Should children's book characters have 5 fingers always?
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so, this is a character re-design for my graphic children's book I'm breathing new life into. at a recent illustrator's critique group, it was suggested that he should have 5 digits, not 4. 4 is an animation thing, and in the world of children's books, 5 is the correct number. it was said in a much kinder way than that, but a lot of other illustrators went on to question whether this character was indeed an alien because he only has 4 fingers...he is not. my question to you is this, should I change this design to avoid the possibility of an art director wanting me to change his look down the road, or should I stick to my guns? I am considering this change; however, I love the size of his fingers the way they are, and to make them smaller to add one more, I'm not sure I would be happy with this change...thoughts? thanks in advance!
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@jennmaynard73 Hmm I am not a pro yet but my 2 cents is... if you want to keep him as 4-fingered human, that is absolutely fine but it needs a good reason why (probably a backstory of some lab accident way back or something). Otherwise it falls into the Uncanny Valley that pulls people away from the story. It is somehow easier to accept kids flying around with dragons than it is to accept a four-fingered human character.
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@jennmaynard73 I think you could get away with it if this was a really cartoony style (or anthropomorphic animals - I have a four-fingered kitty book right in front of me!).
But your style is incredibly detailed, so it'd be worth it to add the finger to avoid any issues or drama surrounding it, haha ^_^ Worst case scenario is that his palm is widened (unless you slightly narrow each finger/thumb to compensate).
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@jennmaynard73 At the Austin SCBWI conference earlier this year, an editor said the same thing – picture book characters have five fingers.
She was quite adamant about it (giving it its own rule in her checklist) and other editors/agents agreed with the sentiment, saying it’s a pretty consistent “rule” across editors.
That said, you can still find picture books with four-fingered characters, so they’re are editors (and agents) who are fine with four fingers. You’ll just have to accept that you might be limiting your publisher market.
If it’s part of your style and you like it, go find the agents and editors that are publishing four-finger. They’ll be targets more likely to lead to success/fit.
[Note: This post does not speak to picture books about characters losing fingers and only having four for that reason.]
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@jennmaynard73 I d consider giving him a glove with his fingers hidden! Problem and drama solved, and you get to focus on the enjoyable parts!
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@jennmaynard73 if you're planning on submitting the story for publication and already are anticipating a request to give your character 5 fingers instead of 4, seriously consider making that change. It falls into the uncanny valley and might raise more questions that take a reader out of the story. Is sticking to your guns worth potentially confusing your audience?
Yes, 4 fingers is an old-school animation thing -- but you'll notice that most animation nowadays has 5-fingered human characters.
Beautiful sketchy linework, by the way!
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This is interesting as I was having the same dilemma fairly recently. Yes the 4-finger choice is a holdover from classic animation that it felt more proper with round, cute characters which used to be the norm in past times. I had tried this with my own characters for a GN pitch (first image), and somehow it fits their style even if it is not anatomically correct. I got the idea mainly from Tahuid Bondia's Crabgrass comic (second image) who gives all their characters, even adults, four fingers. It is definitely an stylistic choice on the author's part, and so far no one has visibly complained about it. To each their own I guess...
Personally, I'm torn between the four/five finger choice. There's something about that extra finger that makes the whole "appeal" thing harder at this point, for the lack of better words...
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I believe they discuss this in a 3pp episode, but I couldn’t for the life of me tell you which one, I’m sorry for that useless piece of information lol.
