Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Wing Tutorial Art

Here is a splendid tutorial on rendering wings on a humanoid body.

This is how I handle extrapolative biology.  I look for something similar to start with, if anything relevant can be found.  I try to imagine the details as precisely as possible.  I look for potential conflicts and consider how to resolve them.  I aim for something both plausible and appealing.  And I try to follow natural rules such as "use what you have" and "whatever will do the job is okay."  Usually I end up with functional monsters, aliens, etc.  The original tutorial was aiming for angel but I never think of them as exclusively corporeal, so mine can do things like adjust the size of their wings.
Tags: art, fantasy, how to, networking
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  • 10 comments
the_s_guy

the_s_guy

February 15 2012, 13:43:57 UTC 9 years ago

It's also a great tutorial for people wanting to draw humanoid robots with various types of wings, even wings which are purely decorative. Our culture just has this idea of how a winged humanoid should look.

Doubly interestingly, robot toys which rearrange their parts into things with wings (planes, birds, insects, dragons etc) almost always have the wings ending up in the 'correct' position in the humanoid form, even if the toys need to include extra joints and parts to make sure the wings can move to where they're supposed to be. I've seen wings on legs, arms, and even the sides of the head, but I don't think I've ever seen a set of wings that were allowed to remain attached to a robot butt, if they were of any appreciable size. Theoretically, it shouldn't matter - they're robots and the wings don't have any function - but the aesthetic expectations demanded it. Look at the original Voltron, for instance.

(There was one toy with bird wings that ended up both attached to the same side of its torso; the designers had them splay across the body (one front, one back) and off to the other side like a permanently wind-blown poncho, which was a fascinating variation.)

Now I recall it, there was even a Mary-Sue test for characters based on one toyline which gave an automatic all-clear for any character with buttwings, purely because it would be hilarious.

The point being that there's this winged-humanoid shape in the collective unconscious for our society, just like there are ones for unicorns and dragons and so forth. They don't exist in reality, and never have, but people will complain if you get them 'wrong'. The tutorial is an excellent resource for replicating the classic look that audiences have been conditioned to expect, and a great jumping-off point for experimenting.
ysabetwordsmith

Hmm...

ysabetwordsmith

February 15 2012, 19:54:27 UTC 9 years ago

>>Now I recall it, there was even a Mary-Sue test for characters based on one toyline which gave an automatic all-clear for any character with buttwings, purely because it would be hilarious.<<

In terms of biology, the butt would be a great place to put wings. You could very easily put ball joints into the holes of the pelvis, and you already have the body's largest muscle mass there.

In terms of aerodynamics, buttwings don't work because they are too far down the body. The head would hang down awkwardly in flight. Notice how long-necked, large-headed birds such as herons typically retract their necks in flight to prevent that from happening. Such an arrangement would only work with mystical flight, and our intuition tells us this, which is why buttwings "look wrong" to us.

However! Angels are sometimes described with multiple wings. If you want two sets, shoulders and butt would be a terrific solution. Narrow wings, such as falcons or swifts have, would even be capable of independent motion without fouling each other.

I am now tempted to create a character with secondary buttwings just for the hell of it.
the_s_guy

Re: Hmm...

the_s_guy

February 16 2012, 07:21:12 UTC 9 years ago

Fine-control steering/braking surfaces on the hands and feet would also be interesting. I'm imagining a finger/toe or two redesigned to be able to extend and retract a rudder winglet.
ysabetwordsmith

Re: Hmm...

ysabetwordsmith

February 16 2012, 07:32:14 UTC 9 years ago

I have indeed seen ankle wings, and more rarely wrist wings.