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Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
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I haven't really drawn many female characters before, in fact, if you take a look through my gallery of 383 deviations spanning 13 years, you will find just two finished to beyond sketch quality. The cnossi are the first race that I've ever really put much effort into developing, so naturally I should have an idea of what a female looks like.
Cnossan society is very traditional and there's plenty of hard work to go around for everyone. Although significantly smaller than the males (approximately 1m shorter and less than half the weight), a fully grown female cnossan is still a hugely powerful creature capable of lifting and carrying far more than any human could. Their lighter builds tend to afford them greater dexterity than males and many females contribute to their tribes as craftswomen of various kinds, manufacturing the goods the tribe needs from raw ingredients gathered by the males. Females display a much greater self-preservation instinct than males and will generally try to retreat if threatened, but backed into a corner most are still capable of berserking with devastating effect on smaller races. If battle in inevitable, many females are proficient in using bows to support the male warriors. With a draw-weight far in excess of anything smaller than a human siege weapon, a cnossan war-bow in the hands of a skilled huntress is as devastating a weapon as her husband's battle-axe.
Females tend to stay with the tribe they were born into their entire lives. Due to the deficit of adult males caused by those killed in their adolescent rite of passage, most adult males take more than one wife. Family cohesion is extremely important in cnossan society and plural wives are obliged to show the same loyalty and respect to each other as to their mutual husband. The high social status of a male capable of supporting many wives is reflected onto them as well, so jealousy and spite are uncommon even among large families.
Anyhow, thanks for bugging me to draw this MrMcArthur. I spent way too long on it, but I'm kinda pleased with the result. I think I succeeded in making her look simultaneously feminine but also tough enough to survive a date with someone like Kyrophon. I learned a bit about smashing out backgrounds by abusing texture brushes doing pictures for Art Fight, so I was able to get this done reasonably quickly. The lineart quality of this is really poor and I'm still figuring out why that was. I have my awesome new tablet, but my big monitor has gone back to the shop on warranty so I had to do this on my little 22" backup monitor. I think once I get my art rig up and running again, this problem will sort itself out.
Cnossan society is very traditional and there's plenty of hard work to go around for everyone. Although significantly smaller than the males (approximately 1m shorter and less than half the weight), a fully grown female cnossan is still a hugely powerful creature capable of lifting and carrying far more than any human could. Their lighter builds tend to afford them greater dexterity than males and many females contribute to their tribes as craftswomen of various kinds, manufacturing the goods the tribe needs from raw ingredients gathered by the males. Females display a much greater self-preservation instinct than males and will generally try to retreat if threatened, but backed into a corner most are still capable of berserking with devastating effect on smaller races. If battle in inevitable, many females are proficient in using bows to support the male warriors. With a draw-weight far in excess of anything smaller than a human siege weapon, a cnossan war-bow in the hands of a skilled huntress is as devastating a weapon as her husband's battle-axe.
Females tend to stay with the tribe they were born into their entire lives. Due to the deficit of adult males caused by those killed in their adolescent rite of passage, most adult males take more than one wife. Family cohesion is extremely important in cnossan society and plural wives are obliged to show the same loyalty and respect to each other as to their mutual husband. The high social status of a male capable of supporting many wives is reflected onto them as well, so jealousy and spite are uncommon even among large families.
Anyhow, thanks for bugging me to draw this MrMcArthur. I spent way too long on it, but I'm kinda pleased with the result. I think I succeeded in making her look simultaneously feminine but also tough enough to survive a date with someone like Kyrophon. I learned a bit about smashing out backgrounds by abusing texture brushes doing pictures for Art Fight, so I was able to get this done reasonably quickly. The lineart quality of this is really poor and I'm still figuring out why that was. I have my awesome new tablet, but my big monitor has gone back to the shop on warranty so I had to do this on my little 22" backup monitor. I think once I get my art rig up and running again, this problem will sort itself out.
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Bovine (Other)
Size 905 x 1280px
File Size 215.6 kB
Listed in Folders
Looks nice, but I'm not sure about her arm is looped over the log. Something about it bugs, me, but I can't put my finger on it. I'm also wondering why her legs are perfectly together. Maybe she's standing at attention with a log! Anyways, I love the pic and the backstory you put into it!
So, just curious, what is the adolescent rite of passage?
So, just curious, what is the adolescent rite of passage?
Hmm, thanks for the critique. It could be that you might expect to see more of the bottom of her palm holding the log. I'll have a closer look and maybe make a tweak or two. I'm pretty lazy with legs haha! I have a few stock leg poses that I tend just revert to subconsciously. I figure she's stopping to survey the view on her way back to camp.
Woo! Someone who reads my TL;DR descriptions! I'm thinking of trying to make a comic about the (as yet unnamed) cnossan rite of passage because it's an idea I'm very pleased with.
Male and female cnossi are similar in size until they reach adolescence. At this point the males in particular experience a massive and extremely rapid growth phase. Over just 3-4 years, they can double in height and increase their weight 5-6 fold, piling on muscle until they reach their monstrous fully-grown state. In order to drive such a drastic change, they require a huge amount of food and their endocrine systems go into hyper overdrive, dumping concentrations of male growth hormones into their bloodstreams that would be lethal to any other species. The most prominent side effect of this is wild emotional instability and individuals become utterly consumed by uncontrollable fury and aggression towards anything not resembling a breedable female, friends and family members included. Unable to be reasoned with, expensive to feed and rapidly gaining the strength to cause serious harm, the cultural solution is that adolescent males are exiled from the tribe to ride out their violent developments alone in the wilderness.
Although young males are acutely aware of what awaits them and the tribes do their best to prepare them to survive the ordeal, many are unsuccessful. Starvation, the elements, wild beasts (including other males) are all mortal dangers to a lone, enraged and barely lucid male cnossan. Even as their growth begins to taper off, the fury never really goes away, however those who have survived learn to accept the anger and the destructive impulses into their psyches without acting on them. To fight it is utterly futile, but by gradually incorporating it a glimmer of sanity and control returns. After regaining control of their mental faculties, a male can rejoin a tribe (although typically not the one he was born into in order to prevent inbreeding). To do this, he needs to accumulate enough resources by one means or another to pay a dowry and take a wife from the tribe he wishes to join. Given the high amount of resources a creature as large as a male cnossan needs to consume, the dowry system ensures that the tribe only takes on those capable of supporting themselves. This is where my main cnossan character, Kyrophon is in his life. Having survived his time in the wilderness, he's travelled to the human kingdoms to work and earn enough gold to marry a good wife from a strong tribe.
Thanks again, I write a lot of fluff and I'm always very glad when someone cares enough to ask about it! :D
Woo! Someone who reads my TL;DR descriptions! I'm thinking of trying to make a comic about the (as yet unnamed) cnossan rite of passage because it's an idea I'm very pleased with.
Male and female cnossi are similar in size until they reach adolescence. At this point the males in particular experience a massive and extremely rapid growth phase. Over just 3-4 years, they can double in height and increase their weight 5-6 fold, piling on muscle until they reach their monstrous fully-grown state. In order to drive such a drastic change, they require a huge amount of food and their endocrine systems go into hyper overdrive, dumping concentrations of male growth hormones into their bloodstreams that would be lethal to any other species. The most prominent side effect of this is wild emotional instability and individuals become utterly consumed by uncontrollable fury and aggression towards anything not resembling a breedable female, friends and family members included. Unable to be reasoned with, expensive to feed and rapidly gaining the strength to cause serious harm, the cultural solution is that adolescent males are exiled from the tribe to ride out their violent developments alone in the wilderness.
Although young males are acutely aware of what awaits them and the tribes do their best to prepare them to survive the ordeal, many are unsuccessful. Starvation, the elements, wild beasts (including other males) are all mortal dangers to a lone, enraged and barely lucid male cnossan. Even as their growth begins to taper off, the fury never really goes away, however those who have survived learn to accept the anger and the destructive impulses into their psyches without acting on them. To fight it is utterly futile, but by gradually incorporating it a glimmer of sanity and control returns. After regaining control of their mental faculties, a male can rejoin a tribe (although typically not the one he was born into in order to prevent inbreeding). To do this, he needs to accumulate enough resources by one means or another to pay a dowry and take a wife from the tribe he wishes to join. Given the high amount of resources a creature as large as a male cnossan needs to consume, the dowry system ensures that the tribe only takes on those capable of supporting themselves. This is where my main cnossan character, Kyrophon is in his life. Having survived his time in the wilderness, he's travelled to the human kingdoms to work and earn enough gold to marry a good wife from a strong tribe.
Thanks again, I write a lot of fluff and I'm always very glad when someone cares enough to ask about it! :D
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