camwyn | (no subject)

I've been hanging around

cadhla too long. A bit more study of those wonderful heads and masks in the Ancient Sichuan traveling exhibit at the Met has caused my brain to come up with the 'animation rules' for the more humanlike of the things. Or at least the visual rules, I don't know the exact term. I could draw my own, if necessary - or port the relevant visual cues onto a more human-looking head, say for very odd manga or something. This would not distress me quite so much if I hadn't been goign over my VicMage.Asia notes and hearing the little voice in my ear whisper 'webcomiiiiiiic... webcomiiiiiiiiiiiiic...'

Before I think up anything else insane like this...

1. Thick eyebrows with minimal tapering and only slight curvature. The eyebrows must rise from their point of origin near the nose and end higher than they started, without arching.
2. The nose itself is almost beaklike in shape - there is no flat 'bridge', but a central spine from which the nose spreads out to either side. The end of the nose must be fairly prominent and a wide-based triangle in shape.
3. The eyes take up 1/4 to 1/3 of the face, and are semi-triangular. They are set 1/2 an eye's width apart on either side of the nose, possibly even closer together. The shape is triangular, with the upper edge being the longest; the edge closest to the nose is shortest, dipping down and away from the nose, and then rising to meet the long edge at the very edge of the face. They protrude from the face significantly and form a long central ridge running from the outer corner to the inner.
4. The eyes are surrounded on all sides by protruding, heavy lids that follow the curves of the eye exactly. The lids' edges can be seen on every side. There are no lashes.
5. A ridge runs from the outer edge of the face to the curve at the fleshy part of the nose, describing a rather neat curve that follows the approximate line of the bottom of the human cheekbone.
6. The mouth is almost as wide as the entire face and should be gently curved upwards in something approximating a smile. In the majority of cases, however, there will be downward hooks at the ends, spoiling the smile effect.
7. The ears begin at the same height as the center of the eyebrows and end at or just below the outer edge of the cheekbone ridge. They protrude, are usually notched 1/2 to 2/3 of the way down, and bear 2 or 3 (usually 2) raised areas representing the wrinkled parts of the ear. They are almost always pierced in one place or another. The upper corner of the ear is markedly angled; the lower is rounded.
8. A square has either been incised or marked out for incision in the forehead, its bottom edge parallel with the top of the inside upper corner of the eyebrows.
9. The space between the eyebrows and the top of the head is either nonexistent, or less than 1/3 the width of the eyebrows.

I'm reasonably sure I can transform this into a cartoon or manga-style rendition of a human face, thanks to this piece, which was unique in all of Sanxingdui. It doesn't follow the design rules of the rest of the heads, but the ideas are there... I think it could be done. It'd require tattoos and such, but it could be done.

It's late. I should sleep before I do anything else scary.