The Bizarre Breasts Tutorial

How to Draw Breasts

by L.K. Malnassy

L.K. Malnassy is the creator of Sea of Insanity. This is her first column for Sequential Tart.

Bizarre proportions are nothing new to comics; be it the desire to cater to the cheesecake crowd or simply the preference of the artist, distorted anatomy has become commonplace. The fact that "professional" artists may utilize distortions in published works is a bit disappointing, but frankly, if they've gotten the job the odds are they aren't going to feel the need to change their style. That's fine, the world needs laughter. However, what does bother me is the possibility — hell, the reality — that amateur artists are copying this exaggerated anatomy and making these mistakes their own. So, in hopes of reaching those for whom this advice may actually have some impact, I have utilized my meager knowledge of anatomy and admittedly unpolished art skills to bring the world a brief tutorial on one of the comic artists' greatest challenges: the breast.

Full Frontal Stupidity

Does this look familiar? If it does, don't be too surprised — I've found renderings similar to this in a number of amateur (as well as professional) works. For reasons I cannot fathom, many artists seem inclined to draw their heroines with breasts that appear to be connected to their bodies by only the most tenuous shred of flesh. Fear not — if you've found yourself making this particular mistake, there are ways to correct it.

My pathetic lines aside, this is how the female torso should appear from the front. Aside from sporting considerably less disturbing proportions, note the distinct lack of cleavage. Give that gravity tends to pull breasts down and slightly outwards, "natural" cleavage is pretty rare unless the subject is leaning over. A good way to judge angle is to draw a line down the middle of the figure; from there, you'll find that nipples tend to point outwards from the collarbone at about a 45 degree angle. Also, note the guidelines. If a woman's elbows are located about level with the bottom of her ribcage, the lower curve of her breasts will place around 1/2 to 1/4 of the way above the joint. In terms of elevation, the nipples, although generally located in the middle of the breast, are not dead-center — remember the aforementioned 45 degree angle rule. Drawing horizontal lines to act as a guide also helps. I mean, seriously, if you were trying to fight the forces of evil, wouldn't you want level nipples?

A Breast Too Far

Side-views, such as the one above, can be just as bad as frontal views when it comes to exaggeration. Although not usually drawn quite as orb-like as the latter depiction, many profiles share some common problems.

Physics

Remember gravity? You know, that thing that keeps your feet locked to the earth? Well, the breast is not exempt. If you have what is essentially a pocket of fat protruding from your ribcage, there's going to be a little in the way of pull. The exact degree of this varies with the breast, but as a rule the larger the area the greater the degree of gravity exerted. As such, you cannot depict bare breasts as either a perfect triangle, nor 3/4 of a sphere. Should the woman be wearing a bra the shape of the supported breast is open to debate, but for the sake of completion one should be aware of the physics involved.

Variety

Breasts vary with the woman, and I'm not just talking about size. To prove this, I cracked open a book of photographs and found the following three examples:

All right, so I didn't include any incredibly buxom or incredibly old subjects in the study, but because most of the mistakes I've seen occur in artists who concentrate on superhero-type women I figured neither of those types would be of particular interest. Why? Two reasons:

There are very, very few geriatric superheroines, and even fewer who wear spandex.

The more athletic a woman is, the smaller her breasts are.

Now, #2 is not necessarily a hard and fast rule, because bust-size varies with genetics. Although fat does tend to collect in the breasts, being active isn't likely to turn a woman into a stick. However, given the life most super-types lead, they're likely to be on the smaller side. Just look at any female athlete. Also, any woman with a shred of empathy is likely to look at your average superheroine and wince in sympathy, especially if said character is wearing very little in the way of support. That attractive bouncing that, yes, does occur naturally in the well-endowed, is quite uncomfortable. (And yes, this is one reason why many of the women I know roll their eyes while watching certain anime titles.)

As an aside, I felt I should stress variety because all too often one will open a comic and see characters whose physiques are virtually identical. This is not limited to breasts, but for the purpose of this article they are, as usual, the stars of the show.

Anatomy

You should remember that breasts are an extension of the ribcage, not vice-versa. They aren't beachballs attached to a board. They are pieces of flesh firmly anchored to an existing skeletal structure. Before you draw the breasts it is vital that you draw the torso. Once you do, draw a line down the center of the ribcage from collarbone to navel. This will help you in determining which way the breasts should be pointing.

In addition to finding the center of the torso, pay attention to its angle. The collarbone and shoulders are the best means of judging this; if one shoulder is raised, its corresponding breast will be raised as well.

In Closing

Of course, there is no substitute to drawing from life. Granted this may be a problem for male artists, but there are ways around it.

Find magazines, photographs, or screenshots. These models will be real (although possibly not entirely in the case of magazines), generally in shape and, almost as important, still. As many of you have no doubt discovered, it's a lot easier to draw a motionless target.

Attend life-drawing courses. I should note that it's important to be aware that you're probably not going to be drawing Victoria's Secret models, as very skinny people are not nearly as interesting as the obese or the elderly, but the experience is important if you want to know how gravity and various angles affect flesh and bone in reality.

Ask your female friends to pose for you. You might want to be careful how you phrase this request, because it can definitely be taken the wrong way, but if you can't afford life-drawing classes it can be a cheap and easy way to get a firm grasp of anatomy. So to speak.

Good luck, and if someone asks you why you're drawing naked women, just give them the excuse all artists must utter at some point in their lives: "It's okay, Mom, it's not porn, it's art."

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