Werewolf Tutorial 01

Made with deviantART muro
Ok, basics.
Humans are mammals with 5 digit appendages (manual and pedal). Here’s an example of my basic werewolf body.
mainly quadrupedal, with hands and feet padded and enlarged. Nails become claws while individual digits enlarge further--the opposable thumb is maintained, though it loses some dexterity.
The oldest accounts of werewolves depict people completely becoming wolves, rather than a wolf/human hybrid.
Contemporary studies attribute this to the human actually discarding intelligent reasoning and self control and taking on the primal, feral base drives of living (look up ID, EGO and SUPEREGO).
I disagree. I think the concept of the werewolf may be derived from man's desire to:
1- return to nature
2- return to a more spiritual state
3- return to a more responsible inter-connected society
4- accept the natural savage within us all, while still maintaining reasoning intelligence.
Let's face it, wolves are VERY smart animals. In fact, all accounts of animals that I have researched as classified LYCANTHROPE (this word refers specifically to werewolves, but relates to were- tigers, lynx, panthers, jaguar *jaguarmen, crows, lions, bears, etc.) have been shown to be *relatively intelligent.
This I try to show through their eyes. I shape the eyes nearly human, but try to depict a focus humans lack.
Every photo, TV appearance, or zoo visit when I've observed wolves, they always seem to have incredible focus in their eyes. When you watch a wolf in the zoo, it watches you back, studies you. Even if they look away, they still have a focus on you until you are gone. It's fascinating.
As for the nose, I elongate a canid nose, to try to emphasize the fact that this is NOT a wolf--a human nose would have to stretch to fit the shape of a wolf muzzle, and since it's mainly skin and cartilage, I figure that the nose would stretch... same with the ears... I don't think the internal ear would change too much, but to accommodate the fact that human ears on the side of our faces, rather than above our heads, a werewolf on transformation, would have elongated ears.
uhm ,yeah, that's about it.