Bean Construction
- bean body
- curved torso
- line of action construction
A body built from one curved bean shape, so the whole figure leans in a single arc.
Opens an image model with the prompt in it. The price is on the page before you sign in.
What it is for
Drawing the torso as one shape rather than two lets the whole body bend in a single arc, and a curve reads as alive where a stack of boxes reads as a mannequin. It is the fastest way to get appeal into a pose before any detail is added.
How it works
The torso is one bean, curved rather than straight, with no waist. The shoulders and hips tilt against each other along that curve. Limbs are simple tubes attached to the bean. The head sits on the end of the curve rather than square on top.
When to use it
Use it for anything that has to move and feel warm. Avoid it for armour, machines or anything rigid, where a curved torso reads as a mistake.
Told apart from its neighbours
Rubber Hose is about the limbs having no joints. Blocky Build stacks straight boxes and refuses the curve. Funny Animal is a subject rather than a construction.
Where it is used
It suits a character sheet, a storyboard, an animated character and anything where the pose carries the story.
- Modern television animation and storyboards
- Character design and animation training
The prompt
Replace the blanks with your own character, keep the rest. Then run it on an image model.
<character>, bean construction style, the torso drawn as one continuous curved bean shape from the shoulders to the hips with no waist and no separate ribcage, the whole figure bending along a single smooth line of action, shoulders and hips tilting in opposite directions on that curve, simple tube limbs hanging off the bean, a small head placed on top of the curve rather than square to it, flat colour with one soft shadow
What goes wrong
An upright figure with a rounded belly comes back. Ask for a single line of action bending through the whole figure, and for shoulders and hips to tilt against each other.
Leave out
a separate ribcage and pelvis, a defined waist, anatomical muscle, a straight upright spine, symmetry
Watch for
Ask for one line of action running through the whole figure. The bean is a shape, but the appeal is the curve, and a model given only the shape draws a straight figure with a rounded belly.
Questions
Draw it
Pay for the one run. No subscription, and the price is on the model page before you sign in.
Next to it in how the body is built
