I really like your art and designs but I have one critique if you're open to them and it's that... everyone just looks so, white, even Kyoko and Calypso. If you were to strip down of their color and gave it to somone else who doesn't now block tales, they could very possibly draw her lighter than they are.
And also characters like Griefer and Mayor Thanyeil who are VERY hinted to be from Indonesia or an area geographically inspired from it. Brad looks like a boy I could see in a Boston campus.
Ofc I'm not talking about characters like King, Cluemer, Trotter, etc etc, these are fine. But characters that are very hinted to be people of color? Yeah... they're still generally cute though
I am more than happy to hear your thoughts, anon.
As an artist, I pride myself on creating diverse and unique characters that everyone can enjoy. And while I do find pride in the diversity I have already created with my designs, I do understand that they are not perfect.
However, I would like to discuss my design choices behind my designs. This is by no means to discredit or ignore your concerns, anon. They are valid and worth being acknowledged. But I would like to show you my perspective, so that we can better understand each other. So thank you for taking the time to read through this. If you or anyone reading this has comments or concerns, please message me! I aim to foster an environment that allows discussion on my blog. My goal is to never cause harm. And if anyone causes harm to you on my behalf, please let me know. I will give someone a stern talking to if I must!
Anyways, let's focus on Griefer and Thaniyel first. For context, here is my interpretation of them:
I had designed Griefer first, so Mayor Thaniyel was designed to match him. When originally designing Griefer, I really only had reference to his in-game model.
As you can tell, he is very pale. So, as I designed him, keeping in mind his personality, I was thinking of the southern boys I frequently fought with in school. Thus, griefer became this sorta punk southern farm boy trying to hide he was southern. Now, I should preface that this design was created before the rewrite. The rewrite does a better job of providing context to the characters' backgrounds. So, when designing Major Thaniyel, pre-rewrite, I thought he was an immigrant to Turitopulis. I do know Monty's original dialogue mentioned the two having met in Turitopulis, but that whole dialogue also mentions Monty having met his wife before Thaniyel. This activity contradicts the hotdog story, where Monty knew Thaniyel before his wife. So, I pretty much disregarded those two pieces of dialogue for my sake. However, the rewrite does specify Mayor Thaniyel's father as being the previous wielder, thus they are more than likely from Turitopulis. Although Rico also depicts the Thaniyels as white, so I'm not really sure what ethnicity they are. I did keep this in mind for Griefer's mom, though! I referenced Indonesian women and fashion for her design. Whether that shows or not is up for interpretation.
Let's focus on Calypso and Kyoko next. Here is how I draw them:
When designing these two, I had zero clue what race they were. I think the rewrite implies they're Indonesian with more background on the Graves family. But when I designed them, I went with Kyoko and Calypso being mixed. I myself am mixed (Mexican & White), so I used a lot of different features to make them ambiguous. I also followed their in-game avatars closely, which gives them straight hair rather than curly or coily hair.
I do know Kyoko is depicted with coily hair in some art, so I'm not sure whether she is a victim of old Roblox lacking diversity or canonically has straight hair. If someone has the answer to why that is, please let me know. I have thought of redesigning Kyoko in the future, so hopefully that will fix some issues with her design. I do recall being unhappy when designing her, so I would like to do updates.
Anyways, I hope this explained a few things. I will admit, I'm probably not going to change too many things. I like my Griefer and Thaniyel designs! However, I do appreciate your concerns. I'll keep it in mind for future designs I make. I would like to leave off with my OC designs from other media. I want to show that I pride myself on developing diverse characters. This is something I have been working on for years and will continue to work on. Thank you all for reading. Again, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
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