Ears

General Techniques

From: James Firmiss
Subject: Simple Ear Trick

This is really an e-mail segment commenting about a new costume I saw but it seemed relevant enough to post here… (especially for beginners)

One simple trick I learned for making ears a bit more realistic (even quickly made ones) is to make the base of the ears 'too wide' and the fold the base over itself .. Something like this:

      ____             ____
     /    \           /    \
     |    |           |    |    The outer 'flap' should be on the
     |    |    -->    |\  /|    side closest to the center of your
     |    |           \ \/ /    head.  This would thus be a left ear.
     |____|            \_\/

This gives the ear a more 3-dimensional shape and is useful for a large variety of animal ears. Simple but effective.

I like to try to make the base of such ears 'triangular'. A top view would be something like this:

Top view of JUST the base of the ear.

        /\
       /  \    -- This bend helps keep the curvature of the inner
      /    \      ear 'inward'.
     / _____|
    '-------   -- Overlapped material

I hope people can understand my limited ASCII graphics

Ears on fursuit heads

Lone Wolf's page on ear construction - http://wolfden.critter.net/fursuits/constrctn/ears.htm

From: Adam Riggs/Nicodemus
Subject: Suggestion for Kerwin's Ear Dilemma

Kerwin “The Too Long Eared” Rabbitroo-

You mentioned problems supporting the ears on the head; the problem, it seems, stems from the fact that they must be detachable (a reasonable and practical requirement, I think). From your description, I picture the wire running through the ear in a “U” shape, with two ends protruding from the base of the ear.

Perhaps if you bent the bottom of those wires perpendicularly outwards and added a second piece of wire horizontally, you could form something resembling a chicken foot. Here's a (very) crude ASCII diagram:

     ##
    #__#
   #/##\#
   #|##|#      }  Wire loops through ear
   #|##|#
   #|##|#
    |  |
  _\|  |/_     }  Bent into "chicken feet" at base of support wire.
   /    \      }

If you have three wires forming the horizontal surface (the “foot”), you would probably have better support. These wires could be inserted either between the fur layer and the foam (in which case, be sure to put some glue dots between the “toes” to add strength and stability) or into a horizontal cut in the foam.

To insert the ear, you can squeeze the wires together a bit, like a hand exerciser. If your wire is fairly high guage, it'll have pretty good shape memory, and should return to almost the original shape when you let go. A little pressure outwards on the wires could ensure the proper shape.

So, installed in a foam layer, the cutaway might be:

              etc.
             #|##|#           } Ear
             #|##|#
  __________##|##|##________  } Fur layer
  %%%%%%%%%%% |  | %%%%%%%%%
  %%%%%%% ====/  \==== %%%%%  } Wire "feet" in horizontal foam cut
  %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
  %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  } Foam of internal head structure
              etc.

Sorry for the bad graphics… I hope you get the general idea of what I'm suggesting (and if you do, it's likely it wasn't from the graphics :).

Mesh Heads

From: Springmoon
On a mesh/foam-based head, the ears can be shaped with foam or created from mesh. When using foam, the desired ear-shape is cut out and glued in place… With a mesh ear-understructure, the ears can be attached like any other mesh construction and be very sturdy. I personally recommend a floppier canvas-mesh when making the ears, as it allows for flexibility, and does not have the tendency to become brittle as the ultra-stiff canvas mesh does. The mesh is curved, so it retains stability and is rigid.

To make a canvas mesh ear, you cut out shapes, similar to an obtuse isoceles triangle, for the ears that are larger than the ear itself will be, and glue them with hot glue to the head in such a way that they are curved and in the desired ear shape. It is also important to make them slightly larger than you wish them to be in the final head, as fur adds bulk to the greater part of the head and makes the ears, which may or may not be additionally shaped with foam, appear to be smaller. This occurrs especially if the ears are not bulked up.

An empty space is created between the criss-crossing mesh strips on the top of the head and the ears. This can be disguised with a tuft of fur, and should be left open if possible(depending on its position and size) to increase airflow and ventilation. As heat rises, the openings allow some room for escape, instead of keeping it on your head and making you a sweaty furry. This is very helpful, and provides a space in which some people install fans.