#ectrodactyly

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

[lalaverdecia]

(DISCLAIMER AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST)

After watching Ghosts CBS for a while, I’ve noticed something a little unique about Nigel’s left hand.

If you look closely, you can see there’s only 2 fingers on it. And I looked back on some of John L Hartman’s (the actor who plays Nigel) other tv appearances and social media posts and it’s the same thing. After doing some research, I’ve found out that he most likely has Ectrodactyly.

The reason why I’m bringing this up is because I think at some point in the future, the show should bring awareness to this and have Nigel be open about it. It would also be appropriate since in the Halloween episode in season 2, Nigel DOES mention he has webbed feet. (A trait some people with Ectrodactyly actually have so it would fit) It would be an amazing thing to bring up. And show that people who have physical disfigurements can still act and be portrayed as regular characters without them being the punchline.

(DISCLAIMER: I of course don’t work for the show in any way shape or form and don’t personally know John L Hartman or know how comfortable he would be talking about his condition. Do NOT go spamming him or the writers with this idea. I mean no disrespect to John whatsoever or am I trying to force something to happen on the show. He may or may not be comfortable with himself physically to want to bring up a topic like this on a very popular tv series. I just personally think it would be an interesting idea for the show to try to talk about and bring awareness to. That doesn’t mean it has to come true though.)

[elf-indulgent]

Designer Maya Scarlette [instagram]

[excalculus]

#TeratologyChallenge day 3: Ectrodactyly

The prompt text is “mirror images of hands or feet” but ectrodactyly is technically loss of middle digits.  I’m going with the description instead of the real definition, because artificially inducing a mirrored hand was one of the coolest experiments in developmental biology!

If you think about it, embryonic development is an insane process.  This whole drawing challenge is about what happens when things go wrong, but think about how rare that is.  Why?  What is it that lets such complicated patterns form so reliably?  In the early days of developmental biology, people figured out that transplanting certain specific patches of cells could cause limbs or structures to form where they usually don’t.  Note, however, that this doesn’t distinguish between some kind of chemical signal and the possibility that the fate of each cell is predetermined somehow.

This experiment involved soaking a bead in a protein usually produced only on the back edge of a chick’s wing bud, and implanting it in the front edge.  This resulted in a perfect mirror of the last segment of the wing.  No cells are moved or harmed.  The protein in the bead changed the fate of the cells around it.  This proved that embryonic development is NOT hard-coded, but rather controlled by signal molecules the cells produce as they go.

Bonus round: you know how people meme about Sonic Hedgehog (shh) as an example of silly protein names?  That’s what was on the bead.

[webratjen]

Teratology challenge, ectrodactyly.

[weirdalien13]

[cuties-garden]

Hey guys! Little known fact about me that I thought I'd share. I have a condition called ectrodactyly! Basically what that means is I'm missing fingers! For most people with ectrodactyly, they are missing 3 out of 5 fingers, usually the middle ones, leaving a thumb and a pinkie! This can vary in many cases however. There's also other conditions that can go along with it, like hair loss, teeth and skin problems, etc. I am only affected by the loss of fingers, no other problems. This also applies to my feet as well. My feet are really small because of ectrodactyly. But since the wideness of my foot is still there, finding shoes to fit me have been awful. I, currently, wear a size 3 in kids shoes. This means I also can't wear flip-flops, sandals, open toed shoes and even low top shoes! If I do my foot will not fit into the shoe. I have large feet problems from this of course, to be expected. I walk on the outer side of my foot, and that only. Try it for yourself. Bend you foot so only the outer side is on the ground and try to walk. Hurts right? Hard to do right? Imagine walking like that for an hour? Now imagine being like that your whole life. Fun right? In all means I don't mean to be rude, I like to make jokes like that. Ectrodactyly is challenging and it makes life harder for those who have it. This, of course, doesn't mean we are totally helpless, I mean look at me, I'm an artist for gods sake I mean of all talents I could have pursued, art??? Boy what was I thinking!! But my point is to bring awareness to ectrodactyly, because I looked through it's tags before, and it seemed like so many negative and scary portrayals of it, so I mean to bring light of it and tell people we are human just as much as you. Don't be scared of us, don't stare at us, don't try to help us with every little thing. Just, just be there for us when we need you too. Like any non-disabled person. :) (I'm also here to find other ectrodactyly friends because this disability isn't that rare, so I know you're out there friends!!!)

[tornrose24]

Finally updated my humanized version of Tamatoa. The improvement was much needed, though that means he was even harder to draw in color.

I didn’t mean for the colored version to be perfect (I know the anatomy and line art look a little off in some spots, but it was mainly to just show the colors). I took a look at the ‘Art of Moana’ for inspiration in changing the design up a little. The hair style was loosely inspired by Moana’s grandmother but… it actually works if you remember that Tamatoa’s view of beauty goes against Tala’s.

I swear one day I’ll get Maui’s tattoos right. I know they don’t look good but that is why this drawing was done for fun.

These angles were tricky to draw out. At this point something bad happens to (or is about to happen to) either Moana or Maui whenever I draw them or write them in fan fiction. Speaking of which…

So not only did Tamatoa get Moana some sort of dress (see the last post I did of his drawings to get the reference), but this is what he looks like when he goes bioluminescent…. though I don’t think I made him seem creepy enough. Again, I made the drawing of the dress to show it off for fun. The dress wasn’t meant to be historically accurate, given WHO gave it to her, but I find it amusing how it reminds me of Belle’s dress. Moana’s ceremonial dress ISN’T as accurate as it should be because I was referencing a photo of a doll instead of the scene in the film. This is why you should never reference dolls for drawings. :( 

Both of these last two drawings are sort of an early glimpse into the future of the fan fic ‘Only a Voice’ (which can be found on here and also at fan fiction.net under my other name HolyMaiden24). What is in Moana’s hand, you may ask? You’ll find out when the time comes.