Why Character Gestures Fail and How to Fix - 'Trash Talk' Video + File!

Hello everyone, here is the process video, file, and brief insights of TRASH TALK, my latest illustration.

Concept

Everyone has seen or had a garbage bag, so I wanted to bring a character out of that. Having only one character with a black outfit, I thought would be too simple, so I searched for a picture with a garbage bag that "shared company" with another object. Eventually, I found one with a white bin and chose it based on contrast and shape, both different.

Why Yakuza characters? It's not that I consider Yakuza trash, for those who don't know, Yakuza is a crime organization from Japan. So, I'll assume in principle that some of them are troublemakers, seen by the Japanese society as low or useless, something I guess shared some relation to garbage. Although Yakuza's are not the ideal persona, they do have an aesthetic that I believe people like. The tattoos and suits offer an interesting combination. So, considering that, I thought it would be nice to see them both engaging in a fight, perhaps outside a night noodle restaurant while people throw garbage at them.

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Execution

I used brush strokes to capture both characters' shapes leaving a hostile place, one character in the front angry after a fight and one in the back chill, maybe drinking or eating, trying to avoid confrontation and pulling the other, still engaged in conflict. This idea in shapes was easy, but when drawing, it was a nightmare.

Drawing often justifies a character's anatomy, and for this particular case, the character pulling in the back did not appear clear to me because I wanted him leaning forward pulling the other, but I also wanted to draw him drinking something. So, I asked myself a few questions like: 

What's the most iconic or exaggerated way to drink? I thought leaning backward with a can lifted might feel more like drinking, so I tried drawing that one, but it felt odd while walking and pulling; it did not work. So, I switched to him casually eating, again leaning forward. You will notice this switch in the process video.

Why do these silly questions matter? Characters are a combination of details, like micro-expressions we often do without noticing. When building one, being aware of these small iconic gestures ensures everyone understands what's going on in the composition. The "drinking gesture" was just an example; there is no right or wrong answer. People can drink from a can even upside down; the question is, what's the simplest way EVERYONE understands what my character's doing? Make that option very clear and decide after if you want a different path.

I did this drawing without reference, but if you feel incapable of coming up with the right gesture, simply search for videos in which people perform the same action and try to replicate the gesture with your body. That way, you can take a pic with the right angle you are pursuing.

P.S.: I did not use a reference for the body gesture, but I did for the suit fabric. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/3870349673400117/

I hope this helps! Check the file and process video for more insights. Thank you for your support.