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lessthanhuman β€” Devolution

Published: 2004-11-09 18:20:12 +0000 UTC; Views: 211729; Favourites: 2611; Downloads: 13718
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Description A tail is a characteristic that I feel clearly represents the majority of the animal kingdom. With few exceptions, nearly all other creatures have a tail in one form or another. Developmentally, all human embryos have tails which, for the vast majority of the population, are gone by birth.

I consider the back and spine to be one of the most aesthetically beautiful parts of the human body. In this piece, I tried to preserve that beauty despite the obvious addition of a tail. This piece was an experiment. When I took the stock photo, I immediately knew what I wanted to do with it. It took me several months, however, to muster up enough patience and time to sit down and try to build a tail. I had initially set out to build a thick, reptilian-style tail but as I drew the initial shape, I felt a smaller, thinner mammalian style tail would blend in more naturally with the model's physique. The most difficult part was matching the lighting but I feel like it ended up looking pretty natural…for a tail anyway.

I also pointed the model's ear and made other minor modifications. Expect minor revisions.

Manipulated with Photoshop 7.0.

Stock photography from my personal collection.

***Update***

Several people have pointed out that the tail was positioned too high on the model's back. This is something that I was aware of when I posted the image. My rationale, other than the fact that this image is an experiment, was that clothing covers the actual end of the model's spine, where a tail would sprout. Despite this, however, I have managed to lower the tail as much as possible and am overall pleased with the results.

Please Full-view...you'll miss detail if you don't!
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Comments: 1283

lessthanhuman In reply to ??? [2004-11-12 13:08:28 +0000 UTC]

Thanks...it did take a long time but it was worth the effort.

Yes..her feet were enlarged. They were oddly small before due to the perspective. Big feet look better than small feet to me.

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JulietEmily23 In reply to ??? [2004-11-11 23:10:38 +0000 UTC]

woh, that's crazy.

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lessthanhuman In reply to JulietEmily23 [2004-11-12 13:06:57 +0000 UTC]

Thanks...it is one of my more creepy manipulations.

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JulietEmily23 In reply to lessthanhuman [2004-11-16 03:32:23 +0000 UTC]

yeah... I like it.

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lessthanhuman In reply to JulietEmily23 [2004-11-16 13:20:30 +0000 UTC]

Glad to hear it

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JulietEmily23 In reply to lessthanhuman [2004-11-20 01:05:27 +0000 UTC]

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dapejn In reply to ??? [2004-11-11 20:14:58 +0000 UTC]

holy shit!!! GOOD MANIP!!!

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lessthanhuman In reply to dapejn [2004-11-11 20:15:51 +0000 UTC]

Thanks

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pirpintine In reply to ??? [2004-11-11 17:22:07 +0000 UTC]

wow.... how do you do that on PS?

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lessthanhuman In reply to pirpintine [2004-11-11 17:26:14 +0000 UTC]

painting, shading and blending...and lots of time

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pirpintine In reply to lessthanhuman [2004-11-11 17:27:19 +0000 UTC]

yea... i have no time a patiance to do that! xD

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hudzi In reply to ??? [2004-11-11 06:42:58 +0000 UTC]

I love it. the spine and start of tail is incredible real dont like the hair though ... it appears to be too "cut out" maybe

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lessthanhuman In reply to hudzi [2004-11-11 13:25:12 +0000 UTC]

Thanks. The hair looks "cut out" because it is. That's what happens when you don't have a studio to shoot in

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hudzi In reply to lessthanhuman [2004-11-11 18:06:57 +0000 UTC]

yuppers
no offense just saying what jumps into my eyes. your decision if you find it helpful or not
I work on hair for quite a while now and because I "cut out" people all the time, I know hair can be a bitch. In difficult cases I just try to add the end parts with brushes or paint them myself, which is for sure much work, but you are such an amazing reality artist, that I think you are able to manage it.

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lessthanhuman In reply to hudzi [2004-11-16 17:50:51 +0000 UTC]

Did some hair tweaking. Thanks for the tips

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hudzi In reply to lessthanhuman [2004-11-17 05:36:30 +0000 UTC]

baahhh go away ... I wish I would be able to be so realistic. still wondering how you doing that.

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lessthanhuman In reply to hudzi [2004-11-17 14:08:26 +0000 UTC]

Practice and lots of it. I started doing this nearly 8 years ago.

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lessthanhuman In reply to hudzi [2004-11-11 18:11:35 +0000 UTC]

Well thanks...hair is a pain. If I get to it, I will see if I can fix the cut out problems.

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absolutedrivel In reply to ??? [2004-11-11 03:28:17 +0000 UTC]

Definitely one of the coolest pictures I have seen. Her position and just the way everything has been combined makes one think of an embryo or a fetus....

Apart from the picture, I saw the name and immediately though of the War of Devolution. AP Euro is doing things to my mind.... (I would suggest checking out the meaning of 'devolution'--it doesn't make sense.)

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lessthanhuman In reply to absolutedrivel [2004-11-11 13:13:24 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, I'm glad you like the image.

devΒ·oΒ·luΒ·tion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (dv-lshn, dv-)
n.
A passing down or descent through successive stages of time or a process.

In this case, she is losing her humanity.

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absolutedrivel In reply to lessthanhuman [2004-11-12 03:49:32 +0000 UTC]

No problem.

Interesting...I only got the devolution of land--this definition fits perfectly.

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lessthanhuman In reply to absolutedrivel [2004-11-12 13:05:47 +0000 UTC]

I originally called it "Lower Back Problems" but "Devolution" fit better

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absolutedrivel In reply to lessthanhuman [2004-11-16 03:36:30 +0000 UTC]

Yeah; though "Lower Back Problems" is kind of entertaining....

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Photobeast In reply to ??? [2004-11-11 00:07:45 +0000 UTC]

Nice work. Muy talento, Taco Grandey... Ok, so I ran out of my spanish, but I love your work there

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lessthanhuman In reply to Photobeast [2004-11-11 13:25:39 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

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KittyTrishia In reply to ??? [2004-11-10 21:47:31 +0000 UTC]

I feel did a fantastic job on this experiment, I love how you even added a few freckles on the tail which match the ones on the model's back. I honestly did not notice the pointed ears until full view, which is a huge feat, since that means they must have loked pretty natural to my subconscience. I hope that maybe next time you work on such a study, that you can use a nude stock photo from your collection. The only reason I suggest such a thing is simply the placement on where the tail would actually sprout from off of the spine. But, from viewing this I can tell you probably felt the same thing. Overall the tail turned out incredible, the tiny folds in the skin under it, all of those little details truely add up to making a very convincing presenation.

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lessthanhuman In reply to KittyTrishia [2004-11-11 13:19:12 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for your comments. It's good to hear from you again. I'm glad you noticed some of the details like the freckles and ears. I'm also glad to hear that they look natural to you...The does mean something

You are right about the placement of the tail...it is too high and you are also correct about your assumption as to why it is too high...the clothing is in the way. I am in the process of trying to lower it...we'll see if I can do it or not.

The wrinkles, I noticed, seem to make the photo believable...I have done one prevoius tail where it looked really fake until I added wrinkles. Thanks again for looking and commenting!

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KittyTrishia In reply to lessthanhuman [2004-11-11 20:14:27 +0000 UTC]

Heheheh you know I love your work, and I also love commenting on it, because no matter what type of comment I give you, whether long or short, praising or critiquing you always handle it with welcome and pride. Not a lot of people can handle that around here, so I kind of look forward to giving you comments when I can.

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lessthanhuman In reply to KittyTrishia [2004-11-11 20:18:18 +0000 UTC]

Awww...you're sweet I enjoy reading your comments. They help me to create better artwork!

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KittyTrishia In reply to lessthanhuman [2004-11-11 20:30:22 +0000 UTC]

Bah.... now do nto go ruining my hard earned reputation for being evil, vile and bitter.

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lessthanhuman In reply to KittyTrishia [2004-11-11 20:37:49 +0000 UTC]

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sevendaywonder In reply to ??? [2004-11-10 20:50:57 +0000 UTC]

whoa. that looks believeable! outstanding job on the mainp!
i wish i had a tail ..like a kitty tail hahaha

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lessthanhuman In reply to sevendaywonder [2004-11-11 13:27:11 +0000 UTC]

I'm glad you like the image and I'm glad it looks believable!

You wish you had a tail huh? Not many people would wish that

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sevendaywonder In reply to lessthanhuman [2004-11-11 16:23:20 +0000 UTC]

hahhahaha ..well i wish i could take it off when i wanted ..but you know i think it'd be fun to hit people with

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lessthanhuman In reply to sevendaywonder [2004-11-11 16:34:50 +0000 UTC]

Indeed...great at parties!

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sevendaywonder In reply to lessthanhuman [2004-11-11 21:38:44 +0000 UTC]

oh absolutely!!

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pdtnc In reply to ??? [2004-11-10 19:33:35 +0000 UTC]

thats really spooky man cool

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lessthanhuman In reply to pdtnc [2004-11-10 19:41:27 +0000 UTC]

It is rather creepy! Thanks!

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chinpau In reply to ??? [2004-11-10 18:13:07 +0000 UTC]

great work!

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lessthanhuman In reply to chinpau [2004-11-10 18:40:29 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

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plumbage In reply to ??? [2004-11-10 15:10:59 +0000 UTC]

Great manip man!!!

Feel free to visit my gallery too at [link]

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lessthanhuman In reply to plumbage [2004-11-10 16:08:59 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

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IdaLarsenArt In reply to ??? [2004-11-10 09:32:02 +0000 UTC]

lol....what a great piece!!! awesome experiment..looks so real

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lessthanhuman In reply to IdaLarsenArt [2004-11-10 13:18:03 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! Glad you like it.

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Uberwulf In reply to ??? [2004-11-10 05:34:20 +0000 UTC]

Even though it's an experiment, I like how you did put detail, like the folding skin under the tail against the back. I'll keep an eye out for your next experiements. Do you think that you'll have the patience to do a full-body manip one day/week?

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lessthanhuman In reply to Uberwulf [2004-11-10 13:17:36 +0000 UTC]

The folding skin is a must if it is to look even close to real.
I will probably not do one full-body manipulation a week...I don't have stock like that for one...two, they take a long time...but more will come.

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Uberwulf In reply to lessthanhuman [2004-11-10 19:29:11 +0000 UTC]

Nah, I meant that you would take a week to do one. I have no doubt that it would take a lot of time and patience. Heck, it might even take a month depending on things... never know.

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lessthanhuman In reply to Uberwulf [2004-11-10 19:40:59 +0000 UTC]

Indeed...you never know.

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jonathan1 In reply to ??? [2004-11-10 05:22:36 +0000 UTC]

OOOOOOOOHHHH, PUTRY!

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lessthanhuman In reply to jonathan1 [2004-11-10 13:15:56 +0000 UTC]

Thanks.

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