RPG Character Request

[JJohnson]

Hi folks,

I've got an RPG character for a crewmember that I attempted, but I'm an amateur with Paint.net and it looks bad. One of the crew said it "looks like a character from Ru Paul's Drag Race." I was trying to go for Star Trek Merida, not a drag character.

This is my (amateur) effort, which definitely needs clean up:

The character should be:
*The Dax body here
*This model's face: one, two, three, four
***Search results for this person: one two three
*Merida hair to the waist, as above (this hair or this hair or this hair (the one I used))
*Background: Enterprise E engineering
*Department: Engineering
*Rank: Lieutenant

If anyone wouldn't mind cleaning this up and making it look better, which shouldn't be hard in comparison to my effort, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Scott Kellogg]

I'm afraid I'm not really one to go modifying photos but I can give you a bit of advice on drawing females.

With a few notable exceptions, most women have hips that are as broad as their bust if not wider.
Most men, on the other hand, have shoulders wider than their hips. (The stereotype superhero model has a torso like an upside down triangle.)

The photo you've chosen to base your character on (the Dax Body) looks to have been digitally exaggerated past Dolly Parton Proportions. Not only are her breasts larger than her hips, her shoulders are wider than her hips. And that's where the "Drag Character" vibe is coming in.

Biologically, Men normally have wider shoulders, which enhances upper body strength.
Women have wider hips to allow the cranium to pass through the birth canal of the pelvic girdle.

If you want a character to look feminine, her shoulders should be more narrow than her hips, up to having them the same breadth, but not wider.

Of course all men and women are different, and their bodies are different, but if you're getting an impression you didn't want on a character, that's most likely where it's coming from.

 

[NervousEnergy]

I find the way you've .. "enhanced" Dax's breasts really quite offensive. Well, let's not mix words - you've turned her into a sex object. Incredibly objectifying :/

 

[Albertese]

I mean... some women do naturally have large breasts. Though it's unusual for them to be this large while the rest of the frame is so slim. So, while not actively offended like the above poster, I do say these proportions are pretty far off.

As for the factors leading this to look like a drag queen, The shoulders::hips proportions mentioned by Scott Kellogg are right on the money. Also the comically oversized bust looks like a man wearing a false bosom. Also the hair looks like a costume wig.

I'm not going to photoshop this for you, but hopefully you can take the advice in this thread and try again.

--Alex

 

[Spaceship Jo]

If you want a character to look feminine, her shoulders should be more narrow than her hips, up to having them the same breadth, but not wider.

Obviously the Dax body has been altered, but the hip/shoulder ratio is not one of those changes so far as I can see looking at the original unaltered promotional image. My partner and their whole family share that trait, and that doesn't impact anyone's femininity.

As for this thread in general, I find it a bit iffy for this forum. Was it a few months ago or a whole year that someone flooded the Fan Art page with requests for custom ships and art? Time does fly.

 

[Scott Kellogg]

If you want a character to look feminine, her shoulders should be more narrow than her hips, up to having them the same breadth, but not wider.

Of course all men and women are different, and their bodies are different, but if you're getting an impression you didn't want on a character, that's most likely where it's coming from.

FIFY.

+

Obviously the Dax body has been altered, but the hip/shoulder ratio is not one of those changes so far as I can see looking at the original unaltered promotional image. My partner and their whole family share that trait, and that doesn't impact anyone's femininity...

Hello, I'm still kind of new here.

I was attempting to address why the original poster thought his composited artwork looked like a Drag Queen (too masculine.) I was not addressing anyone else's appearance or their family's appearance. If you have a different opinion as to why the original poster and his friends found the character too masculine, please give it.

Please do not take what I wrote out of context, edit it and then take offence at what you edited to make me look like a bad guy.

That's way more offensive than anything I may have written.

 

[Spaceship Jo]

FIFY.

+

Hello, I'm still kind of new here.

I was attempting to address why the original poster thought his composited artwork looked like a Drag Queen (too masculine.) I was not addressing anyone else's appearance or their family's appearance. If you have a different opinion as to why the original poster and his friends found the character too masculine, please give it.

Please do not take what I wrote out of context, edit it and then take offence at what you edited to make me look like a bad guy.

That's way more offensive than anything I may have written.

Normally I'd use the quote function instead of replying to the above in full, but you've already accused me of a lot that never happened.

In the above post, I neither edited what you wrote, took it out of context, nor took offense to what you said. I used the quote tool to highlight the portion of your post that was relevant to my response.

In fact, I'd agree with your generalizations, but the simple fact is that the real Dax has shoulders (or shoulder pads in the costume) that are wider than her hips. And the real Dax is plenty feminine in appearance. The Drag Queen look is much more from the overdone hair, makeup, and general artificiality than the hip/shoulder ratio. She looks utterly camp.

Expanding on a thought in a reply does not mean that it implies you said anything of the kind, by the way. There was no inference of insult, simply an illustration of areas of agreement and disagreement.

As for offense, the only offense I took was a possible feeling regarding the original post and the thread itself, not your reply.

 

[Michael]

No, thank you. If anyone feels they want to help @JJohnson out with their request, please contact them via PM. I don't think there's any use in this continuing here.