The ever elusive girls

Girls, something I have never been good at drawing. Now yes, in the last year or so, I have definitely made some decent progress. Occasionally, I even get a good drawing, but girls are tricky. Like the one above for example, a classic drawing of mixed success. Some stuff I like, and some I think is some what disastrous, perhaps even bordering on atrocity.

For me, women are far more tricky than drawing guys... well, appealing women any ways. I could do some seriously ugly drawings of women with relative ease I think. It leads me to believe that I have too many "tricks" that I resort to when I draw, too many formulas. Girls have curves, and their forms are much more complex (and attractive) than a man's. How do you simplify the forms when posing a girl? How do you keep the subtle curves of a women, yet incorporate them into an overall appealing design and thus, an appealing drawing? We certainly don't want a lumpy and bumpy drawing that brakes the line of action of the pose, but at the same time, you want the drawing to look feminine and appealing. Balance between what to show and what not to show is the key (isn't it always?), but everytime I get on that high wire, I still feel shakey. I do know this, I'm tired of the cliche design rules I learned in college, from my old job, and books. Not everyone's feet look the same, nor do their hands or anything else. I guess what I'm saying is that there is a generic look to the girls that I draw, and I need to incorporate more character into the drawings of them, something that makes them a little more unique. These are the things that keep me awake at night... well that and the thing with the spiked tail and glowing eyes that lives in my closet.