I keep seeing waaay too much unnecessary fanservice slipped into otherwise regular fanart of female characters compared to what male characters get, so I strongly feel this post is necessary.
ways to subtly (or not so) sexualise (cisgender) male characters in your day to day fanart:
- tight pants
- tight shirts
- tight clothes in general
- doesn’t even have to be different to their canon outfits, just make that shit tight
- put holes in his clothes!
- they can be tears, or they can look like they’re meant to be there- call them improvements 🙂
- and make the clothes transparent!
- even better, make them wet; transparent and clingy 😉
- put him in a submissive/passive pose
- you know, position the camera above him
- and make sure his ass is pointed even just a little bit at the camera
- just don’t make him look like he has any power over the viewer
- is there anything in or vaguely related to canon that has tentacles or something that resembles them? try incorporating that into the fanart!
- is there any conceivable excuse to have this character covered in sticky, white liquid? not semen, but…
- apparently general anatomy isn’t too important if you can draw really detailed, anatomically correct feet
- come to think of it, it’s generally socially accepted for cis men to be shirtless in a lot of places. I’d definitely use that to my advantage if I were you
- also, remember that trend of dudes not wearing belts so their undies were always visible? why not use that? hint: he doesn’t even have to be wearing undies!
- composition is an important part of any artwork. use this to draw attention to the: groin, ass, feet?, nipples, mouth, whatever takes your fancy
- make his facial expression lustrous. make him look like he wants the viewer to do unspeakable things to him
- when you see a female character being unnecessarily sexualised in fanart, think about how you might do the same thing to a male character 🙂
notes:
- most points listed above can also apply to character design for games, comics, films, etc.
- things to be careful of
Following yesterday’s Happy Friday sexy male warriors, those are some pretty damn good rules to follow in creating fanservice featuring male characters. Just remember everyone: “things to be careful of” addendum is essential part of the advice.
Big thanks to
septetteforadeadprincess for writing this wonderful post and noting us about it!
~Ozzie
edit April 2016: Updated
“things to be careful of” link, since the OP changed their URL.