Is it cliche and stereotypical to draw a black character with a broad nose?

[Silver7]

I mean there are lots of black people who have a straight nose aren't there?

Just asking

[azurehayalet]

I'm not a POC so my take doesn't really matter but, I think the issue here would be drawing only one black character? If the cast is properly diverse, wouldn't there be different-looking black characters already?

[BoomerZ]

no as that is a feature of being black.

[jwabeasley]

Base your ethnic characters on real people you know (positively) and stop worrying so much about ethnicity. Class and education have a greater influence on all these things than race or ethnicity.

[ThunderChicken]

I think just so long as you don't try to make the character look stereotypical - especially if that stereotype is insulting. Google "Baba Asterix to see what I mean - Baba is a Black character in the French comic Asterix, and he made his appearance in 1962 or so. Though he is a beloved and important character throughout the series he was always drawn in a typical, ok-for-the-times-but-not-so-much-now manner. In the latest Asterix book (Asterix in Lusitania) he is drawn a little less offensively (he no longer has the huge red lips)

[BoomerZ]

Here is the thing people never realize. As an artist you only have so many "faces" you can draw, specially if you have a cartoony (myself) or an anime look. There is a reason for purple and green hair in manga, the faces are literally the same most of the time. Most anime people don't even have a nose, maybe a shadow where one is suppose to be. And the only time anime females have lips is if you want the to dress up "sexy" and have lipstick. So within those constraints, you need something to make people different. Large/wide noses and lips on a male is code for "black". As can be hair. Use these so you don't have same face syndrome. As long as you're not doing it to stereotype in bad faith, it's fine.

[VibrantFox]

the issue is not in the features themselves but how you draw those features and intent. it's the same as when you draw a white character with a hook nose and prominent chin but with the intent of creating a charicature than a character

a lot of people will tell you draw whatever and dont worry and thats partly true but looking into potential harmful steryotypes for any race is important. there are orientalist stereotypes, anti semetic steryotypes, anti black stereotypes and so on. but if you do the study and see what falls in line with being a normal portrayal of ethnic features versus blatantly racist cliches it will become easier to implement those features into your work without worrying about how much you're toeing the line

if anything it also comes down to how those characters are written. how they be have within your narrative and the roles they play and if they are the only ones behaving a certain way. for example, if black people in your story are only portrayed as mammys and maids and servants it could be steryotype but theres also stories that take place in settings or time periods where thats what was the norm (doesnt completely justify it but its an explanation).

If you're genuinely worried consider having a sensitivity reader or see if folks would be willing to offer critique so long as you also intend to listen to and learn from what info is given but otherwise yeah you'll just have to take your chances and just draw things 🤷

a resource i used to share was the writing with color tumblr page (don't have access to the link since im not home) but you should be able to google it and find the page. it gives pointers and tips to things like this not as a hard guide but suggestions to make sure you're not stepping over any lines when it comes to character portrayals.

thats like there was a discussion thread i cant recall but it also dives into portrayal of certain features and whats a sign of them being done well versus those that are not, using popular animes as an example but the key is intent and research. having the knowledge will help you know how to implement and from there its just trying your best but there are tools and resources out there that can help. all said best of luck and hopefully this thread doesnt blow up before the days over

[NickRowler]

While some black people do have wide noses, anyone making the argument that all black people have noses like that is stereotyping. People from East Africa tend to have more narrow noses.