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mernolan — Winged Humanoid: Part 2
Published: 2011-01-05 19:38:05 +0000 UTC; Views: 44849; Favourites: 1138; Downloads: 783
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Description
Part I |Part II|Part III |Part IVEDIT 2013: KEEPING THESE THINGS UPDATED IS QUITE A CHORE but I've long since done other studies since 2011
mernolan.tumblr.com/post/53441…
24.media.tumblr.com/43808b5b87…
EDIT: 1. I've looked into pterosaur anatomy and stuff, I wouldn't really expect a completely new tutorial, but I can tell you I understand a little of it. 2. I apologize for saying that bats are less adequate, that's not entirely what I meant, bad wording on my part. They're just different from birds is all
Skeletal and Muscular Systems
Decided to go through this with feathered wings because (personally) I think they are more difficult to attach to the body and I'm aware that the wing to body proportions are not quite right: the wings would probably be longer and DEFINITELY more muscle on the back and chest IN FACT HOW ABOUT YOU JUST DRAW A BIRD INSTEAD :'D
Other's Theories:
Simple and Practical: auroracarina-chan.deviantart.c…
Also good info: arourallis.deviantart.com/art/… my only issue is the size of the shoulder blade and where are the pectorals and collar bones going?
Shakusan: ara-tun.deviantart.com/art/Sha… ara-tun.deviantart.com/art/Sha… ara-tun.deviantart.com/art/Sha…
Anatomy References:
Human: www.ironmaden.g-21.com/Anatomy… onlineworkshops.ca/images/sn_i…
Bat:www.csus.edu/indiv/L/lancaster… (if anyone has anything on anterior bat muscles show me!)
Bird: www.yuccalofts.com/wp-content/… www.learner.org/jnorth/images/… www.rexresearch.com/ornithopte… www.hsu.edu/uploadedImages/Bio… people.eku.edu/ritchisong/554i… (I couldn't find anything on posterior wing muscles
)Wings:
Bat/Dragon: browse.deviantart.com/?qh= §ion=&global=1&q=bat+wing+muscles#/d1ttpzw
General Bird Info: cedarseed.deviantart.com/art/D…
Bird Wings: cedarseed.deviantart.com/art/D…
Related content
Comments: 85
yea, this seems like a good way to do it.
most other Ideas of winged Humans just 'put' them on the back.
but there is an importance for a Pecturalis muscle to make them work.
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I never did get around to making a female version, but I imagine muscle placement would more or less be the same!
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Thanks for replying!!
I was wondering more about the bone structure of a female version.
And since the pelvis is much narrower, how would she bear children? Or are they bithed much more premature?
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I mean this is all speculative anyways so there are a million ways to solve this problem! Wider hips, premature births, shorter childhoods and so on. Humans have the hardest time giving birth of all the mammals because of the shape of our hips - easy birth was discarded in favor of being able to walk upright. So if you are concerned with birthing and what not, maybe try switching up the pelvis!
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Thanks!! I was only wondering what you yourself think about their reproductiveness and maybe also their child growth(like, are they more like the birds where they are all ugly and completely helpless and just sit around in their nest, which human babies are like, the sitting around part. Or are they more like the birds that are all cute and fluffy with legs already developed enough to run around and follow their momma almost anywhere? Man, that were such run-on sentences 
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Cool!
As a new author who has just finished his book and is now looking for cover art. . . I've been thinking about how the humanoid dragon species should look up front. I've obviously going with more bat like wings since those would match better.
But what do you think in terms of wingspan to body proportion? Also mass and lightness must be an issue. I know my dragon creatures would have tough scales, which may take years to fully develop. What do you think would be a good wingspan to shoot for?
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Visually speaking, wingspans that are about 4 times the length of the character's height looks "correct" to me, scientifically speaking, the wing length/size would look ENORMOUS to be able to generate enough lift to carry a humanoid form, plus the issue of all the supporting physiology needed for flight, so it's kinda up to the creator to find a balance between the two that is believable. :>
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Okay, thanks! I appreciate your time.
Keep up with the good concepts!
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have you looked at EB. Hudspeth's Harpy from 'The Ressurectionist'. I think he has similar ideas for the wing placement but he creates more space in the rib-area for the wing muscles to attach to the body...
I'm struggling myself with trying to incorporate an additional limb onto a human/humanoid body. Personally i find this design looks a little awkward in places (that might just be me obsessing over where the muscles should go, their size and how to incorporate different muscle systems together... cuz i'm over-thinking it) The biggest issue i have for me is the shoulder blade and the muscles that attach to it. One idea for winged humanoids that i've seen involves the wing joint being on the sholderblade which means that a muscle may be displaced... but making the sholderblade seperate looks slightly more awkward.... I don't know...
Either way i love several aspects of your winged humanoid design (such as making the rib cage and pelvis closer together - Some designs make the spine look awkward as that area of the spine is designed in humans to help us keep out balance without wasting energy on the muscles so changing its posture looks uncomfortable and inefficient - so i'm glad you got around that)
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I have seen his designs around, yes! I put these tutorials together back in 2010 when there were hardly ANY examples of such things, and its super awesome to see Hudspeth and so many others explore these idea today!
I've learned and revisited this theory a LOT since I put out these tutorials (see mernolan.tumblr.com/post/53441… and mernolan.tumblr.com/post/14001… ), considering they are now 6 years old I am well aware of their shortcomings. Attaching the wings to the arm shoulder blade is a solution I see a lot and personally do not subscribe to, my thinking being that the wing will be affected by arm movement and visa versa (as in they will move as a unit instead of operating separately, which could be an interesting concept if you can figure out the anatomy), plus you would be displacing muscles needed for arm movement and it dose not solve the problem of where to attach the necessary flight muscles - placing the wing-humerus on the arm-scapula implies that the wing muscles will some how overlap or share(?!) the arm muscles. The basic function of a scapula is to provide a foundation for proper joint function, without proper foundation things won't work.
HOWEVER is all theoretical! I don't think there is necessarily a right way or a wrong way, it just kind of comes down to how believable can you make it!
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I know, Its irritating to figure it out. Currently i have separate scapular for the limbs as i couldn't find a way to join the two that i was happy with. I've joined the collar bone/Wishbone but it's kinda clunky looking so i'll probably revise it and i've barely put any thought into muscle placement so far - which i should think about before making many more skeleton alterations.
I do agree with you however that it is theoretical, so i shouldn't stress so much, its just sometimes you want to make something 'perfect' and as realistic as you possibly can. Thanks for the references to your more revised work though 
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There's tons of resources out there, and tons of different ideas, so as long as you keep an open mind, you'll be able to come up with your own theory!
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People always seem to think of the arms and legs as "dead" weight. For my winged flyers, they're actually used as the active rudders when in flight. I mean, you can do an experiment while swimming [or if you have the fortune to practice in a vertical wind tunnel like I did several times], and use your limbs to turn you around in flight and actively shape the water [or air] flow past you. Also, if you shift a leg up or to the side, the rest of your body will have to move to compensate. You use that movement to turn your whole body into a rudder and shift your body into the position you need. Birds have very stiff bodies due to evolution forming them into that way, but that doesn't mean that we have to sacrifice ALL the flexibility benefits of the human body we can and bemoan the rest. Bats can use their bodies to help turn in flight along with their wings. Insects do the same too.
Another example of how the limbs and body movement can become your best friend in manipulation through the air or water, is to take a look at the zero-G people. Yeah they don't need to deal with wind resistance and they have the lift provided from the falling airplane, but still the way they move around by using their bodies, legs, hands, feet, and gestures, is pretty evocative. Swimmers also show that, and swimming creatures actually have a lot of similarities with flying creatures - they both have to be streamlined and aerodynamic.
The way I see it in my head is that you can use a kick forward to turn your body into a forward roll if you time it right with your wings folding in a bit, more forward, and downwards at the same time too and tuck your head in and then the movement should flow pretty naturally from there. To stop, you just fling your arms, wings, and legs out at the right time [like a gymnast actually] and can go on from there. Look at gymnasts in action and they also have to use their bodies to go around while they're soaring in mid-air from a leap or a lunge. Cats that fall can turn their bodies around 180 degrees to get into the right position for landing. All from simply shifting their tail, limbs, heads, and then the rest of the spine and body follows.
I find that so many people who work with airplanes and such, highly underestimate the sheer amount of modifications that are needed and used every second by real living flying creatures. Metal machines cannot hope to imitate such rapid fast and constant modifications. Feathers in the wings can be individually moved and lifted for more lift in low-speed situations, less lift in controlled dives, and etc. Study how crows and ravens fly, and these corvids show you the true mastery of wing shapes and can do aerobatics for fun in flight. They have subtler niches in their primary feathers than the raptors do, and more of an "average" wing shape [not leaning into one extreme over another like some other wing shapes] that they can manipulate to be sleeker for diving, broader for soaring, shorter and rounder for powered flight, longer and thinner for gliding, and even do tumbles, loop-de-loops, wing overs, and more in their flight. At times you'll see them have their legs out to help affect the airflow and body motion while flying, to do moves that may be more difficult for other birds. Even regular birds will stick their legs out, fan out their wings and tails to deliberately create drag to the point of stalling before they can land safely. Methinks arms and legs of the human would function nicely in the same way.
Also study airplanes, and how they can stabilize themselves better in many ways by having their landing gear down to create more drag and have an anchoring down-weight. Many times pilots have averted disaster or a dangerous roll by shifting out the landing gear to add increased stability in their flight.
Anyways, to wrap up, whoever said that flying should not be a FULL body workout? Swimming, acrobatics, free-fall movements, and the like are very much a full-body work out. Even dancing [like in figure skating] and when the dancer spins very fast, they can affect the speed of their spins by drawing their arms and legs in close, and slow it down by moving their arms and legs back out again. To look only at how the muscles that directly impact the wings and consider the rest as functioning "dead" weight, would be a gross oversimplification in my mind of how such flight aerobatics could be done. But that's my theory at least and I'd love to see what you think of it!
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Hey there! I promise I haven't been ignoring this comment, just waiting until I had the time to properly respond to it!
I really appreciate your insight into solving this "problem" as well as providing a TON of real life examples, and I totally agree with you/have thought a lot about how winged characters can throw their weight around to steer (these tutorials are from 2011 so they are definitely flawed and I've learned a lot since then).
In addition to using limbs as rudders, I think that the environment will also affect the style of flight. In my webcomimc, my winged character lives in a city and spends more time flying low between buildings than he dose soaring due to the nature of his job, BUT he himself and his wingspan are far too large to get into tight spaces (he is "displaced" so evolution isn't taken into account in this case). SO he relies heavily on his surroundings to help him maneuver effectively. For a character living in an open country side, how they fly becomes very different.
ANYWAYS thank you again, maybe one of these days I will remake these tutorials and include the information I've learned over the years!
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And now we're getting into the meat of the tutorial! (Sorry, I'll shut up now)
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Genius work and esplanation. Thanks a lot. It was extremelly useful...
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i'm glad you found it helpful c:
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Ahhh, I'm not sure if I will ever use this but I have to say I love all the thought and creativity you've put into this. It's quite fascinating making up and giving rules for a fantastical creature, no? Especially when it sounds so logical!
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aahh thank you! I love seeing other ways of doing it too!
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WOW! This is really thought out dayum gurl/boy/whatever this need a daily deviation. (If the butt is longer then does that mean they will have a killer booty?)
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booty booty booty booty rockin errywhere
(thanks!!)
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SHAKE IT BAKE IT BOOTYQUAKE IT ROLL IT AROUND, DON'T FAKE IT
(you're welcome :3)
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Finally! Someone thinking the whole thing through.
I've been experimenting with the concept myself for some time, but for shape shifters. Your reference makes me want to take up research again.
You're right, information for such mental experiments is hard to gather. A good supply of web pages, anatomy books and photographs is quite useful... but there is so little to find concerning bats! They don't get enough love!
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aahaha thanks! all it takes is a little research to make things believable
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I like making creature's that fly using oversized hands with flat fingers. It looks kind of like an evolutionary midway between bat's, birds and humans.
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aww thanks! I'm glad it helped!
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I LOVE this set.
Winged Humanoids are something that have always interested me, but I like it more realistic: no 5 foot wing-span for a 6 foot human. -_-
Great job!!
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Wow. Drawing humans with wings with the right proportions is much harder than what I thought
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eh, not really, it just doesn't look at attractive as just slapping some wings on some guy lol
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Ahhhh this. All of this is fantastic. I've just about worked out the actual wing anatomy, but attaching them to the body - baffling. Thank you so much for these
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This is a great reference for anyone wanting to draw any kind of bird-like winged humanoids. It helped me learn a bit more for an upcoming piece I am working on and I am glad someone did something like this. For those going on about furries, this is not exclusive to them. It can be very helpful for angelic creatures and even demonic creatures or any bird-winged creature...
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Thank you!
A had difficulties with the back muscles of the wings, and was looking for something like this
I learned thanks to my duck, but she is tired of me tauching and streching her wings 
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haha no problem! Just look at lots of reference pictures c:
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Just as a fore-note, I only want to try and improve my own tutorial, so may I ask what you ment in reference to it? There are no doubt issues, I pretty much copied right out of a human anatomy text and tried to go from there without doing much research, and there are things I would like to go back and fix. Anything you could point out would be helpful
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I'm not an expert on this stuff and I didn't mean to call you out D: I think the method that you used in your tutorial is valid and I'm very interested in seeing other people's interpretations on winged humanoids
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