I started playing D&D with some friends recently, and made this character! (I’m the DM so I can’t actually play him, but shhh...) His name is Mangkhut (mangosteen), and he’s a shifter monk. I designed his outfit using signature Hmong traditional wear as inspiration, which features black clothing embroidered with detailed, colorful bands, and silver bells and jewelry as accents.
I based his faceplate on the Thai interpretation of Hanuman, who is king of the monkeys and a master of martial arts.
Please consider checking out Hmong Archives and Hmong Cultural Center, which are nonprofits that work to conserve and educate people on Hmong art and culture ^__^
idk if it's too late but ur asian hair tips kinda makes me upset bc tons of south east asians and south asians have curly/wavy hair. my hair (SEAsian) frays a lot because of the humidity in the country and is lightly wavy. i also know a lot of east asian (specifically chinese) individuals with rather thin hair that simply flops down at short lengths, like a very flat bowl cut.
your tips seem very specific to east asians and generalizing it to south and south east asians is kinda hurtful, esp w how southeast asians are almost non-existent in terms of global representation. (better w my filipino siblings these days but i have yet to see popular characters from malaysia/myanmar/brunei/indonesia/papua new guinea/laos/vietnam......)
sorry if this has already been said! it just really stings when someone is so adamant about how asian hair is like and then leaves out all of south and southeast asia's common traits....
I haven't logged on in many months so I dont know how old this ask is (sorry) but you're right. I regret making that segment of my post and didn't think enough about it, especially since me + my sister (Thai) have wavy/frizzy hair and I had just rationalized it as being unusual. I'm very passionate about making sure SEAsia is recognized as being distinct from EAsia and culturally rich in and of itself and it bothers me that I had internalized that and posted it as a fact when I should have thought over it more. Sorry again :(
Troy and Abed from Community in their Calvin and Hobbes costumes from season 4 episode 2: Paranormal Parentage! I had a lot of fun trying to recreat C&H's classic watercolor style when making this :-)
[ID: Digital painting of two stylized characters cheerfully taking a walk together on a grassy hill at sunset. One is dressed in a yellow jinbei, a straw hat, and wooden sandals, carrying a bundle of sunflowers and some snacks. The other is wearing a deep red shawl and tied cloth pants, splitting a taiyaki to share with the other. The background curves up in a circular pattern, showing mountains extending into the distance, and colorful pink and yellow clouds up above. End ID]
[ID: A cropped version of the previous image, centering on the faces of the two characters. End ID]
hey, I just wanted to let you know the alt text in your commissions post doesn't work! tumblr is super broken and will delete alt text every time you edit a post, so that might be the case. :)
Oughh that's super awful. Do you know if adding the alt-text back whenever editing fixes it? If not I'll just add an ID the old-fashioned way. Thank you so much for letting me know :-)
Looking for fellow creatives for a fantasy project!!
Hi all! I’m looking for other people who might be interested in collaborating on a hobby world-building project. !!Please help me find people by reblogging this post!!
[ID: Sketch of someone waving cheerfully at the viewer. end ID]
This world is designed to be the basis for a magic-based, multiplayer platformer fantasy game similar in ways to Maplestory and Fantasy Life, where the player character travels throughout various cool and magical realms. If you want to learn more about the world, please check out the information under the “read more” (I didn’t want the post to get too long).
Some stuff about me: I’m a Thai-American genetics student/researcher with heavy interests in evolutionary biology and Southeast Asian culture. I like to draw/design in my free time. I’m looking for people who are interested in contributing (to any degree), especially those who have an interest in biology, ecology, or sociology/anthropology. I would love to be able to work with other people from cultures that are underrepresented in the fantasy genre (though ofc not a requirement). No skills necessary!!! I'm able to handle all the art and visual design load on my own, I'm just looking for anyone imaginative!
I tend to be very realism-focused, so I’m hoping that input from others will help this world blossom into a more fantastical, wondrous setting. You don’t have to commit to anything--if you want, you can just hang around a bit and see if it interests you, or just provide input once in a while.
This is currently just a fun side-project that I work on in my spare time. I want to make it clear that even though I’m designing it with a videogame in mind, there really is no guarantee that it would ever get to that point, and I don’t want anyone to join with the hope that it would eventually pay off monetarily. I’ll make sure that anyone who contributes heavily will get a say in where the project eventually goes, if it turns out to last long.
Please contact me on Tumblr or Twitter to get involved! I plan on making a Discord server to keep all our collaboration in one place, invites given by PM.
[All images described in alt-text]
The premise of the world is that flora and fauna are not separate beings, but instead that all animals start their lives as plants, turn into animals, and then at death they create seeds which sprout into new plants. People also go through this life cycle--when they start out life they’re the huge, slow-growing plants that provide the structure for complex ecosystems (pine trees, kelp, huge cactuses), and then when they become people, their community cares for the ecosystem in question.
--MAIN GOALS--
   - To build a work in the fantasy genre that rejects the overwhelmingly common eurocentric and often colonialist setting, as well as incredibly popular westernized systems of fantasy morality (light v. dark, demons v. angels, etc)
   - To portray fictional cultures in a way that highlights the incredible diversity of IRL cultures without stereotypes or homogeneity
   - To show the interconnectedness of everything, including showing different groups of humans as being connected with each other and showing humans as part of the environment; actively rejecting contemporary notions of “mastery over nature”
!!Everything below here is subject to change!!
Since I’m heavily interested in evolutionary bio, I built the biology of this world on the premise that life evolved much like it did on our world, starting from a single organism and blossoming out into different branches. Humans, or rather “people”, evolved multiple different times whenever a complex, dense ecosystem arose. Here are the groups of people I’ve come up with. The player chooses which species they want to start out as, and the dominant weapons or magic style of that culture determines the combat style they first learn to use. (Each group of people has multiple different subcultures, but there would be one “main” subculture that players start out in.)
Merfolk/seafolk:
Perhaps some of the earliest peoples, seafolk start their lives as kelp and inhabit the thick kelp forests that surround many coastlines. They have a love for exploration and discovery, but generally avoid encroaching on land. Their magic generally has to do with water, and the weapons they use are mechanical crossbows and heavy blunt weapons (blunt weapons integrated with controlling/redirecting the flow of water to lend force to blows). I haven’t figured out which real-world cultures to draw on for inspiration for seafolk societies, since nobody IRL lived underwater, of course. This is probably the most open-ended group of people. They’re visually based on fish and salamanders.
Frostfolk:
These people start their lives as conifers and thus inhabit the taiga and tundra. Their magic mostly has to do with ice, cold, or wind, and their main weapon of choice is spears. In this group of people, I want to have different societies: a nomadic hunting/fishing society, a nomadic pastoral society, and a more sedentary river/forest-based society. They’re based visually on dinosaurs, specifically theropods, with perhaps more bird-like features.
(No name yet):
Related to frostfolk but now geographically isolated from them, these people start their lives as cycads and live in the tropics, especially on chains of islands. Some subcultures would be highly seafaring, while some would be more sedentary and involved with metal-working and smithing. For the sedentary cultures, their magic would revolve around utilizing fire, and weaponry would be small blades made from obsidian. They are also based on theropods, but would have more vibrantly colored feathers like tropical birds.
Dustfolk:
Based on carnivorous mammals, mainly cats, foxes, and coyotes, these peoples start their lives as succulent plants like giant cacti. They inhabit the deserts and canyons of the world and live a largely nomadic life. Their magic has to do with wind/sandstorms, and their main combat styles are focused on hand-to-hand combat, utilizing claw or knuckle weaponry.
Plainsfolk/brushfolk(?):
These people start their lives as deciduous trees, generally as part of savannas, or sparse forests on mountainsides. They are based visually on ungulates, mainly deer/antelope, goats, and pigs/boars. I plan to have a semi-nomadic subculture in the dry savanna, a more sedentary agricultural society in the tropical savanna, and a mountainous society. Their weaponry would use a combination of sword and shield, and they would utilize light magic by way of reflective metal or glass.
(No name here either... they’re humans):
Finally, there would be a species of primate-based people that start their lives as broadleaf evergreen trees and inhabit the tropical jungles of the world. Many of their societies would be agricultural, with some fishing river-based cultures. Their magic would be related to monsoons and thunderstorms, especially lightning magic, and they would use long, thin blades for fighting.
---
In addition to the "main" cultures of the world, there would be many cultural centers where multiple peoples meet and trade food, goods, and technology. People will not be divided by nation borders or "species".
Currently, my idea is that combat is used to battle metaphorical representations of disease, malaise, generally bad and imbalanced things. I haven't developed this part of the storyline too much yet, I just know some thematic goals I might have.
In addition to combat (either physical or magical-based depending on the player's preference), players would be able to pursue a few different skills, like farming/breeding using a robust genetics system, tailoring/clothes-making, furniture/crafts-making, smithing, healing, cooking; as well as more "meta" hobbies like making maps and puzzles for other players to use.
Again, if you're interested in getting involved or have any questions, you can reach out to me here on Tumblr or on Twitter. If people do end up being interested, I'd like to make a small community on Discord to chat with! Edit: We do have a discord server now, you just have to ask to join!
mock-up of a style concept for a maplestory-esque videogame (how do i make the image smaller rofl)
[ID: Pixel art of a stylized character standing idly. They look like an anthropomorphized jaguar wearing casual clothes and armed with spiked knuckles. end ID]
Hi! I saw your addition to the Drawing-Asian-People tutorial, and I wondered if you can give any advice of how to draw Asian hair when it's tied back? Specifically in a low ponytail(I have an OC and I just realized that his hair is... very wrong apparently), but generally, too Also, will designing an asian male character with a braid will be playing into streotypes? I want my OC's father to have long hair too but to have them different enough in apperance but obvsly don't want to hurt anyone.
I’m sorry for taking so long to get to this! I asked some asian friends cause I wanted to make sure I gave you a good answer.
1) Ponytails won’t look different from a ponytail on any character with straight or wavy hair. So I think you’re good on that front.
2) For the braid thing, I think it would indeed be a stereotype... In the first place, Asia is a pretty big continent, so just knowing the region of your character’s ethnicity will be helpful in answering this question. I’m going to assume you mean East Asian(?) as that’s the group that’s most often depicted with ponytail braids in western media. First of all, it really depends on what specific ethnicity your character is from. Some ethnicities, like the Manchu from China, have a history of traditional braids. If your dad character is the type to follow tradition, he might wear a braid only if he’s from a culture with that tradition. However, it’s not really common anymore to see people wearing traditional braids. If they’re not from a culture with braids, then it would be very, very rare to see it, of course. For example, I’m Thai and I’ve never seen a Thai man wear a braid (or even have long hair, for that matter). So this is something that you’ll want to think about more.
Some alternate options are:
- Having one of them have straight hair and the other one have naturally wavier hair
- Or if they live in a place like the US, have the dad be influenced by alternative fashion! Maybe he likes hipster styles and wears a man bun or some sort of messy braid. Basically, any hairstyle that you would not be surprised to see a white man wearing in the US would be fair game.
Hopefully that helps! If you want to PM me with specific information on your character’s ethnicity or location, or want to share drawings for design feedback, I’d be more than happy to chat :-)
[ID: A collection of drawings of various characters in different styles done by the same artist. The image is titled “Commissions Sheet”. End ID]
My commissions are open! If you’ve been looking to get art done, please consider commissioning me ^__^ I primarily do character art as well as outfit design/fashion. You can see more examples on my blog, but my Twitter (@6480N) has many more (older) examples.
My prices are as follows:
Sketches:Â
      - Portrait 15 USD
      - Full-body 25 USD
Flat Colors:
      - Reference sheets 40+ USD (front+back)
Painted/Shaded:Â
      - Portrait 30+ USD
      - Waist-up 70+ USD
      - Full-body 100+ USD
I can work with or without a visual reference. I love designing characters and would love to help you bring a concept to life! I am also comfortable doing anthro designs. My examples for anthro designs are much older, but you can check out this image album for a collection of past work.
These prices are not set in stone! Please contact me if you want a specific quote for what you have in mind, or if you want to inquire about something not on the list. You can also ask for my Discord info if that would be easier.
If you can’t or don’t want to commission at this time, I would greatly appreciate a reblog or retweet to get my work out there. Have a great day ^__^
[Policies, timelines, general rules and stuff under the read-more]
Turn-around time varies for each type of commission, but full-body painted drawings will take about 3 weeks. I’ll normally have a sketch done for you within the first few days.
Payment is requested after a sketch is made that you are happy with. For sketch commissions, I’ll ask for payment up front. If these options don’t work for you, I’m more than happy to work out an alternative plan for payment so both of us are comfortable :-) I take payment through Paypal or Venmo.
I don’t have set rules on what I will/won’t draw, but I reserve the right to refuse any request on a case-by-case basis if I’m either uncomfortable with the subject or don’t believe I have the skill to do it. I also will not do nsfw or erotic material, but non-erotic partial nudity is fine (as long as the commissioner is an adult).
Please feel free to contact me with any questions, or if you just want to talk about an idea without committing to a commission! I’m totally down to chat at any point.
Making this guide because I see this question time and time again on here. This post is mostly directed at white artists and writers who are wondering how to best design their characters of color. Full text description is at the end under the cut.
Full disclaimer, I am biracial (mixed E/SE asian and white) and grew up in majority poc communities, but I am just one person and this post is only based on my own experiences. If any other poc want to chime in, feel free to do so.
Once again, a full plaintext description is under the cut. If you find the information useful, please pass it on by reblogging <3
(Finally, even though I spoke vaguely on genetic inheritance, this is NOT the place to comment on certain features being mutations, as if being a mutation means something is inherently lesser or isn’t supposed to exist. Mutations is everything! All of our traits were at some point or another, an emerging mutation. Love yourself ^__^)
wanted to add: the majority of white people have brown eyes and brown/black hair. it’s very common for white people to not have any light-eye genes to pass to their children. so if your character’s white parent has dark hair/eyes, it’s almost certain that your character will as well.
also research what eye/hair color mutations are common for your characters ethnicity (ex. blue eyes in Indian people, blonde hair in Melanesian people, red hair in Amazigh people). if a gene doesn’t occur in both the white and the non-white side of your characters ancestry, the chances of it occurring on your mixed-with-white character are almost zero. a half-white half-Indian character with blue eyes is realistic because both groups have the blue eye mutation in the gene pool. but what would be even more realistic is if that character had brown eyes, because not only are brown eye genes present in both populations, they’re both dominant genes and both are present in the majority of their respective populations.
this is not to detract from op’s point, though. brown eyes are beautiful and romantic and soul-piercing. light eyes are upheld as a standard of beauty, and your fiction is influenced by the world around you. let mixed characters have dark eyes. let characters described as beautiful, stunning, handsome etc have dark features.
This is a perfect addition, thank you! Yes, my guide is very basic and very broad, I would suggest that people do research into the *specific* ethnicities of their characters in all cases.
I also want to take the opportunity to clarify some stuff:
- I wrote this guide primarily with half-white biracial people in mind, or where both parents are monoracial. Being a poc does not mean you need to have dark skin, dark eyes, and dark hair, especially if you’re a broad mix of stuff, but if one parent has dark brown/black hair and eyes this guide should be able to apply.
- I may have underestimated slightly the prevalence of blue/green/grey eyes in poc. Pretend the guide says “rare” instead of “very rare” lol. Ultimately, this was a response to white authors and artists over-representing biracial people with super light features in media, which is the main problem I wanted to address. (Or even making a character half-white for the purpose of being “able” to give them light features.) Even though it might not seem like a big deal if you just give one of your poc characters green or blue eyes, or ginger or blond hair, the fact is that this uncommon trait is one that so many people choose because of how interesting or unusual it looks, which means that biracial people with more “common” brown/dark brown features don’t really... get to see people like them.
If anyone wants to hear accounts from biracial people on their and their parents’ features, the tags are full of great comments :-) Thanks to everyone who has enjoyed my guide so far!
disclaimer: I am east asian. if anyone who is not white sees anything wrong with my phrasing, inaccuracies, or insensitivity, or something I missed, please feel free to add on. I'm just one person with one perspective; none of what I say should be taken as The Singular way to draw an Asian character. if you havent done so already, please take the effort to expand your view of Asian culture outside this one tutorial.
if a white person reblogs this and adds something stupid I'm going to bite and kick you like a wild animal
I LOVE this post and wanted to add some additional info, cause I see a lot of people who assume that drawing asian hair is the same as drawing white hair. This is not the case! There’s more to it than just the color.
Image description for the original post and my addition are underneath the read more at the end.
Thank you for reading! Once again, image description for my images and OP’s images are under the cut.
Just like OP, I’m only one single person, so if anyone wants to correct me or add something I missed, then go for it. And further disclaimer, there are exceptions to everything I’ve said in this post, and it only applies to East and Southeast asian people who are either not mixed or white-mixed, as those are the hair types I’m most familiar with.
Edit: AUGH I FORGOT TO mention this but @ everyone in the comments talking about blue eyes on biracial asians, here’s another guide I made that goes over color inheritance for biracial people:
https://6480n.tumblr.com/post/633074808569069568/making-this-guide-because-i-see-this-question-time
Text Description: Drawing Asian Hair. Source: I’m also Asian
East and South-east asians generally have really thick hair! When drawing E/SE asian characters, it’s great to take this into account, because many hairstyles that are popular in E/SE asia look different from hairstyles in other countries.
Some General Tips:
- Short hair is straight and stiff. It will not lay flat without the use of hair gel.
- Because of the stiffness, hairstyles generally have a lot of volume, without being wavy or curly.
- For short hairstyles, the hair whorl is important to keep in mind when planning out the direction of strands.
- Some people have hair so thick that it sticks straight out from the scalp with a short enough haircut.
[Three images of asian men with different hairstyles. One has a sleek, sideswept fade, captioned “hairstyle with gel, many people with short hair will use gel to maintain the shape.” Another has an upswept fade, captioned “hairstyle without gel (I think)”. The last one has sleek shoulder-length hair. end image]
- Hair is not curly unless permed. Short curly hair is becoming popular in young men, while women of all ages may make their hair curly or wavy.
[Image of a man with a short curly hairstyle. Simple drawing of a person with short hair and lines indicating hair direction, captioned “hair whorl and direction, “natural” hair”. Simple drawing of short hair lying flat, captioned “hair smoothed back using gel”. Simple drawing of short curly hair, captioned “hair with a perm”. end image]
- For longer hairstyles, the ends of the hair normally curve inwards.
- Long hairstyles tend to be smooth and look solid, unless it’s a perm.
[Image of a woman with long wavy hair that fades from black to lavender, captioned “dyed and styled hair--this style is more popular for younger generations”. Image of another woman with a sleek brown bob, captioned “more “natural” style”. Simple drawing of a shoulder-length hairstyle with arrows indicating that the ends of the hair curve towards the jawline, captioned “more common”. Simple drawing of a shoulder-length hairstyle where the ends flare out and then curve inwards, captioned “less common”. end image]
- The ends of the hair don’t normally “fray”, they tend to group together in the same direction.
[Drawing of a clump of straight hair ending in a sharp cut, captioned “natural hair ends”. Drawing of two clumps of curly hair with layered ends, captioned “styled hair”. end image]
- Dyed hair is pretty popular. Most common are gradients, bleached hair, or lighter brown colors.
- Remember that even with dyed hair, eyebrows and eyelashes stay un-dyed (for the most part).
- The “Asian girl with a streak of blue/purple hair” trope is not very accurate at all. If you want a character with dyed hair, look up popular styles in E/SE Asia or asian diaspora.
[Image of a woman with shoulder-length straight hair, which fades from black at the roots to pink to orange. Caption reads “A dyed gradient hairstyle with dark roots”. end image]
Finally:
Skin: Moles are super common for E/SE asian people! Freckles are uncommon but possible, and mixed white/asian people might also have them.
[Drawing of a face with freckles and another face with random moles. end image]
Teeth: I also wanted to point out that the idea that east asians have crooked teeth, especially large buck teeth are a VERY RACIST STEREOTYPE with a bad history.
This is not to say that asians CANNOT have crooked teeth, but if you aren’t east asian, please try and avoid drawing east asian characters with prominent buck teeth, a visible gap between their buck teeth, or lots of crooked teeth. A missing tooth or prominent canines is fine.
[Drawing of a smiling face with normal teeth, with a green checkmark under it. Another drawing of a smiling face with large front teeth, with a red X marked under it. end image]
Making this guide because I see this question time and time again on here. This post is mostly directed at white artists and writers who are wondering how to best design their characters of color. Full text description is at the end under the cut.
Full disclaimer, I am biracial (mixed E/SE asian and white) and grew up in majority poc communities, but I am just one person and this post is only based on my own experiences. If any other poc want to chime in, feel free to do so.
Once again, a full plaintext description is under the cut. If you find the information useful, please pass it on by reblogging <3
(Finally, even though I spoke vaguely on genetic inheritance, this is NOT the place to comment on certain features being mutations, as if being a mutation means something is inherently lesser or isn’t supposed to exist. Mutations is everything! All of our traits were at some point or another, an emerging mutation. Love yourself ^__^)
Text Description: A Brief Guide on Designing Biracial Characters: “Are my character’s green eyes REALISTIC?”
Disclaimer: I am a geneticist but this is by no means my topic of expertise. The information here is based on EXPERIENCE, and common knowledge of genetic inheritance.
A LOT of people will ask “If my character is mixed white and X, is it OK/realistic for me to give them green/blue/grey eyes?”
SHORT ANSWER: Biracial people with super light eyes exist, but this is uncommon and often plays into trends of whitewashing.
[Two diagrams. One is of light eye colors being combined with dark eye colors, and the other is light hair colors being combined with dark hair colors. Both of them display a range of potential hair and eye colors from these combinations. The brown, dark brown, and black colors are noted as “Most Common”, while green, blue, grey eyes and blonde, red hair fall outside this range. end image]
When someone has one parent with darker features and another parent with light features, their features will normally be a mix of the two or the darker color will be dominant.
Having green or blue eyes if one of your parents has very dark eyes is really rare.
Green and blue eyes are characterised by a LACK of melanin, which means that if that person inherited even one melanin-producing eye color gene from their parent, they will have eyes that are at LEAST hazel or light brown.
[Drawing of four people. A person with dark skin, black hair, and black eyes and a person with pale skin, brown hair, and brown eyes are marked as “Pretty common”. A person with tan skin, dark brown hair, and blue eyes and a person with dark skin, black hair, and hazel eyes are marked as “Very rare”. end image]
A good rule of thumb for making ANY characters of color is make their eyes around the same shade as their hair. Also, hair tends to be several shades darker than skin, and eyes will almost never be lighter than their skin.
Biracial characters can range from looking a lot like only one of their parents to looking like a perfect mix of them, but if one of the parents has extremely light features like blue eyes or blond hair, it’s unlikely your character will have identical traits.
As always, EXCEPTIONS EXIST, but if you are white and choose to make your character one of these rare exceptions, you should examine WHY you find light eyes more desirable.
It is extremely common for media to give characters of color light, unnatural eye colors, and then justify it by saying “it’s possible” or having an in-universe explanation (eye colors in ATLA, Yennefer in the Witcher series, etc).
This plays into tropes of whitewashing (touched on earlier in this post) and inadvertently teaches children of color that their dark eyes are somehow less desirable. As mentioned, the VAST MAJORITY of half-white biracial children have brown to black eyes, so I would really recommend that you give your own characters dark eyes, because they’re lovely too!
Some Miscellaneous Notes:
If a character is E/SE asian and white, their hair texture might be thick like their asian parent’s (even if light colored!), or have a thinner texture like their white parent (even if dark colored!).
If a character is mixed black and another race, their hair texture is going to very likely have the same or a similar texture as their black parent’s.
It’s Sunday, so once again here’s something I drew before joining tumblr. This is a sprite set for a Stardew Valley mod that implements more giant crops. (They’re actually furniture since I don’t know how to code giant crops lol). The mod can be found at this link, but it likely is not working with the 1.4 update:
https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/4358
Additionally, here’s a portrait I made of my SDV character!
And a mod I made for an ornamental Arabidopsis Thaliana crop, because I wanted it for my “research” farm:
Hello followers, I started a twitch channel so I can stream when I draw. I’ll normally be streaming in the afternoon (pacific time). If you use twitch, please check out my channel ^__^
Since it’s Sunday, I’m reposting something that I drew before I made this blog. This is a colorful drawing of two of my animal crossing characters riding a tuk-tuk with Dotty! I drew this before ACNH was released, but unfortunately the tuk-tuk that appeared in ACNL was not put in the new game :-( It was one of the furniture items I was most excited to see since it’s explicitly thai.
