Art References

Horses tend to confuse even professional artists (Magic the Gathering, i’m looking at you!) so here’s a basic explaination. 

As an artist with a focus on fat and trans bodies, my understanding of the human form comes from seeing variety.

I admire bodies that don't fit into the ideal form, because they are all the more common and all the more ignored.

You can find a million drawings featuring fat bodies that are drawn with the sole purpose of being appealing due to following the ideal form. Whether it be because our eyes have gotten the idea, through repetitive influence, that that form is *ideal*. Or for audiences to lust after.

Finding art depicting variety in body types, in fat distribution and structure, is very.. very hard. Sometimes, if you want to see more of something, YOU ought to be the thing you want to see more of.

If you truly want to be a body positive artist, learning to draw a generally appealing fat body is less than half the battle. Thin bodies have variety in fat distribution and in structure. Fat bodies just accentuate these forms.

Practice the ways fat falls around the body, see how it feels when you let yourself play around with the human form. Have FUN with it.

2016 vs 2025 🦑 More examples under the cut!

did a tiktok a while back with drawing references i did for a friend, if any cuties here wanna borrow em feel freeeeee

This might be pretty useful, I found this that I drew in 2010 with a step-by-step tutorial thing along with it. 2010 was when I was developing this process I used here. Now I use a process similar to this when doing finished illustrations, but this tutorial is still ok for some photoshop-fu… I’ll have to do an updated one someday.

Alrighty, let’s do this. For starters, this can sometimes be a hotly debated subject, so please keep in mind that this post will likely not be able to cover absolutely everything. I will, however, provide some suggestions on further reading at the end of this. (PSA: I’m really passionate on this, so prepare for a rant).

So what do butch and fem/me really mean?These are terms that have been around for a while, but I think really came into popular use in the 1950/60s. That said, there have been butch and fem/me lesbians for a long time. They are terms that explain a woman who loves women, within specific guidelines. Not every lesbian falls into either butch or fem/me, and that’s totally alright!

Butch and fem/me are very interconnected terms and should be explained as such, but I’m going to go into a bit of detail on what each is before going into the interconnectivity.

Let’s start with fem/me.

First, why the slash? Femme, on its own, is the French word for woman. It looks a bit fancier, and some believe that this is both the original and correct spelling of the term. Others, however, prefer to use fem - a bit less fancy and formal - to pay homage to the working-class lesbians who used the term in the 50s and 60s. The working-class lesbians are really the ones who used the terms, found strength in the terms, and really took it as an identity. Because of the divide, I typically use fem/me, but, for the sake of simplicity, I’ll be using fem.

It is a common misconception that both butch and fem are simply ways of explaining an aesthetic, but in reality, they are terms describing an identity rooted in years of history. Fem lesbians are ones that find power and strength within femininity - not because they wish to attract men, not because they just happen to like the colour pink, but because they find that deep and powerful sense of identity within the term, within how they relate to other fems and butches, and how they feel within themselves.

So, fem is not just looking feminine. It is feeling a deep connection to the history, it is feeling a love towards the butch/fem community, and, to some, it is such a deep connection that they consider it a gender identity.

Alright, cool. So what is butch?

Butch, once again, is not simply looking masculine. It is another identity steeped in a very long history. I keep repeating that, because it’s incredibly important to note. Butch and fem are not new things, are not some fad or simply an aesthetic, they are identities that have been around for a very, very long time.

These are lesbians who are gender-non-conforming, for the most part, and often do not wholly identify as female, or have a complicated relationship with gender. This is not to say that fem women do not also have a complicated relationship with gender, but it is often more obvious within the butch identity.

Butch lesbians often find a home and an identity within lesbian history, much as with fem lesbians. They and their fems were often at the forefront of every battle, of every tense moment, and of the battle between the police and the queer community. They were very likely to be imprisoned for various things (and, more often than not, taken advantage of by police).

Butch lesbians, especially after Stonewall and the beginning of the sexual revolution, were seen as part of the patriarchy, imitating men, or things like that, and the identity began to die, along with fems, who were seen as ‘too girly’ and ‘attempting to conform’ too much.

The identity was relegated to the background, often were specifically protested against, and was almost lost. Butches and fems are slowly emerging again in public society, but it is more difficult than it once was because of misunderstandings as to what butch and fem really mean.

Your characters will likely struggle with these issues - those of dealing with an outer public who doesn’t understand, as well as trying to decide where (and if) they fit within the butch and fem system. However, they’ll find an amazing sense of identity, community, and love within the butch/fem community.

Butches and fems exist together - that’s not to say that butches can’t date butches or fems can’t date fems, that’s not it at all, simply that they are counterpart identities, and butches who love butches and fems who love fems will often experience these identities in a different way.

If you include butch and/or fem characters in your story, I urge you to do research. Take a look at Leslie Feinberg’s Stone Butch Blues (there’s a free pdf available on hir website). I very much recommend it - personally, that novel was a major help in my own identity search. Also, take a look at Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, or Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold.

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More comparisons below cut!

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Art from this year