility. For other cane types: check the description. It's a stick either way." There is a small warning sign next to a drawing of a mobility impairment cane. Text: "Wrong cane: This cane is used for mobility impairment." The diagram on the right side of the slide reads: "Guide dog! Pros: Dog Cons: Learning to draw a dog." "In 95% of cases: Labrador, Golden Retriever, German Shepherd, Standard Poodle, Bernese Mountain Dog, Some mix of the above. No, a Chihuahua wouldn't work." The drawing is of a stick figure with a Labrador in a harness. Below is the same thing, but the Labrador was replaced with a miniature horse. Text: "Guide horse! I promise it's real." Text at the bottom of the page reads: "Try to think about your character as a person. Do they spend a lot of time indoors? A cane might be better. Are they afraid of dogs? Consider a miniature horse."

Fourth slide, titled: "But The Eyes!!!" "Fair, they do look different sometimes. But in what ways?". There are multiple types of "different eyes" shown drawn step by step. 1) Strabismus Basically: eyes pointing in different directions Literally just move the irises: strabismus can be on one side or both, and can be in any direction. 2) Nystagmus (dancing eyes) Basically: eyes moving very fast involuntarily If you've ever drawn smear frames, then this is basically a mini version of that. Adding a few lines of the eye's color and of the pupils to mimic horizontal movement generally works for this. 3) Cataracts Basically: white/gray pupil. Draw eye → click bucket tool → color the pupil a lighter color. 4) No eyes No explanation needed, I think. Unless you're doing some mega-closeup, just color it red. If they're anemic, it can be light pink. Despite what many, many, many people (artists especially) think, there is no blood, gore, or injury happening here. Unless you think that pulling on your lower eyelid also creates eww scary gore. A conformer is essentially a big-ass contact that helps the eye hold shape without costing a billion dollars. It has holes in it, which looks cool. Many people born without eye(s) will have them closed. Generally speaking, eyelid atrophy occurs when there's nothing (no eye/conformer/prosthesis) there, and then it can be hard to open your eyes. 5) The goddamn white eye everyone wants to draw for some reason Basically: a real existing condition called corneal opacity, not something that happens to every blind person. Or ~95% of them... Often discolored sclera. Blood vessels can be much more visible. White/grayish opacity over the pupil and iris. Below it is a drawing of someone who has perfectly white (#FFFFF) eyes with no pupils, irises, or anything. The caption reads "Literally doesn't look like this." Text at the bottom, in bold: "If your character has gone blind due to an accident/injury, please read the links in the description."

Fifth slide, titled: "Albinism Special because I know the Tumblr artist userbase." Text below reads: "OCA: oculocutaneous = hair/skin/eyes all affected OA: ocular = eyes affected (skin/hair can be to a very mild degree)" "Albinism has symptoms! It's not an aesthetic/quirk. Less pigment = bigger vision problems. Erasing symptoms of albinism is disability erasure, by the way." There are screenshots of all the types of albinism (OA, OCA, all types of both of these, Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome, Chediak-higashi, and Griscelli syndromes), captioned "There are a ton of types of albinism, by the way". In the middle is a drawing of a person with albinism. There's arrows pointing to their features, labeled as: Strabismus, White cane (heart emoji), Lighter hair color if OCA, Lighter skin if OCA, Using sunglasses for photophobia (photophobia is underlined). The text next to them reads: "Sunglasses are both a stereotype and a real disability aid. If your character has photophobia (light causes pain), then sunglasses will work great. But they're not something all blind people wear." At the bottom of the page are multiple drawings of eyes of people with albinism. There's a light blue eye of someone very light skinned captioned "OCA1", a hazel eye of someone with a light brown skin tone captioned "OCA3", and a grayish blue eye of someone with very dark skin captioned "OA1". They all have a small green checkmark next to them. Text next to them reads: "There are many colors, actually!" On the right, are two eyes, both on people with very light skin. One eye is bright red, and the second one is purple. There is a red X next to them, and the caption reads: "Literally just an illusion. Eyes can look red/violet in bright ass light because you're seeing blood vessels."

Sixth slide titled "Other things to think about:". Text below: "Blindness is a spectrum. Only about 15% of blind people have No Light Perception (NLP)." Below that is a portrait of a Black woman in a hijab, smiling and looking to the side with slightly crossed eyes. There's text next to her that reads: "1) Yes, blind people do smile even if they can't see anything (?). 2) Yes, most blind people can move their eyes. 3) Yes, most blind people turn towards the person they're talking to. 4) Yes, a lot of blind people can track things with their eyes, and they're not faking." Below that is a blue text box that reads: "If this is your idea of a blind person, then please know there is already a type of person who can see, and we call them sighted." There is an arrow leading to a drawing of a person with long blue hair and a blindfold covering their eyes. They have no mobility aid. There's a speech bubble attached that reads: "I can still see with Magic/Tech/Sci-Fi BS of the day, by the way. What's "disability erasure"." On the right side of the image, text reads: "Give your OC community (any kind). Disabled people aren't rare, and we stick together (smile emoji)." Under that is a drawing of a Black woman with cataracts, who has an ID cane in her left hand, holding hands with an Indian DeafBlind woman who has a white cane in her other hand. They're both smiling.

“Tutorial” on how to “draw” a blind OC.

My kofi

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. Links below so that you can research and do a nuance. Ones that were directly mentioned are bolded.

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>'drawing' >look inside >1000 words per 1 drawing my art disabled artist artists on tumblr digital art personal art art digital artist disabled representation disabled art disability pride disability representation drawing disabled characters drawing tips digital drawing art tutorial art tips art help

first slide, titled "how to draw some burn scars" with "some" being underlined. The text under reads "3rd/4th degree mostly, because most people on this website apparently never seen a burn survivor." below that is a red box with text reading "(all caps) all scars are different! (end caps) there is no one correct way to draw a scar. this is more of an overview than a step-by-step tutorial". the right side of the slide has three drawings, each showing a person's forearm. The text above them reads "there's many types of scars, actually". The first one shows a hypertrophic scar, with the text "draw a darker patch of skin and shade underneath to show depth. notes: it sticks out a bit, it can be slightly discolored (darker), it's not really this bright red color that people draw burns with, it interacts with the rest of the skin - you can see it pull skin inward". The second one shows a keloid scar, with the text "it sticks out a lot, much more discolored, it can be red, pink, purple, it doesn't with the rest of the skin as much - it has sharper, more defined edges". The third and last arm shows a severe contracture with the top of the hand resting on the forearm, with the text "burns make skin contract; scars affect range of motion (ROM) and can lock or limit movement, they afect all areas of the body vbut are most visible on the neck, joints, and hands". There's a fourth additional drawing showing a man's torso; he has a lighter burn scar on the far side of his ribcage, with his arm seemingly fused to it above the elbow. He has visible body hair but is lacking it on the scar itself. The several notes around it read "healed scars can also turn lighter; a burn scar has a tendency to pull surrounding structures* inward, here it makes a contracture. *-not only skin. scars affect cartilage (like in ears), nipples, etc. also notice the lack of hair on the scar".

second slide, titled "how do burns look like (for people who draw them but don't seem to know)". there's an arrow labeled "not like this (heart)" leading to a drawing of an anime girl with half of her skin being plain red and no other changes. text box below her reads "'don't worry man I watched ATLA when I was 14' type OC", with the following noted; "the Red, has fingernails despite 3rd degree burns, has eyebrows despite 3rd degree burns, has hair despite 3rd degree burns, eye is totally fine it's only fire LOL, nose and ears also fine, why is it red, more flexible than your average abled person, why is it red". below is a disclaimer reading "(one or two is fine, but why is it always all of it? burns do things, especially one as seveer as implied here)". the right side of the image shows pictures of body parts with burn scars on them, the first being a hand with a severe contraction in the fingers. the burn and contracted joints are labeled on the image. next to it is a drawn comparison between a non-burned hand with stretched out fingers, and a burnt hand with curled fingers. photo under that is of a pair of feet being held by a hand. the link below goes to "SurvivorNotVictim.com/Scar-Photos". my added text reads "not red! the scars mostly show through texture and tissue damage" and "no toenails". next to that is art of a scarred leg from the mid-calf down, it has visible skin pulling, no nails, and discolored patches of skin. text reads "some pinkness/redness can show, but it's A) not going to be a consistent color, B) other aspects of the scar still show up. Remember the body is 3D and skin pulls accordingly (more or less); scars form toward the ankle because it sticks out". at the bottom of the image is a portrait photo of Marzieh Ebrahimi, an Iranian woman with a chemical burn on one side of her face, smiling. Text next to her reads "a scar can be more defined in one place and less in another (forehead/chin); the skin is darker and less saturated, not red; Marzieh's scar is more visible because of her eye and nose than the discoloration". Next to that is a simplistic portrait drawing of her recreating the picture. Note reads "just some darkening of the skin, lighter and darker lines to imply skin pulling, and attention to some basic effects of burns (e.g., scar on eyebrow ridge = no eyebrow) looks more like an actual burn than the red paint thing".

Third slide, titled "skin grafts". On the right is a photo of a white woman posing with her scars visible to the camera, the source is linked as SurvivorNotVictim.com/Scar-Photo. Text reads "one of the most common visible kinds of skin grafts is the mesh one", with an arrow pointing to the woman's arm, where her skin has a mesh pattern. There is a drawn comparison of non-burnt skin and skin with the mesh graft for comparison. Text box reads "it leaves a specific kind of texture in the skin. Grafts sometimes have stronger highlights than other parts of the skin (you can see it on both photos)". Under that is a photo of Kenny Matthews (@IKenDawg), a Black man with burn scars. There is a text box on the right that reads "skin grafts will usually be thicker than the rest of the skin and thus can stick out; they can be discolored (both darker or lighter, more yellow or red, more/less saturation, etc.) and have a visible start and end. It applies to all skin colors BTW". Below that are two portrait drawings, one of a Black man with a large, darker skin graft on his cheek, and a white woman with yellowish grafts on her jaw and nose.

Fourth slide, titled "nose and eyes". The left side features various nose drawings, while right and bottom show different kinds of eyes. The text in the nose section reads "Usually if nose was visibly burned, it will be seen on the nostrils and septum". The first nose drawing shows someone with pale skin and nostrils pulling strongly downwards. Second one shows a person with darker skin and fourth degree burns; his eyes are covered by skin and the external parts of the nose are largely gone, leaving the red internal part visible. Text attached reads "With very severe burns, the external part of the nose can be removed. In this case the nose will be red because the insides of the nose are red". Third drawing shows a white man with burns below his eyes; his septum is completely gone, and the nostrils pull to the sides. Attached text reads "Nostrils can also pull to the sides, making the nose wider. Sometimes the septum will be absent if burns were severe enough. That generally causes some degree of asymmetry". Last nose drawing shows someone with a lot of keloid and hypertrophic scars on his face, with one of them formed around their nose. Text attached reads "Nose can also pull to one side. The constricted nostril can then be very flat". There's a simple sketch underneath that shows a nose with symmetric and asymmetric nostrils from below. Eye section. The first text box reads "Eyes are not affected as often as you'd probably assume (mostly because blinking and all) but eye damage is frequent in chemical burns (as opposed to thermal)". First drawing features a darkskin person with burns on their forehead and around their left eye. The skin pulls their eyelids upward and to the side at a 45-degree angle, resulting in the red of the eye showing on the sides. Attached text reads "Eye pulls out and up, so the red parts show accordingly. The eyelids themselves are stretched, eye is fine". Second drawing is of an Arab man with a chemical burn on the left side of his face. He's missing his eyebrow and eyelashes on that side. He has ptosis and his actual iris is blurrier while the white part is redder. Text reads "Here eyelids pull down so the eye looks like it's drifting up". Third drawing shows a person with tan skin and severe burns. They have no hair of any kind, and their nose bridge is significantly pushed to the side. Their right eye is wide open with a red shiny eyelid at the bottom, their iris pointing extremely outward, and blood vessels showing. Their left eye looks very small with swollen eyelids and partially opaque iris. Text reads "The redness you can sometimes see is a result of chronic conjunctivitis, it's not an open wound situation. Here the right lower eyelid is missing so it looks like it's red and shiny. The left lower one is turned outward and it causes corneal scarring, which results in parts of the eye looking white(r) and the eyelids to swell". The bottom section features four eye adjacent conditions and their characteristics. The first one shows a person with one of their eyes missing and an empty pale-red socket visible. It's titled "Enucleation". Text underneath reads "If the eye is as badly damaged as in 90% of OCs with burns then they will get it removed. Despite popular perception there is quite literally nothing 'gore' about an eye socket. The redness/whiteness is the same thing as on your eyelid when you pull it. The empty socket has a much smaller opening and is very flat in comparison to a full socket. If the character has a protruding brow ridge, the shadow will fall on the whole area". Second one features a dark-skinned person's eye, which is brown with a white spot on the lens. Text reads "Cataracts is a condition of the lens, so it affects the lens by making it to appear clouded. Causes blindness". Third one shows an eye of a pale person; it's slightly red with blood vessels visible and the irid is blurry with a large opaque spot in the middle. Text reads "Corneal scarring causes pain, red sclera, and the opaqueness that can happen over the whole eye, not just lens. Also causes blindness".

Continuation from the previous slide. Last one shows an eye with the upper eyelid fallen down. Text reads "Ptosis is caused by nerve damage more than anything else. It makes the eyelid fall down, but does not affect the eye itself. Can technically make someone unable to see if the eyelid doesn't open". Fifth slide description starts from here. It shows a three-step process of drawing the skin texture. First step shows a patch of light skin, titled "get a base". Second step puts various brown lines of different sizes on the skin, largely going from the upper left to bottom right, spreading out on the right. Text reads "Draw slightly darker lines of various lengths to imply contractures". There’s a second, smaller drawing, first with the lines going in similar direction and the other with the lines all pointing different ways and going over each other. Text above them is "try to keep them going in a direction that makes sense" and "not just random strokes" respectively. Third step adds some shadows and highlights on the scars. Text reads "add subtle shading to show texture changes, can also add highlights". Below that is a small drawing of a patch of skin with a red line going through it; one side is shaded and one isn't for comparison. The upper right has a drawing of a man shown from the back; he has burn scars on his left shoulder. That shoulder is less muscular than the right one, and he has keloids and grafts visible. Text underneath reads "You really don't have to draw 10000 lines to show the contractures. A few smaller and some bigger ones do it just fine. Remember that you can ad keloids, hypetrophic scars, and graft discoloration!".

sixth slide, titled "other things to think about". it features a few different burn survivor characters and the text "no two burn survivors are the same". first one is a Black woman with a burn just on her face and neck, empty eye socket, and no ear, wearing a very wide-brimmed sun hat. note next to her reads "sun protection". below her is a white man with scarring on the side of his head, including two large keloid scars. he's missing a lot of hair on his scalp. underneath him is a drawing of a Latino man with short black hair and contracture scars on his forearm, fusing it around the elbow; he's wearing a large compression glove on his hand. in the center of the image are two women; a South Asian young woman wearing a pastel hijab using crutches with a visible prosthetic leg, and a Black woman with short pink hair and all four limbs amputated using a powerchair. The first woman has no actual burns visible while the second one has her stumps covered in distinct discolored scars, but they're both smiling at each other. text between them reads "burns can result in amputation, either because of the initial damage or infection. sometimes burns are visible, sometimes not so much". under them is a portrait of a white woman scratching her neck with her remaining fingers. she's completely bald with scars on her head, face, and hand. her eye is slightly red with a discolored white part in the middle of the iris. text next to her reads "research actual symptoms of burn scars (like scratching) (like sun protection), etc."

Overview of some topics when it comes to drawing characters who are burn survivors.

DISCLAIMER. Please keep in mind that this is an introductory overview for drawing some burn scars and has a lot of generalizations in it, so not every “X is Z” statement will be true for Actual People. I’m calling this introductory because I hope to get people to actually do their own research before drawing disabled & visibly different characters, rather than just making stuff up. Think of it as a starting point and take it with a grain of salt (especially if you have a very different art style from mine).

Talking about research and learning… don’t make your burn survivor characters evil. Burn survivors are normal people and don’t deserve to be constantly portrayed in such a way.

Screenshot that reads, "In a 2022 survey of the burn community, Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors found 59% ranked 'burn survivors & the media: changing the portrayal of the survivor' as a top need for support."

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

Edit: How are people seeing this post where I specifically talk about burn survivors being normal, real people, and still tag this as “TW body horror”? Not a single one of these drawings or pictures is a fresh injury. All of them are healed. How the hell would you feel if someone tagged a photo of you as “trigger warning: gore”?

Disabled people are not your fucking body horror. Grow up.

people who tag this as 'tw scary!!!' will be blocked for missing the point + being insufferable. my art disabled artist artists on tumblr digital art id in alt text art personal art digital illustration art on tumblr body positivity body positive art drawing illustration ccartshare drawing tips drawing disabled characters disabled representation

First slide. The title reads "drawing characters with Down syndrome". Below that: "myth that I need to get out of the way before the actual tutorial: [caps] people with DS do not look the same [end caps]. They share similar features, but there is no one face that every person with DS has. Most people with DS won't have every single trait, just pick what works for your character." Around that are three actual photos; from top to bottom; a photo of the actress Gigi Cunningham, a Black woman in her 20s posing with her hands on hips; a photo of Zhou Zhou, a Chinese man in a suit conducting an orchestra; portrait photo of Georgie Wildgust, an elderly white man smiling to the camera. Each photo is captioned with the person's name.

Second slide. Title reads: "face shape". Subtitle: "the vast majority of people with Down syndrome are fat. If you know how to draw double chins etc. you will have an easier time, Not every person with DS shares these features. They're just common." Next to that text box are two drawings of a featureless bust with a sharp jawline and defined cheekbones, with big red X next to them. Below that reads "play with shapes like rectangles, circles, trapezoids!" featuring each of the shapes. Under them are renditions of characters with Down syndrome with faces based off the shapes: a South Asian woman with hearing aids with a square face, a white person with hoop earrings and a round face, and a Black man sporting a buzzcut with a face widening at the bottom. Text below reads "notice the lack of defined jaw and short, wide neck." Under that are three simple sketches of people with Down syndrome from different angles with the aforementioned features highlighted.

Third slide. Title is "body". Subtitle reads: "Down syndrome affects the body shape too. Again, the majority of people with DS are fat". Below that are two stick figures, one tall and skinny, second short and fat. The latter has "most people will be closer to this: short, fat, short neck" written next to it. Below the former reads "some people with Down syndrome are skinny and/or average height but they're a minority. like Sofía Jirau (she's like 4'10)". The last sentence has an arrow pointing to a photo of Jirau - she's a skinny Latina woman posing with her hands spread out and excited expression. The next section is titled "things most people don't know". Text box reads "some people with DS have clinodactyly of the pinkie finger. Basically the top section of it is curved inward". There is a drawing of exactly that next to it. Below is another drawing of a hand, with two creases marked on the palm. The text reads "You know how how almost everyone has 3 creases on their palm? Well people with DS have 2. I know 99% of people don't draw palm creases but it's cool".

fourth slide, called "eyes". text reads "probably the most characteristic feature, so it's important to get right. People with Mosaic Down syndrome (more on it later!) will often have this as one of the few visible traits". top right has a close-up of a blue iris with white dots going around the pupil. It's captioned "these white spots going in a circle are called Brushfield spots. A lot of people with DS have them". Below that is a step-by-step tutorial on drawing eyes. First step focuses on the general shape, with the text reading "there's a lot of shapes to choose from: almond; round; upturned; + more but these are most common". Each of them has a drawing attached. Step two focuses on eyelids. Text reads "pronounced eyelids, both bottom and upper ones. They have a very noticeable crease". There's two pairs of eyes with heavy eyelids under that. Step three shows wrinkles around the eyes. Text: "some people with DS will have creases around the eyes + large bags under the eyes; if you have a simpler artstyle probably skip this one". Attached drawing shows a pair of eyes with wrinkles coming form the upper eyelid on the outer side and bags under the eyes. Step four reads "give them strabismus [many exclamation points]! I know artists are allergic to drawing strabismus if it's not for a joke but crossed eyes are actually awesome [awesome in all caps], (ok not all have strabismus but like half do)". Drawing attached shows a person with DS and strabismus.

fifth slide. first section is titled "nose + mouth area". text reads "this is pretty loose and not every person with DS even has visible differences there, some might only have some, etc". Below that is a drawing of a man with DS wearing a yarmulke. The text next to him reads "nose is generally flat; no philtrum (the part between lips and nose is smooth); nose can be smaller and higher up (slightly); smaller upper lip*; tongue is physically larger, some people might stick it out". The asterisk leads to a text box: "again though, people with DS look different from each other and these are Relative. A Black person with DS might have a slightly smaller lip while a white person can look like they don't have upper lips at all". Relevant sections have arrows leading to a drawing of a Black woman with visible lips, and a white guy with very thin lips. Second section is titled "side view". It features drawing of a white woman from the side. Text reads "eyelids still very visible" with a diagram on how to draw the characteristic eyes and eyelids from the side. Lower text box reads "flatter face with flat nose bridge and small upper jaw; chin often sticks forward. For a lot of people the chin and nose will protrude a similar amount". The aforementioned features are all color coded on the drawing.

sixth slide, titled "additional things and stuff". below it is a small sketch of a face with the ear visible, the earlobe isn't hanging freely. text: "earlobes are connected! ears are smaller, rounder, and set lower". next to that are two drawings, one of a pair of glasses and other of hearing aids, the later accurately captioned "world's worst drawn hearing aids". main text reads "Down syndrome comes with vision loss (very often) and hearing loss (not as often but still a lot)". Diagram below has three drawings of different people with Down syndrome, titled "there are actually three types of Down syndrome". First drawing is captioned "Trisomy 21", it shows a fat South Asian woman with hearing aids and cataracts with classic DS facial features and vitiligo. Text below reads "95% of people with DS have this one; what you think of when thinking Down syndrome; has most or all the features". Second drawing is of a fat white woman with short dyed hair and hoop earrings with the same common facial characteristics, titled "Translocation 21". Text below reads "3% have it; there are some genetic differences but visually not so much; has most or all the features". Third drawing shows a Black woman with pink afro hair with heavy-lidded, upturned eyes and round ears but otherwise no DS-coded features, titled "Mosaic 21". Text reads "2% have it; 'partial' Down syndrome; some people don't know they have it; has few to most features". On the side there is a clip art thumbs up emoji with a png background with "hope this was helpful" written over it.

Tutorial for drawing characters with Down syndrome.

DISCLAIMER: Please 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. It’s more of an overview of features that are common in people with Down syndrome, not meaning to imply that every person with DS has all of them 👍 thanks.

If you draw any characters using this feel free to tag me.

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

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first slide. top right reads: There are many types of cleft lip. unilateral (on one side), bilateral (on both sides), and complete (self-explanatory), incomplete (self-explanatory), and post-surgery (there is no cleft), no-surgery (there is a cleft). next to it is a photo of Joaquin Phoenix with no facial hair captioned "Joaquin Phoenix has it BTW (unilateral + incomplete)". below that are four drawings captioned "Examples". They're all the same bust sketches but with different mouths and noses. The first one is Unilateral + complete (post surgery). Text box reads "teeth can sometimes be slighly visible, scar present, tip of the nose points downward, if they had surgery you won't be able to tell half the time if you aren't looking for it, easier to tell from the nose than the lip/scar TBH". Next to it is one captioned "unilateral + complete (no surgery). Text reads: "teeth are visible, upper row of teeth goes with the shape of the lip, tip of the nose points other direction". Third one is "bilateral + complete (no surgery). Text reads: "two front teeth visible but they go to the sides, upper lip split into 3 parts: one attached to the columella and two to the outer nostrils, nose and nostrils are wider". the last one is "unilateral + incomplete (no surgery)". text reads: "teeth can sometimes be visible but mostly no, nose can sometimes be flatter + wider on the side of the cleft, doesn't go into the nostril."

ALT

fourth slide. it's titled "ok but what else". below that are two busts, one of a person without a cleft lip and the second of a person with a repaired cleft but no visible scar. caption reads "how to draw the subtle differences". text continues "distance between nose and upper lip is shorter, nose more down turned (can be much more than I drew TBH), lip pulls upward below where the cleft was. This way it's still visible even when there's no easy-to-see scar." the two drawings have all these differences color-coded. section below features the same drawings, but this time they show a character with a complete unilateral no-surgery cleft. first one shows the skeleton underneath, second has skin on. text reads "in a no-surgery uni complete cleft lip, think of the rows of teeth not as two horizontal rows but more of a triangle. the upper teeth are parted into 2 sections and they don't meet, but can overlap in the actual cleft spot. they don't go into the nostril BTW." a small note reads "gums are dark red and teeth are blue so you can tell which is which" and the drawing is color coded accordingly.

fifth slide, titled "the chibis the cartoons etc." with a header "(by someone who doesn't really draw in that style I'll do my best though). it shows two chibi drawings - one of a girl with a bilateral no-surgery cleft lip, second of a girl with a unilateral post-surgery one. they each have instructions below. for the first one, it shows a horizontal 3 with an additional bump, captioned "you can do this shape (it's kinda nose shaped?", next step draws two squares to the middle part, captioned "add teeth to the middle part, boom no nose needed." second drawing has its first instruction as "draw a basic smile, don't bother with subtle differences TBH just simpify it", followed by "draw an anime girl fang upside down, remember that the lip follows the shape. you can throw in a scar too."

sixth slide, titled "other types of clefts + things to consider for the character". it features two drawings: one of an East Asian woman with a cleft going from her lower eyelid to the corner of her mouth, and second of a South Asian woman in a headscarf with an indent in the middle of her eyebrow. she also has strabismus and her cleft eyebrow is very wide. they're captioned with cleft type 5 and 10 respectively. a text box reads "these are called Tessier clefts and they're like cleft lips but on different parts of the face. There's 14 of them in total and they can be comorbid with cleft lip and palate." the last section has no drawings and just a text box titled "info that you might find useful: most people with cleft lip worldwide didn't have surgery, most people in wealthy countries get surgery as babies, some people choose to get cosmetic revisions rhinoplasties etc. when they're older (most don't), first cleft lip surgery was in 390 BC, most people with a cleft lip have a cleft palate as well, don't call it a fucking 'hare lip' it's offensive and weird".

Tutorial for drawing characters with cleft lip! Sorry that it’s mostly unilateral-centric but it makes up the vast majority of resources and photos. Still tried to get tips for drawing bilateral clefts in though.

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 👍

If you draw any characters using this feel free to tag me!

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

my art disabled artist artists on tumblr digital art id in alt text art personal art drawing tutorial drawing tips ccartshare drawing disabled characters disabled representation

(Posts tagged drawing tips)

See, that’s what the app is perfect for.