#i rely a lot on shape language and having active fun in the marks im putting down to make most of my drawings

[identityquest]

this is a hyperspecific ask but i was wondering what inspiration you take when you draw raposa legs, if any. i love when people draw raposa with digitigrade legs but ive always had a hard time with them. thanks!

YAH idk how much help this will be bc i feel like the way i draw them is kinda jank but id love to talk about it :)

most of my inspo comes from dog legs actually, with a lil cat and ferret or even rabbit mixed in depending on how i want them to stand. raposa that stand a little taller like, aimsir and wilfre, are more on the dog and cat end of things, while raposa like benji are further out on the ferret and rabbit end. also, all the animals i reference have legs that face directly forward (ideally), but my raposa all have a pretty severe degree of hip dysplasia when viewed from the front lol. i just feel like it makes them visually distinct

also this is also gonna sound silly but if i find myself having trouble with a pose, I'll try to draw a human doing the same thing but with bent knees. digitigrade legs have the same bones as plantigrade ones, just at different sizes, so i kinda just tweak the proportions until i'm satisfied. that's why some of my raposa even look plantigrade but with big ol feet, like in benji's recent sketch page. he's bunny-style plantigrade though, standing on his full foot at rest but running on the tips of his toes like other digitigrade animals.

idk how much help this is but! thats my process and my references :) plus it helps having little guys around the house that you can harass for photos too lol

[worstfruit]

NORI’DUN HUMAN SUBRACE

the next race i have most mapped out are the northerly human clan: a subrace of very tall, heavy set and muscular humans who reside in the moorlands alongside goblins and orcs. While orcs are mostly nomadic, these barbaric humans sort of bridge the gap between the endless bogs and the more varied mountain range that borders the kingdom’s edge. They often act as a trade mediator between the goblins and orcs, but also will live amongst and intermingle with the two races.

they call themselves the Nori’dun (bastard mix of the little gaelic i know paired with icelandic (or olde english depending which sounds cooler lol) which i know nothing about!), common folk to the south hardly know they exist but those who do refer to them as the North Folk, Norfole, or Nawfelv. 

their society is matriarchal, with a head mother leading small clans who exist in settlements that pepper the moors at the mountain’s feet. the great mother choses a small group of esteemed individuals to act as her council, and this group travels from one settlement to another, spreading news and diffusing ideas. They act as merchants as well as bards and scholars, and report back to their home establishment bringing back goods and valuable knowledge. this council tends to be the only literate individuals, but even then their writing system is simplistic and much like the goblin written language, focuses primarily on identifying items and their quantity for trade purposes. many of the symbols used to denote trade don’t have a spoken equivalent, and common nori people have no use or even knowledge of this system. they do make use of pictogrographs, though there is hardly a commonality between tribes and most images rely on rudimentary depictions of humans or animals, and are mostly created for art or entertainment. 

nori people live in pueblo-like buildings crafted out of a brick called ‘vergs’, made of peat, peat moss, gravel, and guano. the mixture is shaped into blocks and fired, then stacked into long, rectangular modules and set with a slit like mud/clay type mortar, and then finally covered in a thin limestone paste gathered from within the mountains. Once the paste fills any gaps and sets, the structure is often painted using natural dyes and pigments such as soot and charcoal, animal bloods, fats, or waste, berries, local roots, vegetables, and plants such as lichen or moss, and various soils such as clay, lime, or peat. The outer architecture also utilizes bits of stone or petrified woods to border door frames or window holes in a peg like fashion, and painted designs (differing from tribe to tribe) tend to use simple lines, borders, or geometric figures surrounding entrances and exists. the interiors are similarly overlaid with lime but usually not painted like the outside of the homes. the arrangement centers around an elongated room dedicated to cooking and eating; there is usually a large fire pit surrounded by seating in the center of these rooms-- like so: 

not the best example but still gives you an idea of the CENTRAL room layout. additional modules are merged, called ‘ryms’ for sleeping quarters, storage, or religious purposes. minecraft doesnt lend much to decor but there would be shelves and cabinets, baskets and even counter like constructs with hollowed innards for food and wares storage. the top chimney like openings are outfitted with stones in place of the fence I used, and during heavy storms they are covered dried and stretched animal skins. otherwise the water collects in the central fire pit and drains out of through a small and simplistic network of clay enforced tunnels that run under and down from the house. the pits are not as deep as depicted, and the houses are built on a foundation of dirt and rocks that elevate the fire pit just enough for these tiny pipes to run downards. 

nori make use of the limited supply of wood for structural reinforcement and decor in important settlement buildings such as the clan’s meeting hall, temple, great hall, or the great mother’s home. decor ranges from dyed and painted animal hides, woven linen tapestries, wreaths, dried and hollowed gourds, animal bones, weaponry, metal work, baskets, and pottery. many of these items tend to serve a purpose as well, be it practical for storage, fighting, or ritualistic in nature.

most settlements include the aforementioned buildings as well as a smithy or forge, grain and meat storage, as well as more basic, temporary structures called ‘jaels’-- made of sticks, animal bones, dried hides, and moss in the form of forest tent/lean to shapes. these are used for vendors to set up shop outside their homes if need be, or simply to offer animals and travelers shelter during the night or a storm.

the nori keep small herds of domesticated cats, dogs, rats, birds, rabbits, foxes, badgers, insects, and even deer. they use these animals as both pets and food and keep them outside in various shelters, generally only one household will produce an animal product and offer it to the rest of the settlement through barter. they also hunt larger herds of native animal such as bears, wolves, and allegedly even the occasional mammoth if they live far enough north. since settlements typically run under 100 people, farming is also done by single households who offer their goods to others: berries, roots, gourds and squashes, latuca genus wildflowers and greens, legumes/trefoil, lichen, moss, ferns, and mushrooms. nori also trade all of these goods to orcs and goblins and very rarely dwarves or travelers from the south.

despite not being united by one great mother, the nori people seem to share a very unified religion, one which incorporates the worship of storms, moreso than an individual deity or even element. melanism, though not common enough to be considered typical, is frequent enough within this gene pool that most communities have one or two individuals with the gene who are revered as storm prophets and lead religious activities within the settlement. if a melanistic nori is not present, or is otherwise unfit or unwilling to take on this role, a different woman will be selected based of magical ability. in some settlements there are many melanistic people who have little or no clerical affiliation, in others there are no melanistic people. it should be noted that either gender can take on this role, but only a non-melanistic woman is allowed otherwise. these individuals often specialize in storm barbianism or storm sorcery of some form and seem genetically predisposed to have an ability with some form of elemental magic, be it classified as divine or unholy within the borders of the empire. the gene can be inherited but also seems to be carried passively by enough individuals that it can pop up unexpectedly or not be passed down through having a mellanistic parent. like twins or multiples, it is seen as a sign of exceptionalism and highly revered.  

individual family units tend to be headed by a matriarch, her sisters, cousins, or offspring (according to age), and so forth. a great grandmother, grandmother, or mother may take this role, or in some cases, an aunt or eldest cousin, taking on the role of hunter and warrior. men tend to the earth and domesticated animal, deal with trade and bartering/distribution of their household goods, and settlement building/infrastructure. there are exceptions, when men hunt, fight, or even lead households, and vice versa, wherein women see fit to raising crops, animals, and overseeing the riches of a house. all elder members of a house are expected to aid in child rearing regardless of gender. 

tomorrow i will try and divulge further into their dress, music, war practices, trade goods and crafts, and other facets of culture but i am still developing this race! i think the idea of placing humans as the barbarians in a fantasy setting is interesting, as opposed to delegating it to greenskins and having that culture marked as negative through implication! i also wanted to try my hand at conceptualizing 1) humans who get along with the races painted as lesser and violent, 2) melding different tidbits of cultures that interest me in a respectful but also uh...unique? way so that im not making trolls and going LOL THEYRE JAMAICAN or some shit. i.e. pueblos, hakas, celtic tribes, pacific islander skin art traditions, etc! it needs a lot of work but, yknow im just posting it here for my own reference and having fun with it!