male base tutorial

There's a shortage of good male bases out there, which I suspect is due partly to the fact that most dollmakers just have more fun making girl dolls-- and partly to some misconceptions.

There are basemakers who make male versions of their various base sets, but often, even when the girl base looks great, the boy base still looks ultrafeminine. Basemakers have a tendency to flatten the breasts and shorten the eyelashes, and call it a boy base.

Now, I'm not knocking the anime style, and I like pretty boys as much as the next girl... but sometimes you just want a more realistic boy doll. So here are some tips on making a male base. Keep in mind that I'm consciously generalizing here; not all of these characteristics are always noticeable in all real guys, but we're talking about dolls, which are stylized, and we're going for a more masculine impression.

Keep in mind also that I'm not a world-class basemaker, and I'm still learning to practice what I preach. ;)

face

Female dolls tend to have wide round eyes, pouty mouths, tiny noses, and thin eyebrows. All these features make them look "cute" to our eyes. Male dolls can also be cute, but they're less exaggeratedly so. Eyes are a little narrower and not as defined, mouths are a bit thinner and a bit wider. The brows and nose can be heavier, especially if you're making an adult doll and not a little boy. Also try making the chin a little squarer.

neck and shoulders

Because males tend to be more muscular, you can make the neck a little wider -- not too much or he'll look like a neanderthal. The shoulders should be a bit wider than the hips, whereas in female dolls they can be about equal or even narrower and still look okay.

chest

Yes, this is the obvious one :D Keep in mind that besides just failing to outline the breasts, if you're in the habit of making... er, buxom dolls, you should make the male doll's chest more square than rounded, and shade it less heavily: he's pretty much flat up there. :)

Example #1
Arthmael and Angelica, two corresponding male and female bases by Wayuki. These are exaggerated (look at the muscles on him! O__O), but they make good examples for that very reason. Bases by Wayuki's Place, shown with permission.

middle

The waist should be less narrow and defined; a lot of our girl dolls look like they're wearing corsets, which doesn't work so well for boy dolls. As above, the hips should be narrower than the shoulders by a little bit. As for the crotch, well, I'm sure you can figure that out if you feel the need...

arms and legs

Again, you'll want to make him a little more muscular. He doesn't have to be "built"-- who wants to draw all that muscle definition, anyway? -- but you can make the limbs thicker by a couple or three pixels, depending on the size of the base. Hands and feet can be a little bit bigger, too.

Example #2
DHF's Oliver and Moe bases are a more realistic pair. See how her arms and legs are slimmer than his? Bases by Doll on the Hill Factory, shown with permission.

pose

Blame it on the media if you like, but most typical doll poses -- slouching with the head ducked, hands clasped behind the back, all those cute and flirty poses -- read as pretty much feminine. It's possible to draw a perfectly anatomically plausible male doll, and still have him look girly because the pose is all wrong. This is a tough one, since drawing interesting poses from scratch is difficult to begin with; but if you want to experiment with poses, try giving your boy bases more aggressive stances. Feet apart, no drifting arms, head up! :D