Marzipan Apple
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2024
When doing a simplified style, the main thing to focus on is defining important details while omitting everything else.
For example, here's Bolo from Shantae.
The character is supposed to be somewhat athletic and good with swinging weapons but not much else. He has pretty large deltoids but is otherwise smooth, which indicates that he's good at swinging but weak in general.
Another good example is Bruce Timm, who is the absolute master of simplifying anatomy. He's able to make characters nearly completely smooth while still keeping them recognizably muscular.
But even he defines muscles when he has to.
In this drawing, to indicate how absolutely swole Lobo is, he defined the three heads of the deltoid, the bicep and tricep, and the outline of the external oblique.
To make your character look more like an MMA fighter, I'd recommend emphasizing muscles that are associated with fighters. Pro fighters tend to have very large deltoids which allow them to swing their arms with a lot of power. They also have well developed lateral torso muscles, like the serratus (which pulls the shoulder blades forward) and obliques (which swivels the upper body), lending their punches even more power. So I'd suggest focusing on those muscles and leaving everything else smooth.
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