The wiki page for markings says that it only applies to "NON-skin bodyparts such as fur, scale(s), feather(s), and/or beak." So that means, for example, that we shouldn't tag Pinky and the Brain with gloves_(marking) and socks_(marking), since the change from white bodies to pink hands/feet only happens because of the change from fur to skin:
But what about for countershading? That is not classed as a marking, so does that mean that it can be used to describe color transitions between two different body surfaces?
For example, take these images:
Judged on color changes alone, I'd tag the first image with countershade_face, countershade_neck, and countershade_torso. And the second image with countershade_face, countershade_butt, countershade_torso, countershade_thighs, countershade_legs - and possibly also countershade_neck and countershade_tail (because they have small hints of orange towards the top of the tail/back of the neck).
Now, apart from the tail, there aren't any outlines to explicitly say that some areas are furry and some are not. But because the lighter color is pink, and it appears on smooth areas like the arms and lower face, and the transition between pink and orange just above the hips looks kind of feathered, my interpretation is that the countershading occurs because an area of fur becomes an area of skin.
So, my question is: because it's between two different body surface types, should the countershading tag still apply?
(Let's ignore the the fact that in the second image, that pink "skin" color also appears on the only body area that has an explicitly furry texture - the tail! Let's also ignore the way that pink color also appears in the spotted hips and spotted_shoulders...)
In this one by a different artist, her countershade_neck is clearer, as there's less of a shading gradient, and a more abrupt change from fur to skin:
Because of examples like those, I'd like it if someone could confirm:
1. Can we use the countershading and countershade_[bodypart] tag if it looks like the color transition seems happens between different body surface types (like fur to skin, feathers to scales, etc)?
2. If one countershading pattern happens across two different body surfaces, should both surface types be tagged? (e.g. In the images above, should I tag both countershade_fur and countershade_skin?)
3. While I'm on the subject of countershading, here's a question about one I was unsure about tagging a couple of months ago:
Do you think that image should be tagged countershade_scales? It's tagged with scalie and reptile, so we can probably safely assume that its body is scales and not skin (i.e. it's not an amphibian). But on the other hand, I can't see any actual texture to explicitly confirm that it's a scaled surface...