Yowiehunters Forum

While looking into human evolution I pondered over how, why, and when we (Homo sapiens) became largely hairless. There are, of course, several theories about this but none are widely accepted. A basic summary:

How we became hairless? Genetic mutation that somehow became the norm.

Why we became hairless? Disputed.

When we became hairless? Unknown.

When we became hairless is of particular interest to me and my Yowie research. Most illustrations and modern reconstructions depict the various human ancestors and relatives (H. erectus, Neanderthals, etc) as largely hairless as well or with steadily declining body hair as they move forward in time closer to H. sapiens. This may not have been the case. Indeed, if hairlessness was a biological advantage then there should be a wide range of hairless animals roaming the forests and plains.

It could well be that our current state of hairlessness came about only fairly recently in our evolution - about the same time as the emergence of anatomically modern H. sapiens - along with “precision grip” dexterity and the explosion of finer cultural artefacts. Thus, all those who came before us may have been hairy.

For stickyfingers and any other resident artists:

Is it possible to touch-up illustrations/reconstructions so that they depict other Homo species as having more hair?

If so, could it be done so that the touch-ups have a hair covering more consistent with Yowie sightings?

This is sure to raise a dispute among people but I guess it depends on whether or not you believe in evolution or if we where seeded as a species by a unknown source.

I believe we could have been seeded as a species.

To have so many different races among us I just don't believe we evolved from the same species, just my opinion.

Hi Chewy

Welcome back - long time no hear.

This reply is for you and you alone.

Have you ever read "We The Arcturians"? It is a very interesting book indeed.

It can be viewed at http://www.amazon.com/We-Arcturians-Nor ... ewpoints=1

Have a read of the reviews. I have a copy I read and I loved it. I bought my copy from the Author and she personally signed it too. Aren't I lucky

Big Cats

I believe in creationism lol so we were always hairless to me.

Night Walker wrote:
How we became hairless? Genetic mutation that somehow became the norm.

Why we became hairless? Disputed.

When we became hairless? Unknown.

I'm not one of those gents you see at the beach who appears to be growing a thick, black, curly shirt - but I would contend we're not hairless.

If you change your proposition to the origins of our sparse and light yet near-complete hairiness then I think you'll generate some debate - especially once someone decides to throw in the Aquatic Ape theory...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair#Human_.22nakedness.22

I'm not interested in debating whether we are truly hairless or not - obviously we are not. However, in comparison to other primates we are quite naked hair-wise.

I simply used the term "hairless" for ease of reference.

I am aware of the various theories as to our "hairlessness" including the aquatic ape theory. None of them seem to carry much weight but that is not really my concern here. Thanks anyway, forestguy.

I am pursuing a "what if" scenario in my research and my questions refer to art - whether it is possible to alter existing illustrations into a more hairy form. My own efforts were unfruitful. Any sort of assistance would be welcome...

...hey Nightwalker... are you talking about getting a naked image of modern day man and "hairying" him up to see if he looks similar to what is percieved to be a Yowie???... if that is what you mean... when I get some spare time on my hands I might try and have a go at it for you my friend... I've just got to get the time... I'm a tad bit busy with stuff at the moment... this photo below is of somebodies interpretations in bust form of apelike people/creatures as he sees them in different states of "hairyness" from what I can make out... is this the direction of where you are going with your idea... or am I on the wrong track completely???...



...as I say Nightwalker... I'll try and help you out here my friend when time permits... cheers... Stickyfingers.

stickyfingers wrote:... are you talking about getting a naked image of modern day man and "hairying" him up to see if he looks similar to what is percieved to be a Yowie???

I'm more after modifying standard images of Homo erectus and Neanderthals (and other hominids) with more Yowie-like hair coverings just to see how they stack up with modern sightings. Maybe even archaic Homo sapiens and Homo floriensis rather than images of modern day man.

That image that you posted is kind of on the right track. Might need them even hairier.

Thanks for your reply and interest. I am in no hurry so by all means take your time.

...okay Nightwalker... I'm on the same track with you now my friend ... within the next couple of weeks I'll try and do some for you and see where we go with this... leave it with me... cheers... Stickyfingers.

...hey Nightwalker... I had a little bit of time to..."hairy-up" an image of a Neanderthal...



...can you tell me whether the hair/fur is too coarse and needs to be more "hair-like" or is it about how you think it should be???... I'm using this image as a start-off point to narrow down to where you want this to go... I'll do a few more with the bodies of more contemporary images such as wrestlers physiques for instance in the near future... I just need to know if my perception of hair/fur is the same as yours... don't think that I'll be offended by your comments... I need to know... so knock yourself out with some criticism my friend... cheers... Stickyfingers.

Wow.

That is awesome.

For hair colour - could you try orangutan and gorilla/chimp as well?

Excellent work. Thank you. I am really looking forward to what else you can conjure up. No rush, though.

Debate of any kind seems to be lacking on the Forum lately, so here are a couple of questions:

If our evolutionary ancestors - Australopithecus, Paranthropus, Homo erectus, etc - were regularly depicted as being fully hairy would it increase general public awareness that there, in fact, COULD be some who have survived (i.e. Yowie/Bigfoot)?

Would this help give any more credibility or remove the stigma for Yowie/Bigfoot sightings within the general public?

Night Walker wrote: If our evolutionary ancestors - were regularly depicted as being fully hairy would it increase general public awareness that there, in fact, COULD be some who have survived (i.e. Yowie/Bigfoot)?

Would this help give any more credibility or remove the stigma for Yowie/Bigfoot sightings within the general public?

Yes and no, Nightwalker.

Yes in the regard that if people become accustomed to seeing our ancestors adorned in a coat of fur/hair rather than being 'naked apes' (in school, in textbooks, on the web, etc), then the recognition factor if they saw a Yowie might be greater if they could equate it with something 'familiar' to them.

No, in that no matter what the Yowie is, how would they explain the presence of our ancient ancestors in this modern world, and the argument about how they have managed to survive and remain mostly hidden this long is going to be the main one.

Kind regards,
Shazz

...hey Nightwalker my friend... whereas with the first image that I did of the Neanderthal Man... whereby I made the hair/fur very coarse to represent a thick matted coat of "fur" ... with this next image of Neolithic Man ... I tried to make the hair/fur a little bit more "hairlike" texture by making the coverage thinner to represent hair rather than fur...



...when I get the chance to do the next image I intend to use a more modern day subject such as a wrestler to draw the hair/fur onto... this way I believe... we can get closer to the essence of what you are saying earlier ... how would we compare to the Yowie if we had similar body hair/fur... (well that's how I'm looking at what you are trying to get at my friend... please correct me if I'm wrong)... I guess that the biggest question is... do we look at this as ... does the Yowie have hair OR fur???...whereas fur is basically "Bristley" ... hair is basically "whispy" ...

...to me... how I see it... if a Yowie is a long distant relative of US... does he have hair???... if he is a long lost relative of apes/chimpanzees etc ... does he have fur???... and the big question... if WE are supposed to be descendants of apes/chimpanzees etc... when did we lose our fur and acquire hair????...

...anyhow... after all that brain numbing stuff that I just said... maybe I'll take another swig of alcohol and continue drawing ... cheers... Stickyfingers.

Clarification: The object of this thread is to see how our immediate ancestors (Neanderthals, H. erectus, Australopithecus, etc) would look when depicted with a full coat of hair/fur. Are they compatible with descriptions given in modern Yowie sightings?

Returning to the original Neanderthal and modification (Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:35 pm) by stickyfingers: it is interesting to note how the head appears to sit directly on the shoulders - a feature commonly noted by Yowie witnesses.

I'd like to see further modifications to hair length and colouring but one step at a time. Sticky - could you first alter the exposed skin (face and ear) to a dull black colour? This would bring the image in line with descriptions of mature Yowies.

Thanks, sticky...

...hey Nightwalker my friend... I've had a go at trying to "blacken" the Neanderthal's face... I'm finding it a tad bit difficult to make it darker then what is in these variations of the same thing... the fact that I am colourblind and can only see red/yellow/black and white is not really helping me... I cannot see brown at all... but the sweet wife seems to think that I've done pretty good considering...

...moving on... what you see now is about the limit on how dark I can go with this particular image... if I make it any darker... any features will probably be lost altogether... I've basically had to redraw the entire image... as it's not just a matter of "spraying brown colour" over the original image... that doesn't work... believe me I tried a number of different ways to do it the easy way!!!...

...anyway my friend... is this on the way to what you had in mind???... pay most particular interest with the face/head area only... the body was done just to make the image look right... I have not bothered to pay too much interest in the body because it will eventually just be covered in hair/fur later anyway... here are six images...







...are any of these close to what you are asking for???... just pick out one or two images that are what you are after or let me know if these are nothing like what you are trying to get to and I will see what I can come up with next... my suggestions... images number 2 and 6 are probably the best versions to go onwards with if this is what you are after in my opinion.. the images can be darkened once you pick which one or two you like best... it's just a matter of using the "contrasts and lighten/darken" filters to get the right look... anyway my friend... over to you... cheers... Stickyfingers.

...BTW... Nightwalker... I meant to ask... the second artwork of the Neolithic guy... what was your opinion on that???... as I say... your honest opinion would be really appreciated... I value honest criticism... no offence will be taken...cheers... Stickyfingers.

Thanks, sticky. I agree with you and will opt for images (2) and (6). Should be interesting to see how they look covered with hair.

As for your Neolithic Man - being a fully modern H. sapiens (like us) he would have most likely been as hairless as we are. However, it does make a good comparison. The torso and shoulders are too thin and there is a clear definition between head and shoulders. Your artwork is good but it goes to show that a hairy modern man is an unlikely candidate for Yowie/Bigfoot sightings. You mentioned earlier that you may do a hair-job on a wrestler or body builder - that may be worthwhile for another comparison.

For the moment I am content to explore the options with the Neanderthal image before moving on to H. floresiensis, H. erectus, Paranthropus, Australopithecus, etc. After experimenting with a few colour and hair length modifications for the current Neadnerthal it may be worthwhile finding a full-body image to modify.

H. neanderthalensis and H. heielbergensis did not have prominent canines nor had overly long arms so would have to be ruled out for some crypto-hominid sightings but we'll get onto what those may have been later. Many crypto-hominid sightings do not mention enlarged canines however and both H. neanderthalensis and H. heielbergensis were both suitably large (a full skeleon of an 8 year old H. heielbergensis measured 5'3") and robust to potentially present a match with modern crypto-hominid sightings (if they were fully hairy, as this project theorises).

Wow Sticky... ... nice work! ... one word of advice... ... if you do decide to cover image '6', could you paint him
with a smile or something?? ... he looks creepy.
As for your query about the hair/fur thing?... I believe that the answer revolves around evolution. ..?

I think that the thick fur that we ... (our great great grandpa's with stone tools and beyond) ... once had, have gradually become thinner and shorter over time. I always thought that it matched the environment that 'we' were in. ..... the hotter the climate, the less hairy and darker 'we' were..... the colder the climate, the more thicker hair and lighter colour is present.

....well, thats just my take on it, but it seems logical for the most part. .... Trev

Awsome work sticky...

You have definitely mastered the wacom Pen & tablet my friend... I purchase one a few weeks ago and haven't given it a good go yet, but after seeing this thread you have inspired me...

I recon if you added a bit more hair to Nicolai Valuev you would be close to a Siberian Yeti...lol

Hi All

Wow Sticky the way you added hair to those pics blew me away, what soft ware were you using? I picked up a Wacom "Bamboo Fun" tablet thhe other day and have been trying my hand at drawing a pic of what I imagine a yowie would look like, I'm not real good right now but with some practice I mightbe able to produce some thing half decent. My bigest problem is figuring out how to post a pic on this site.
[attachment=0]Yowie2.jpg[/attachment]

TWMcCallum wrote:Hi All

Wow Sticky the way you added hair to those pics blew me away, what soft ware were you using? I picked up a Wacom "Bamboo Fun" tablet thhe other day and have been trying my hand at drawing a pic of what I imagine a yowie would look like, I'm not real good right now but with some practice I mightbe able to produce some thing half decent. My bigest problem is figuring out how to post a pic on this site.

Yowie2.jpg

...hey TW... nice drawing my friend!... it's looking good!!... which program are you using my friend?... I'm using a program called "Corel Painter Essentials 3" ... it came with my "Bamboo pen tablet drawing pad" ... I got it as a present... the Yowie that I painted for the sticker and website heading that Lasso is going to post was my first attempt at using "Corel Paint" ... the Neanderthal man that I "haired up" was an experiment that seems to have worked fine for the purpose that it was intended... I used Photoshop to change the background on that particular pic... if you have "Corel Paint" ... I'll tell you what settings I used to achieve what I did in the way of adding hair to those photos... if you don't have it... I'm afraid that I can't give you any advice at all... but still... in the next few months I intend to buy other graphic art programs to experiment with... thanks for the compliment my friend... that's very kind of you...

...in regards to what program to use to download photos... I use "Imageshack" ... I've never had problems with it so far... here is a link to it...

http://www.imageshack.us/

... it's a great resource... it works for me... cheers... Stickyfingers.

Hi All

Thanks for the prompt reply Sticky. I am also using Corel Esentials 3 that comes bundled with the Bamboo tablet, I have also got a copy of Piant shop Pro 7, but I have not played with it enough to work out quite how to use it for freehand art, I also have Photo Shop Elements. I really want to try my hand at some freehand art though so if you have any tips I would appreciate them. I managed to work out how to post a pic as can be seen in my last post. Heres another one that I knocked up. I realy like the art of S. Davies.
[attachment=0]yowie3.JPG[/attachment]

Hey TWMcCallum,

I picked up a Wacom some weeks ago as well. I've had a few attempts at using it, but it is hard getting the hand eye coordination with the monitor and the tablet. I think it will take some practice...lol

As for programs Adobe Photoshop CS4 works really well with the Wacom pen as well. If only I could get a bloody pen that draws in a straight line...They must have sold me a dodgy pen, I'm sure of it...lol

Cheers

Hi All

The video tutorials by Linda may be of some use, you can find a link in the tablet help files, try setting up the tracking in corel and also the sensetivity settings in the tablet prefrences, other than that just preservere Strange 2.

Night Walker wrote:Wow.

That is awesome.

For hair colour - could you try orangutan and gorilla/chimp as well?

Excellent work. Thank you. I am really looking forward to what else you can conjure up. No rush, though.

...hey Night Walker... sorry it's been a while since I posted anything new for your little project we're working on... but I managed to get a little bit of time today to do a gorilla/chimp version for you... I'm not too sure whether the texture of the fur is all that gorillarish/chimpish... but I'm afraid that this rendition is as close as I could get it with the limited timeframe that I managed to put aside for this today... I hope that it is close to what you were after my friend... here it is...



...if you want me to have another go at it to "chimp him up" a bit more and do a better version I will... if not... I will try to set some time to do one with orangutan type fur colouring instead as per request... I'm enjoying doing these for you because I consider it to be "relax time" for me in between other stuff that I am doing... I couldn't make the face or fur any darker because the image began to lose detail... but anyhow ... moving on... cheers... Stickyfingers.

TWMcCallum wrote:Hi All

Thanks for the prompt reply Sticky. I am also using Corel Esentials 3 that comes bundled with the Bamboo tablet, I have also got a copy of Piant shop Pro 7, but I have not played with it enough to work out quite how to use it for freehand art, I also have Photo Shop Elements. I really want to try my hand at some freehand art though so if you have any tips I would appreciate them. I managed to work out how to post a pic as can be seen in my last post. Heres another one that I knocked up. I realy like the art of S. Davies.

yowie3.JPG

...hey TW... I imagine that you are talking about Stuart Davis the American artist that basically introduced Cubism into American art and made it popular aren't you my friend?... if not then you'll have to let me in on which artist it is... (email link maybe)?... mate... seeing that we are basically using the same software I can offer you any tips that you wish to know... just ask what you want to know and I'll do my best to help you out... no worries... cheers... Stickyfingers.

Ok, can you now tweak the 3rd image a bit?

* Facial hair coverage similar to the 2nd image. Hair over ears.
* Head hair longer and matted.

Perhaps experiment with a couple of different "mop" hair styles - over the eyes, to shoulders, etc. No need to "chimp him up" - it is only a guide for colouration of the hair/fur.

Again - at your leisure, no rush.

Thanks.