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Description
For my student gallery.

Anatomy has always been a bit tricky. The character designs in this comic are mildly stylized, not fully realistic or fully cartoony,. There isn't any particular reason this species looks the way it does other than I find the look aesthetically pleasing. I tried making them different enough from humans to make them exotic, which I believe helps in subtly diverting expectations with culture and technology and such. Some of my early designs had them far more alien-looking, but I felt the earlier design hurt the impact. The less human a character is, the more difficult it is to relate to, so it can be a bit difficult to find a balance.

There are ethnic differences between residents of different regions just like in humans. Though the differences are not objectively any less subtle than in humans, they are more difficult to recognize for us. I won't burden the reader to have to tell apart citizens of different countries based solely on their appearance. It's basically impossible unless I completely stylize the characters to an extreme which I'd rather not.

Just as in humans, the characters' physiology differs mainly in skin color and facial structure. Similarly, residents of warmer climates with more sun exposure such as the Arkans tend to have darker skin, while those further from the equator, like the Renes, are paler and more of a vibrant yellow. The Renes' overall pronounced foreheads and shorter ears are other examples of ethnic differences.

Gender differences are a bit more subtle as the species are not mammals. To help readability, there some are mammalian differences in anatomical build between the sexes (mainly musculature). However, secondary characteristics are mainly limited to bone-like plates protruding from the forehead, neck, and forearms of the males, while they are absent on the females.

Besides an aesthetic choice, the ears actually provide an important function for expression. Since the length of the snout often hides one eye, the ears help expression tremendously. Similar to a cat, they react to the character's emotion, aiding readability.

Description
For my student gallery.

Anatomy has always been a bit tricky. The character designs in this comic are mildly stylized, not fully realistic or fully cartoony,. There isn't any particular reason this species looks the way it does other than I find the look aesthetically pleasing. I tried making them different enough from humans to make them exotic, which I believe helps in subtly diverting expectations with culture and technology and such. Some of my early designs had them far more alien-looking, but I felt the earlier design hurt the impact. The less human a character is, the more difficult it is to relate to, so it can be a bit difficult to find a balance.

There are ethnic differences between residents of different regions just like in humans. Though the differences are not objectively any less subtle than in humans, they are more difficult to recognize for us. I won't burden the reader to have to tell apart citizens of different countries based solely on their appearance. It's basically impossible unless I completely stylize the characters to an extreme which I'd rather not.

Just as in humans, the characters' physiology differs mainly in skin color and facial structure. Similarly, residents of warmer climates with more sun exposure such as the Arkans tend to have darker skin, while those further from the equator, like the Renes, are paler and more of a vibrant yellow. The Renes' overall pronounced foreheads and shorter ears are other examples of ethnic differences.

Gender differences are a bit more subtle as the species are not mammals. To help readability, there some are mammalian differences in anatomical build between the sexes (mainly musculature). However, secondary characteristics are mainly limited to bone-like plates protruding from the forehead, neck, and forearms of the males, while they are absent on the females.

Besides an aesthetic choice, the ears actually provide an important function for expression. Since the length of the snout often hides one eye, the ears help expression tremendously. Similar to a cat, they react to the character's emotion, aiding readability.