Research outline 3

Research Outline 3 

Gemma Southam

Aims of project research:

For my exhibition I want to discover what the most popular anthro characters are, from the views of the people attending the exhibition. I want to find out if they find anthro’s appealing or not, and their views on anthro’s.

Area’s for consideration:

What is the most occurring feature that people seem to draw? Are humans drawn more or animals? What did people think of the combination man? What do people think of Anthro’s?

Brief explanation/ outline of project:

I will ask people what the first thing they think of is when they see ‘anthro’, and I will be telling people what an anthro is and asking what they think of anthro’s. I will be getting them to draw their own character in the game ‘the combination man’. This will be fun, and an experiment to find out what people drew the most.

Context/rationale:

I want to get people to draw as I think it will be a fun way to get people involved with my project. Calling it a ‘game’, should make people want to interact with my project. I will be wearing a wolf mask which should attract attention and give people an idea of what to expect from me.

Key area’s of research:

Find out what people draw the most and ask them why they chose what they did.

Intended outcomes of research:

Find out what people like and dislike most about anthro’s.

Specialist project brief

Name: Gemma Southam
ID Number: 20241057
Module Title: Specialist Project.
Project Title: Anthropomorphic Character Design.

Project Introduction/Background:  The reason behind this project is for the love of animals and the desire to create unique Anthropomorphic characters. Anthro’s as they are often referred to are quite popular and have been for some time, they feature in recent movies such as Zootropolis and Kung Fu Panda. Anthro animals are very popular in Disney movies but they are always seen as more animal than human, they do not show human structure aside from the standing position of a human or simply just having an animal with a humans voice. Anthro’s in the style that we want to achieve bare more resemblance to humans, for example the curves of the female body and the muscle tone in humans.

Project aims/intentions: The goal is to successfully create characters that look unique and will stand out on clothing. The clothing will be 'different' to usual clothes shop styles, such as Primark, New look etc. The designs will be more in the style of IronFist clothing and Hot Topic.

Target Audience (intended): Young Adults.

Tone of voice: Fun, light hearted, approachable.

USP: This project is different to other Anthro Character Designs as the drawing style has been influenced by many artists over time and is very different to most Anthro’s of today, for example Disney’s Zootropolis. The characters will look more human than animal in the way that they are structured. These designs will show slight nudity.

SWOT: A strength for this project would be that it could influence other artists and help me to promote my artwork, a weakness is that not everyone may like the work. An opportunity for this project is that It could advertise this artwork and get it noticed by buyers. A threat would be that some may feel offended by the drawing style (nudity).

The Brief:   Research Trending Fashion, Gothic, Pastel, Sophisticated etc. Researcg IronFist clothing, HotTopic clothing and artists that have made designs for T-shirts. Photography of animals and people may help to add to your research. Look at clothing websites and see what the most popular designs are. What clothing items are most worn? (T-shirts, hoodies..) Experiment designing anthro characters to go onto clothing items. Create the final designs and show them on the clothing.

Deliverables: Your goal is to create a series of Anthropomorphic characters that are unique and show human-like structure (curves, muscle tone) to be printed onto clothing.

Other considerations/Additional information: Look at different body types and shapes for reference. 

Tails.

A horse will use its tail to swat away flies, and birds use their tails to help steer themselves whilst flying. Animals which have evolved with tails use them for important things such as Lemurs will use their tails when climbing. So why do humans develop to not have tails?

1. Humans do not need tails. Because we stand on two legs we are perfectly balanced due to gravity, animals need tails to help stabilise them for the weight of their heads.
2. We also don't need a tail to grip onto things such as tree branches.
When a human is in the womb for 30 days it will have a tail like structure, although most people re-absorb the structure as we develop, some people have been born with tails. This is known as atavism, a trait of distant ancestors that reappears  in modern day. Usually these tails are only a few centimetres long and are usually removed shortly after birth.

Human vestigiality

Charles Darwin listed a number of putative human vestigial features, which he termed rudimentary, in The Descent of Man (1890). These included the muscles of the ear, wisdom teeth, the appendix, the tail bone, body hair, and the semilunar fold in the corner of the eye. Darwin also commented on the sporadic nature of many vestigial features, particularly musculature. Making reference to the work of the anatomist William Turner, Darwin highlighted a number of sporadic muscles which he identified as vestigial remnants of the panniculus carnosus, particularly the sternalis muscle.^[1][2]

In 1893, Robert Wiedersheim published The Structure of Man, a book on human anatomy and its relevance to man's evolutionary history. This book contained a list of 86 human organs that he considered vestigial, or as Wiedersheim himself explained: "Organs having become wholly or in part functionless, some appearing in the Embryo alone, others present during Life constantly or inconstantly. For the greater part Organs which may be rightly termed Vestigial."^[3] His list of supposedly vestigial organs included many of the examples on this page as well as others then mistakenly believed to be purely vestigial, such as the pineal gland, the thymus gland, and the pituitary gland. Some of these organs that had lost their obvious, original functions later turned out to have retained functions that had gone unrecognized before the discovery of hormones or many of the functions and tissues of the immune system.^[4][5] Examples included:

• the role of the pineal in the regulation of the circadian rhythm (neither the function nor even the existence of melatonin was yet known);
• discovery of the role of the thymus in the immune system lay many decades in the future; it remained a mystery organ until after the mid-20th century;
• the pituitary and hypothalamus with their many and varied hormones were far from understood, let alone the complexity of their interrelationships.

Historically, there was a trend not only to dismiss the vermiform appendix as being uselessly vestigial, but an anatomical hazard, a liability to dangerous inflammation. As late as the mid-20th century, many reputable authorities conceded it no beneficial function.^[6] This was a view supported, or perhaps inspired, by Darwin himself in the 1874 edition of his book The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. The organ's patent liability to appendicitis and its poorly understood role left the appendix open to blame for a number of possibly unrelated conditions. For example, in 1916, a surgeon claimed that removal of the appendix had cured several cases of trifacial neuralgiaand other nerve pain about the head and face, even though he stated that the evidence for appendicitis in those patients was inconclusive.^[7] The discovery of hormones and hormonal principles, notably by Bayliss and Starling, argued against these views, but in the early twentieth century, there remained a great deal of fundamental research to be done on the functions of large parts of the digestive tract. In 1916, an author found it necessary to argue against the idea that the colon had no important function and that "...the ultimate disappearance of the appendix is a coordinate action and not necessarily associated with such frequent inflammations as we are witnessing in the human..."

There had been a long history of doubt about such dismissive views. Around 1920, the prominent surgeon Kenelm Hutchinson Digbydocumented previous observations, going back more than thirty years, that suggested lymphatic tissues, such as the tonsils and appendix, may have substantial immunological functions.

Werewolves.

1. The Shapeshifter Wolf

Fans of the Twilight series will recognize this type of "werewolf". Like the character Jacob Black and certain other members of the Quileute tribe, the shapeshifter wolf has the ability to change form at any time.  This is believed to have been the original power of the first werewolf before it was taken away.  The shapeshifter wolf can transform from human form to wolf form at will, though aggressive energy or anger may increase the likelihood of causing an unintentional transformation.  The shapeshifter wolves considered "werewolves" can only change from human to wolf form, though "pure" shapeshifters can transform from human form to any other animal form, including a wolf. It is believed that all shapeshifters are born into this ability, and one cannot be transformed into a shapeshifter by the bite from the creature. The exception to this is the Navajo Skinwalker, which is not a true shapeshifter, but a witch using an animal hide to transform.

2. The Wolfman

Many "werewolf" stories, including sightings of the legendary Bray Road Beast, describe a creature that is physically a combination of a wolf and a man.  This mutant wolf-man typically has a mostly human-shaped body, stands on two legs, but is covered in wolf hair and has claws and fangs. The Wolfman is often called a "werewolf" because in many legends this creature is believed to share many of the traits of the werewolf "curse". Depending on the legend, some wolfmen are humans by day and wolf-men by night while others are in their duel human/wolf form at all times.  I believe the generally accepted theory is that one begins by transforming from human to wolfman on full moons only, then over time it increases to every night, and eventually the body settles into a pure wolfman form at all times. The degree to which a wolfman can control his mind and emotions also degrades as these transformations become more permanent.

3. The True Werewolf

A true "werewolf", according to most legends, is a human being that uncontrollably transforms into a wolf during a full moon.  The original werewolf curse transformed a Shapeshifter Wolf into a Werewolf, effectively taking away the ability to control the shift but also taking away the ability to think as a human while in wolf form. Werewolves, when in wolf form, have uncontrollable rage and hunger.  They are driven to kill everyone and everything they encounter, regardless of their relationship as humans. The curse causes these wolves to lose all control of their minds, and when they wake up in human form in the morning, they don't remember anything (though they may revisit certain memories in dreams). It is this form of werewolf that can transfer their condition through a bite, assuming of course that the human being bitten survives the attack.

Animals that change colour with the seasons.

Ptarmigan
Ptarmigans are a mottled brown throughout the Summer to blend in with their surroundings like this white-tailed ptarmigan. As the days become shorter during the Fall, the ptarmigan begins to molt its brown Summer feathers and grow thick, white plumage. The white feathers of the willow ptarmigan allow the bird to creep across the snow unnoticed by its predators.



Arctic Fox.
During the Summer, the arctic fox boasts a gray-black coat that allows it to stalk its prey unseen in the dense arctic underbrush. The arctic fox turns white in Winter to camouflage the carnivore from both prey and predator: the fox is a tasty meal for polar bears, wolverines, golden eagles, and snowy owls. It can use its bushier Winter tail to cover its face and shield it from icy arctic winds. 


Stoat.
This weasel-like creature has a sleek brown coat in the Summer accented by a white chest and belly. In Winter, the stoat sheds its brown fur in favor of a warm white coat.

Snowshoe Hare.
While it gets its name from its large hind feet, the snowshoe hare is perhaps most distinguishable by the colorful transformation it undergoes from season to season. In the Fall, the brown fur that blends so well with its forested surroundings begins to turn white. By Winter, the only telltale signs of this bunny are the black tips of its ears and its dark eyes.


Roe Deer.
In Summer, the roe deer's coat is a vibrant golden-red. Though it doesn't turn white in Winter, the roe deer sheds its red Summer coat in favour of a dark brown one, which is much thicker to trap body heat.