I think it's partly that but also leaving it to the imagination of the reader. It's not necessarily important to show the face but more so to convey the message of acceptance. Plus, there's a fine line between unattractive and unacceptable. If it goes beyond the comfort zone of a reader, it becomes too much. So it's just better to play it safe and leave it to interpretation. At least that's how I'd approach it.
They wanna keep the mystery it's still ongoing so they will show it eventually
i mean they actually show quite a lot of it and it looks perfectly normal proportionally. i do definitely agree its to keep readers happy, but that just seems a bit cowardly to me when the whole point is that he's supposed to be weird looking. idk.
Considering they not only hid his face but his name as well implies that it was done on purpose.
You don't always have to know every detail of a character. There are even some bl where we never get to see the "human" face or even the monster's face. Monster and the Beast is a perfect example of this. We're just constantly told that Cavo is a hideous monster while during the whole series it's covered by his hair.
Black Blood features a mc that probably doesn't even have a face considering he's gone full android.
And it's not like these artists lack the ability to draw monsters, it's just more mysterious and thus draws the reader deeper into the character. We end up falling in love with their personalities and quirkiness more than a pretty face could ever do.
I think it's also would be awful if if author were to draw a "weird looking face" and it resembling someone or a group of people appearance irl yk , has happened in other media with "ugly" characters who just happen to be not conventional beauty.
Adding to it, perception of appearance is subjective, even influenced by the times trends, culture and personal opinion.
What's attractive and what's ugly for someone is not the same for everyone and some authors feel they can't convey an universal, globalized perception (might be impossible too), so they leave it to the reader's own imagination to fill the blanks.
they already gave him darker skin and hair which is bad enough i would've been happy with sharp teeth or something but from the glimpses we get he looks completely normal.. just... dark-skinned...?
He's not "dark-skinned" his flesh is black/gray 'cause he's no longer human. It's more like a rotting process than him just tanning or something due to the curse. Now it's more like his body is scarred even if the curse is lifted, which is why he's still terrified of his appearance.
And from what *I* could see his whole body and his face are scarred from years of battling people who entered the forest.
And like the other person said, which I didn't even think of when I initially replied, it was up to the artist to let the reader interpret how hideous he should be. Some of us would literally fuck mindflayers or other eldritch horrors while others can't even stomach someone's eyebrows looking non-conventional.
It's a smart move honestly.
ngl i think the artist doesn't show his cursed face, because they never learned how to draw characters that aren't conventionally attractive. it's a shockingly common issue in this line of work