This is probably going to be misinterpreted, but seeing artists in the stormlight fandom who don’t even whitewash become anxious about their art because it doesn’t fit in with everyone’s individual mental image is starting to make me anxious as fuck. I agree that not whitewashing is important, obviously, but the whole affair reminds me of 2016 tumblr when I felt like I wasn’t allowed to make white or black ocs because I’m not black and only half white. And that’s not what it’s supposed to be about.
Yes, whitewashing (when it’s actually whitewashing and not just lighting or an artist learning or the colours being off on their computer), makes me angry as well, as it does whenever any character’s race is portrayed incorrectly. Yes, there is a divide between art being stylised and whitewashed, and that line is blurry in some instances, but most of the people making the whitewashing complaints aren’t artists, from what I’ve seen recently, and I’d recommend giving it a go yourself before making what could be an inaccurate judgement.
I’ve been assured my art is accurate, and that’s nice, but I’m not talking about me (who could probably be accused anyway, because I don’t shade art anymore, and I’ve seen plenty of artists accused of whitewashing bc they only do lineart. Or because my style is too angular. Seen that accusation, too) and I draw characters as I do because I have friends of many races, it’s normal for me and not much of a biggie in Australia, compared to some places, and people of all sorts of races are pretty and fun to draw! It’s that simple!
But the more complaints I see, the less I want to share fanart, because the overly specific and not always accurate complaints WILL start making even accurate artists feel like they are liking/drawing said characters as a calculated move to not appear racist, and not because, shockingly, they just fucking like the character. And that my friends is how you make sure artists fear producing content for you for free on social media.
Edit: it has been pointed out to me that some will interpret this as being in support of white supremacists, and people who whitewash, so I’m specifying that it is NOT how my post should be read. At all. I’m fully against whitewashing and inaccurately portraying race. That would be clearer if I was more eloquent. I’m sorry that my post is forcefully presented, but it has been posted in defence of mutuals/followers of mine that do NOT whitewash and have no reason for the concerns they have, and is actually not an attack on anyone I follow. But those concerns are there, so I can’t delete this post, either.
And please do not feel the need to pop a like on this post, even just to acknowledge what I’ve said, because it could be seen as you being in support of that misinterpretation.
