Cultural influences on the Design

 

After deciding that I would like to change my concept of modelling warlock to a shaman, I have done some research about how shamans looked in the past according to the history.

 

Here is what I have found:

 

Source 1:

-         “The materials used for creating and decorating the costumes are the basic elements that provide them with an opportunity to gain meaning apart from the form. It has been observed that leather is a commonly used material in Asia and Siberian region and the design, sewing method and surface decoration differ depending on the animal skin. Shaman costumes made of bovine leather have less pieces and stitches as it has a larger surface. More pieces and detailed stitches are used for other animal skins as sheep and goat etc. Leather strips or fringes are usually used for the hemline.”

-         “These leather strips or fringes represent the spirit of a shaman rising to the sky like a bird. Leather is used with natural color or dyed and embroidery, beading, motifs and applique symbolize the power and status of s shaman”

-         “It is seen that there are leather drums or frame drums besides the costumes exhibited in several museums. These are the important tools for shamans believed to help spiritually rising into the sky”

-         “Other complementary elements of a shamanic costume are headdress and mask used together. It is also remarkable that they are usually made from leather and decorated with horns and feathers. The bird is the most commonly used figure in these costumes and it is identified with the rise of the spirit. The eagle owl is especially one of the most powerful motifs and its feathers are used for the decoration of the headdresses besides the leather fringes depicting birds”

-         “Leather has always been one of the main materials used for making, protecting and decorating the costumes besides being a status symbol. The skin of the hunted animals could be used both for clothing and making these sacred dresses. However, as mentioned above, the animals used for this purpose are chosen according to their meaning and symbols in Shamanism”. (Hazırlama, Yayına & Akademi, Gece & Birimi, Dizgi & Mentes Colak, Selime & Gürler, Deniz, 2019)

 

Fig 1. 

Fig 2.

 

Fig 3.

Source 2:

-         “Among the Evenks, a headwear item was an indispensable part of a shaman ritual costume. Shamans put on a deerskin or elkskin cap with a fringe covering the eyes; powerful shamans wore iron crowns in the form of a headband with the images of deer antlers. The sculpture depicts the shaman without a headwear item.”

-         “Evenk Shaman always wears a hat with a fringe covering the eyes. Powerful shamans wear an iron crown in the form of a hoop symbolizing deer antlers.” (The Russian Museum of Ethnography 2021)

 

Source 3:

-         “A shaman wears regalia, some part of which usually imitates an animal—most often a deer, a bird, or a bear. It may include a headdress made of antlers or a band into which feathers of birds have been pierced. The footwear is also symbolic—iron deer hooves, birds’ claws, or bears’ paws. The clothing of the shamans among the Tofalar (Karagasy), Soyet, and Darhat are decorated with representations of human bones—ribs, arm, and finger bones. The shamans of the Goldi-Ude tribe perform the ceremony in a singular shirt and in a front and back apron on which there are representations of snakes, lizards, frogs, and other animals. An important device of the shaman is the drum, which always has only one membrane. It is usually oval but sometimes round. The outer side of the membrane, and the inside as well among some peoples, is decorated with drawings; e.g., the Tatars of Abakan mark the membrane with images of the Upper and Lower Worlds. The handle is usually in the shape of a cross, but sometimes there is only one handle. The drumstick is made of wood or horn, and the beating surface is covered with fur. In some cases the drumstick is decorated with human and animal figures, and rattling rings often hang down from it. During the trance brought on by the sound of the drum, the spirits move to the shaman—into him or into the drum—or the soul of the shaman travels to the realm of the spirits. In the latter case the shaman makes the journey on the drum as if riding on an animal, the drumstick being his lash. Sometimes the shaman makes the journey on a river and the drum is his boat, the drumstick his oar. All this is revealed in the shaman song. Besides the drum, the Buryat shaman sometimes makes the journey with sticks ending in the figure of a horse’s head. The shaman of the Tungus people, who raise reindeer, makes the journey on a stick ending in the figure of a reindeer’s head. Among some people, the shaman wears a metal disk known as a shaman-mirror.” (Eliade, Mircea and Diószegi, Vilmos, 2020)

 

Key findings:

-         Leather is the most common material in Asia and Syberia

-         Bovine was used on the larger surface with fewer stitches

-         Sheep or goats were used for more detailed pieces

-         Leather strips on hemline

-         Leather was natural or dyed

-         Ornaments indicated the amount of power of the shaman

-         Drums were a very important asset for a shaman, usually made out of leather

-         Headdres or/and masks common, decorated with feathers and horns (Hazırlama, Yayına & Akademi, Gece & Birimi, Dizgi & Mentes Colak, Selime & Gürler, Deniz, 2019)

-         For Evenk's headwear with fringe was inseparable element of shaman costume

-         The most powerful shamans wore a metal crown (The Russian Museum of Ethnography 2021)

-         Shamans from Tofalar (Karagasy), Soyet, and Darhat wore headwear made of antlers or a band with feathers

-         Clothing was enriched with bones

-         Singular shirt with apron, representation of animals like snakes and lizards

-         An oval or round drum with one membrane, decorated with drawings. The handle in the shape of a cross. The drumstick was made of wood or horn and fur

-         Sometimes shamans wore metal disk (Eliade, Mircea and Diószegi, Vilmos, 2020)

Taking into account all that information I started designing my character. 

To fix the anatomy of my shaman, this time I decided to use better image references that I have found online.

Fig 4.

I removed bigger muscles, so the character would not look too muscular. Here is the ready concept art that I made:

Front

Back

Side

I used many different photo references to capture design as historically accurate as it was possible:

Fig 5.

From this reference, I was inspired by the stripes and the upper part of the clothing. I used it on the most external part of the clothing.

Fig 6.

From this one, I mimicked the leather stripes on the headdress.

Fig 7.

Here I was influenced by the bones on the chest of that character. 

Fig 8,

From here I utilised the stripes at the end of the cloth.

Fig 9.

Shoes that partly influenced my art decisions.

Fig 10

From this photo, I studied the heaviness of the cloth. I tried to mimic its stiffness. 

I remembered to put the metal helmet on the head of my character and I decorated it with horns. I also used bones on the chest of my shaman, to make him look more authentic.

    Bibliography:

    Journals: 

    Hazırlama, Yayına & Akademi, Gece & Birimi, Dizgi & Mentes Colak, Selime & Gürler, Deniz. (2019). SHAMANIC CLOTHES.

    Images:

    Fig 1. Yayına Hazırlama (2019) Leather Shaman Ritual Costume [Online image]. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Leather-Shaman-Ritual-Costume-5_fig1_342978184 [Accessed 23/06/2021] 

Fig 2. Yayına Hazırlama (2019) Shamanic Headdresses [Online image]. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Shamanic-Headdresses-10-11_fig4_342978184 [Accessed 23/06/2021]

   Fig 3: Yayına Hazırlama (2019) Shaman Costume, Head, Mask and Drum [Online image]. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Shaman-Costume-Head-Mask-and-Drum-12_fig7_342978184 [Accessed 23/06/2021] 

Fig 4. Designerbrain (2020) Man Body- Complete Zbrush 3D model [Online images]. Available at: https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models/character/man/man-body-complete-zbrush-project-and-ztool [Accessed 23/06/2021] 

Fig 5. a. Etsy.me  (2021) This item in unavailable [Online image]. Available at: https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/629307747917033383/ [Accessed 23/06/2021] 

Fig 6. b. Etsy.me (2021) This item in unavailable [Online image]. Available at: https://ro.pinterest.com/pin/691372980284346564/ [Accessed 23/06/2021] 

Fig 7. Dreamers are Birds (2021) Female Shaman of Bad Dürrenberg - 6500 BCE [Online image]. Available at: https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/484348134902372422/ [Accessed 23/06/2021] 

Fig 8. 25.media.tumblr.com (2021) Front and back of a Darkhad shaman’s robe from the first half ot he 20th century Ulan-Uul, Khovsgol province, Mongolia [Online image]. Available at: https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/38562140538260376/ [Accessed 23/06/2021] 

Fig 9. Irongate Armory (2021) “Jorvik” Viking Shoes [Online image]. Available at: https://irongatearmory.com/product/jorvik-viking-shoes/ [Accessed 23/06/2021] 

Fig 10. National Museum of Finland (1909) Mongol shaman [Online image]. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/shamanism/Dress-and-equipment [Accessed 23/06/2021] 

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Websites:

    Eliade, Mircea and Diószegi, Vilmos, 2020. Shamanism. Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/shamanism.  [Accessed 23/06/2021]

    The Russian Museum of Ethnography, 2021. Magnificent costumes from the Russian Empire: Siberia, Central Asia and the Far East. Available at: https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/magnificent-costumes-from-the-russian-empire-siberia-central-asia-and-the-far-east-russian-museum-of-ethnography/rALSA7dzyXtlJA?hl=en  [Accessed 23/06/2021]