Final Fantasy Discovery

@emmych

Nah, you're right in the sense that it can be construed as 'suspect'. That's simply because my artistic aesthetic does revolve around certain eastern media tropes that generally place a lot of emphasis on sexualization. There isn't any agenda behind this decision. It stems back to the origins of my artistic history: drawing anime and mimicking artwork from Japan, Korean and Taiwan. However, whether my male designs are interesting and my female designs are boring (because of the sexualization) is a matter of opinion.

I've spent a good number of years doing lineart commissions for eastern based customers and companies and not surprisingly, my style has grown to reflect the tastes of that clientele. Aesthetics that are common in games like Lineage 2, Aion, Agarest War, Langrisser or any typical eastern CCG is the kind of style that my commissioners wanted. This is simply where my style has ended up after years of working in that particular market.

As far as how people may react to it? I make it a rule to ignore that facet entirely. There is no intent to offend, nor is there any hidden meaning or message that I am trying to promote. It's all subjective (and often polarizing) so I pay very little attention to it. Yuri, yaoi, ecchi... I've drawn it all so there really isn't much I consider taboo when it comes to art. It's just a matter of ensuring you create the appropriate subject matter for the (hopefully) appropriate audience.

This leads back to an earlier post of mine where I discussed how I never extrapolate anything from a piece of artwork that falls outside the scope of the technique and the style. Functionality, history and my own beliefs and principles are left out entirely. What I look at (and judge) is color coordination, technique, the 2d mise en scène, line pressure, line width, etc.

With that being said, I appreciate your advice and input. I actually use real world references quite often in fact. I regularly use Vogue and GQ as sources of inspiration, hah. Real world influences will become much more apparent when we start posting previews of new parallax maps (a lot of people forget how fantastic some of Earth's locales can be!).

I also have a bad habit of getting sidetracked when I'm designing. I'll start a design using a few keywords and then each additional piece opens up a new tangent of artistic influences. Literally, this is how my design process went:

Subject: Priscilla
Keywords/Definitives: Equestrian, Older/Mature, Archer, Green Garment (for cast diversity), Black Hair (for cast diversity), Short Jacket (too many long flowing backsides in the cast)

Equestrian --> (googled equestrian)
----> Cossack -----> (old cossacks too dated in appearance)
----> modern Cossack (military hat + pants)

And then what ends up happening? A design that ends up being far removed from the base character type that William had originally devised. Hah, oh well. I can't get it right on the first try everytime.

@William

Yeah, I get what you're saying. She needs some work. I'll have to go back to the drawing board on this one.

@Avee

You know, I had the same idea a while back. I spent a few days looking at pictures of rpg archers and rangers and nothing really clicked with me. That's why I decided to try something new and I went with 'equestrian' as my main focus over 'bow user'. She DOES need some armor though for diversity's sake. Her black hair and green and gold motif will definitely stay though. :)

@Sailerius

She adheres to the Sue Ellen Mischke School of Fashion. :(

Updated.