Do these characters look too similar?

[JoshRaed]

Uh, yes the shape of the nose shows from the front in real life.

I've seen people (and been the person) who hear(s) about an internet person getting a nose job and are shocked that their nose didn't already look like the after photo the whole time. Also a soft incline doesn't quite show in a pencil drawing. Like if you drew an unshaped sphere and unshaded ellipses from the circular side, how would you differentiate them?

[IndigoShirtProd]

I've seen people (and been the person) who hear(s) about an internet person getting a nose job and are shocked that their nose didn't already look like the after photo the whole time.

But that doesn't negate what I said.

Like if you drew an unshaped sphere and unshaded ellipses from the circular side, how would you differentiate them?

Aren't ellipses stretched or longer circles? Like circle are a round shape whose outside boundary is equidistant from the center from all points and an ellipse is not that. And in terms of drawing, an unshaded sphere is just a circle.

[JoshRaed]

Plenty of children and adults have round face shapes that are obvious from a side view. It's not that it can't not look wrong, it's that you're not putting in the time and work to make it look right.

I don't see how I could make this face shape rounder than the smooth curve that culminates into another smooth curve, unless I go full bean mouth or make him fatter. The only jawline I can see that is rounder than his jawline is that of a baby, or a jawline that is invisible from the side. Like all the jawlines I see are either invisible or sharper than i've ever drawn, even on buff manly men or very skinny women.

[IndigoShirtProd]

I'm not trying to get into the minutia of this one character design aspect with you, I'm just trying to say that you shouldn't so quickly doubt that you can make a round jawline work.

I don't see how I could make this face shape rounder than the smooth curve that culminates into another smooth curve, unless I go full bean mouth or make him fatter.

Nor am I saying you need to make the jawline rounder. It's fine as is, but both the front facing and the profile view lack structure imo.

[JoshRaed]

What do you mean by lacking structure?

[KevinReijnders]

What do you think it means?

[JoshRaed]

It sounds like it means like the underlying shapes but I did draw those, and you wouldn’t be able to see them from a finished product.

[KevinReijnders]

Good that's exactly what it means.

Now, just because you drew them, doesn't mean they're structurally right. Show them.

[JoshRaed]

What I draw is a circle with a line going down it and then some, with a jawline attached connecting that line to wherever the side of the head is supposed to be at this angle, if it’s a front view or a three quarters view than that’s both sides. Is that a problem?

[KevinReijnders]

And do you know why you draw those things, or are you just doing what you saw online?

[NickRowler]

Those lines are just guides to help keep things proportional. It’s OK to deviate from them if you feel like it makes a character look better. Is your goal to draw realistic or draw a stylized cartoon?

I will also recommend you look up Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Her art is very similar where characters have very round heads. There is also an animated film so you can see how characters who are stylized like that move.

I would also recommend just drawing the characters multiple times. It’s weird that you still have the same images from July as examples.

[IndigoShirtProd]

This is kind of off topic, but I have to ask, though it's probably been sked of you before, how often do you draw? Like just sit down, but on a video, or a show, or some music and just draw. I'm a firm believer in the "draw everyday" mantra some artist follow even if I don't make full completed pieces. Do you draw regularly?

[JoshRaed]

I’ve been rushing to get a writing draft finished before february because I made that my deadline but skimped out on that, so I haven’t drawn much, but yesterday I made a caricature of one of my OCs to get a feel for making him more distinct, and I might make another one today.

[IndigoShirtProd]

But specifically, how often do you draw? Once a week, once a month? Because I think you would benefit from drawing more often. You can do a lot of problem solving by yourself when you sketch more often. Do you have a sketchbook?

[JoshRaed]

Probably once a week, I should change that but I struggle to keep up with watching my favorite anime, much less something that takes effort.

[IndigoShirtProd]

How often do you sit down and write during the week?

[JoshRaed]

Maybe about 4 to 6 times a day.

[IndigoShirtProd]

I consider myself more of an artist than a writer, so maybe there's some disconnect there, but have you considered trading some of your writing time for drawing time? Even if that means making some loose sketches in the sketchbook I have to assume you have.

[JoshRaed]

I never actually use my sketchbook because my screens have a hold on me like the xenomorph like I rarely read but when I do it’s either a webnovel or an e-book. I should get back into the almost habit of drawing with a pencil actually.

[JoshRaed]

I draw them because that's the model I build the character head on top of. This is the underlying shape that makes them, like a skull for a drawing.