Tutorial For Drawing Characters With Down Syndrome!

First slide. The title reads "drawing characters with Down syndrome". Below that: "myth that I need to get out of the way before the actual tutorial: [caps] people with DS do not look the same [end caps]. They share similar features, but there is no one face that every person with DS has. Most people with DS won't have every single trait, just pick what works for your character." Around that are three actual photos; from top to bottom; a photo of the actress Gigi Cunningham, a Black woman in her 20s posing with her hands on hips; a photo of Zhou Zhou, a Chinese man in a suit conducting an orchestra; portrait photo of Georgie Wildgust, an elderly white man smiling to the camera. Each photo is captioned with the person's name.

Second slide. Title reads: "face shape". Subtitle: "the vast majority of people with Down syndrome are fat. If you know how to draw double chins etc. you will have an easier time, Not every person with DS shares these features. They're just common." Next to that text box are two drawings of a featureless bust with a sharp jawline and defined cheekbones, with big red X next to them. Below that reads "play with shapes like rectangles, circles, trapezoids!" featuring each of the shapes. Under them are renditions of characters with Down syndrome with faces based off the shapes: a South Asian woman with hearing aids with a square face, a white person with hoop earrings and a round face, and a Black man sporting a buzzcut with a face widening at the bottom. Text below reads "notice the lack of defined jaw and short, wide neck." Under that are three simple sketches of people with Down syndrome from different angles with the aforementioned features highlighted.

Third slide. Title is "body". Subtitle reads: "Down syndrome affects the body shape too. Again, the majority of people with DS are fat". Below that are two stick figures, one tall and skinny, second short and fat. The latter has "most people will be closer to this: short, fat, short neck" written next to it. Below the former reads "some people with Down syndrome are skinny and/or average height but they're a minority. like
Sofía Jirau (she's like 4'10)". The last sentence has an arrow pointing to a photo of Jirau - she's a skinny Latina woman posing with her hands spread out and excited expression. The next section is titled "things most people don't know". Text box reads "some people with DS have clinodactyly of the pinkie finger. Basically the top section of it is curved inward". There is a drawing of exactly that next to it. Below is another drawing of a hand, with two creases marked on the palm. The text reads "You know how how almost everyone has 3 creases on their palm? Well people with DS have 2. I know 99% of people don't draw palm creases but it's cool".

fourth slide, called "eyes". text reads "probably the most characteristic feature, so it's important to get right. People with Mosaic Down syndrome (more on it later!) will often have this as one of the few visible traits". top right has a close-up of a blue iris with white dots going around the pupil. It's captioned "these white spots going in a circle are called Brushfield spots. A lot of people with DS have them". Below that is a step-by-step tutorial on drawing eyes. First step focuses on the general shape, with the text reading "there's a lot of shapes to choose from: almond; round; upturned; + more but these are most common". Each of them has a drawing attached. Step two focuses on eyelids. Text reads "pronounced eyelids, both bottom and upper ones. They have a very noticeable crease". There's two pairs of eyes with heavy eyelids under that. Step three shows wrinkles around the eyes. Text: "some people with DS will have creases around the eyes + large bags under the eyes; if you have a simpler artstyle probably skip this one". Attached drawing shows a pair of eyes with wrinkles coming form the upper eyelid on the outer side and bags under the eyes. Step four reads "give them strabismus [many exclamation points]! I know artists are allergic to drawing strabismus if it's not for a joke but crossed eyes are actually awesome [awesome in all caps], (ok not all have strabismus but like half do)". Drawing attached shows a person with DS and strabismus.

fifth slide. first section is titled "nose + mouth area". text reads "this is pretty loose and not every person with DS even has visible differences there, some might only have some, etc". Below that is a drawing of a man with DS wearing a yarmulke. The text next to him reads "nose is generally flat; no philtrum (the part between lips and nose is smooth); nose can be smaller and higher up (slightly); smaller upper lip*; tongue is physically larger, some people might stick it out". The asterisk leads to a text box: "again though, people with DS look different from each other and these are Relative. A Black person with DS might have a slightly smaller lip while a white person can look like they don't have upper lips at all". Relevant sections have arrows leading to a drawing of a Black woman with visible lips, and a white guy with very thin lips. Second section is titled "side view". It features drawing of a white woman from the side. Text reads "eyelids still very visible" with a diagram on how to draw the characteristic eyes and eyelids from the side. Lower text box reads "flatter face with flat nose bridge and small upper jaw; chin often sticks forward. For a lot of people the chin and nose will protrude a similar amount". The aforementioned features are all color coded on the drawing.

sixth slide, titled "additional things and stuff". below it is a small sketch of a face with the ear visible, the earlobe isn't hanging freely. text: "earlobes are connected! ears are smaller, rounder, and set lower". next to that are two drawings, one of a pair of glasses and other of hearing aids, the later accurately captioned "world's worst drawn hearing aids". main text reads "Down syndrome comes with vision loss (very often) and hearing loss (not as often but still a lot)".
Diagram below has three drawings of different people with Down syndrome, titled "there are actually three types of Down syndrome". First drawing is captioned "Trisomy 21", it shows a fat South Asian woman with hearing aids and cataracts with classic DS facial features and vitiligo. Text below reads "95% of people with DS have this one; what you think of when thinking Down syndrome; has most or all the features". Second drawing is of a fat white woman with short dyed hair and hoop earrings with the same common facial characteristics, titled "Translocation 21". Text below reads "3% have it; there are some genetic differences but visually not so much; has most or all the features". Third drawing shows a Black woman with pink afro hair with heavy-lidded, upturned eyes and round ears but otherwise no DS-coded features, titled "Mosaic 21". Text reads "2% have it; 'partial' Down syndrome; some people don't know they have it; has few to most features". On the side there is a clip art thumbs up emoji with a png background with "hope this was helpful" written over it.

tutorial for drawing characters with Down syndrome!

DISCLAIMER... please keep in mind that this is an introductory drawing tutorial and has some generalizations in it, so not every “X is Z” statement will be true for Actual People. it's more of an overview of features that are common in people with Down syndrome, not meaning to imply that every person with DS has all of them 👍👍 thanks

if you draw any characters using this feel free to tag me!!

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kunartis

7 months ago

Our next Spooky Season Coord is inspired by the Gigantamax version of Pokemon #823 Corviknight

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prompt pkmn coord

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kunartis

2 weeks ago

Write Tension that isn't just Yelling or Guns

Listen, not all tension is someone holding a knife or screaming “I’ve had enough, Derek!” at a dinner party. Real, edge-of-your-seat tension can be quiet, slow, awkward, and still make your reader grip the page like it owes them money. So here are my favorite ways to sneak tension in like a gremlin under the bed...

╰ Unanswered Questions (That the Character is Actively Avoiding)

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╰ Small Talk That’s Not Really Small Talk

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╰ One Character Realizes Something The Other Doesn’t

A power shift = instant tension. One person knows the truth. The other’s still talking like everything’s fine. Let that dread slow-cook. Readers love being in on the secret. + Great for: betrayal, secrets, foreshadowing plot twists.

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