A conversation/debate I had during the weekend with a casual net friend:

~Nyxity
You must absolutely hate the wings I draw then. O.o…

‘Think you’d critique my gallery?

—–

*Tawadi
I was hoping this would stand in for critiques…
Aside from duct-tape wings, your art is fine. Better than most of the people this is aimed at.
The dragon bit is mostly aimed at people who do stuff like this [link] I love this person to pieces, but some of the refs drive me mad.

—–

~Nyxity
Heh, my case is similar to when people look for typing errors. Well, except that while I miss all of my mistakes, I usually miss the ones in other people’s works as well. 😛

I wike my duct-tape wings. :{

😛

—–

*Tawadi
Well maybe now youll notice them, both in your own and in others art.

Just dont try to tell me your people are flying away on those or Ill hit you with something. Probably a pillow.

—–

~Nyxity
If anything, the wings are usually just for the symbolism. That and sort of like navigators. For example: Cats’ tails. They can’t be used to hang upside down with like say certain monkeys. They can, however, be used as feelers, balance aids, emotional state indicators and such.
Besides, with angels and devils… they are supposed to be like spirits, ghosts and so forth. They have no corporeal form or at least not a heavy form like humans and most animals… they should fly just fine without wings… or float in any case. 😛
So yeah, if you see one of my ghosts, angels, devils or dragons flying… it isn’t because of the wings. They just use those to tell wind speed, direction and so forth. 😀

—–

*Tawadi
I give up on angels. No one wants to put muscles the size of 10gal drums on something thats supposed to be dainty and beautiful (though if a hummingbird were the size of a human thats what itd be like…)

“But but they use their magic to fly!!!” Then why do they have wings at all?

—–

~Nyxity
Navigators and aids, as said. Penguins and other birds with wings and yet are unable to fly. So why do they have wings? They use them as propellers in water.

I am down with the angels using magic though. The only things that uses magic to fly are fairies, pixies and such. 😛

—–

*Tawadi
Yes, propellers. Not navigators.

I theyre ethereal beings then why do they have wiiiiiiiiiings?!?!? >.< -illogic drives me mad-

—–

~Nyxity
Okay then, if using small wings, one could position them various ways to ease direction a bit, feel wind speed and pressure, tell where the wind is coming from on a more sensitive scale, keep the body more balanced… In turn, using those allows one to make judgements about their flight current. What would that be called if not navigation aids?
‘Not saying they are used for actual lift off or gliding, mind you. Heaven forbid.

—–

*Tawadi
If an ethereal creature with no material substance exists, and uses magic to fly, wind wouldnt be of concern. Why would it care about direction, speed, etc of something that doesnt affect it?

—–

~Nyxity
One, I’m not talking about beings that uses magic to fly. Two, just because it isn’t of material substance on our standard doesn’t mean it lacks substance. Thus, such things can affect it. Simple concept: angel/demon/ghost/spirit/whatever semi equals oxygen. Oxygen semi equals Helium. Though you cannot feel or see them on your own, they are there. They have no real material feel to them, but they do have substance. In tern they can be affected by certain things like weather. Wind, stillness, etc. In turn, air is moved when it is windy. It has no real choice in where it goes. Say an ethereal being is somewhat affected in a similar aspect. With wings, it can navigate where it ends up and make use of different winds directions, weather and so forth.
You seem to think I speak of one, things that fly using wings for the lift off and gliding aspect as well as something that is composed of absolutely nothing – which in turn would just be nothing in itself.

—–

*Tawadi
Ive never heard of angels being blown away by sudden breezes (wouldnt that make chapels interesting?), but I get the argument. If the magic is strong enough to create lift, wouldnt it also be strong enough to provide stability without having useless feathery appendages waving about?

—–

~Nyxity
Why do you keep bringing up magic? Screw magic. That is the lazy person’s excuse – an easy way out.

—–

*Tawadi
Because Im half asleep and forgot what we were arguing about?

—–

~Nyxity
*Snerks* Silly. Also we are debating about – I don’t think we are being hostile. Get some rest then you silly human.

—–

*Tawadi
-mumbles incoherently and drags self off to bed- Good night. XP

It was all started over a tutorial she wrote about drawing. It had been a long time since I really held a debate with a person. Exhausting, but rather enjoyable. I do have my various “reasons” for certain things that make no sense physically in our world/reality, though. I don’t necessarily think them out, but I do know what components make things work in my drawings – at least the fantasy ones.

I never mentioned it in the debate, but drawings of a certain character of mine has those “duct-tape wings” are made for flying. Despite they look like angel wings they are also made to act like a shield. This character is a goddess, so certain aspects that deny the physical laws of humans take place. Her wings are indeed like birds in the back that they are light, but they are also like metal in terms of bone structure. Titanium to be close. While they are used for flight, they are also used like shields during battle. Thus, despite they are so strong, they are also incredibly light.
The same works with a similar character who instead has wings that are more bat-like. They are translucent, but it more like a bullet proof glass sort of concept only it is quite bendable. Again they are very light and strong, and though the bone that is used happens to be quite thinly muscled, the muscles are sinewy and serve their purpose to mechanize the wings.The real muscle that allows the wings not to break off is in the back and shoulder muscles instead, thus causing the wings to flap like how one flaps a fan.
While I doubt those who do draw “duct-tape wings” actually put that much thought into their drawings/characters, I do believe mine at least serve their purpose. The main problem is that these things seem hardly necessary to write down when all I am doing is showing a picture. Well, whatever.