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This Nessa (from Pokemon SwSh) whitewashing controversy is kinda blowing up in the art community right now
- Thread starter vestan
- Start date
Saying something can't be racist because it wasn't intentionally malicious is quite the dumb hot take.
Yep. This is one of those issues that, if you don't follow any black or brown artists (or don't listen to black and brown fans), just doesn't come up often in fan art discussion because of how quickly the discussion sours when it's brought up outside of minority fan communities.
Good thing my post had literally nothing to do with whether it was racist.
Reference used for the recent Pokémon protagonist's second darkest skin color option:
I saw this going on around Twitter and did not know what started it, but this makes a whole lot of sense now.
Pretty much.
SAY IT AGAIN FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK
If this were official artwork I'd understand the motivation to kick up a fuss.
What's the point in screaming at some random fan-artist, though? Fans will always draw what they wanna draw, and the idea that ripping these people a new one because they didn't precisely colour-match a cartoon character's skin tone is going to achieve anything seems silly to me.
What's the point in screaming at some random fan-artist, though? Fans will always draw what they wanna draw, and the idea that ripping these people a new one because they didn't precisely colour-match a cartoon character's skin tone is going to achieve anything seems silly to me.
Then what the hell was your post about then? Cause all I see is someone trying to dismiss a racist practice as a "honest mistake"
I wouldn't be surprised. Character creator designers already hate putting ethnic hair in their games. Wouldn't be too unbelievable if they start taking away darker skin tones too. People love erasing us.Reference used for the recent Pokémon protagonist's second darkest skin color option:
It's not that she looks caucasian. It's the fact that her undertones are fucked up and how this is, unfortunately, a very common thing artists do when drawing black people
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Seems more like the one artist's artwork became springboard for a larger discussion about the importance of preserving the canonical skin tone of the character, especially when it's a complexion associated with minorities, since such characters are rare in videogames (relatively speaking), and thus it's all the more important to not alter that aspect of them. I think that's what this is about.
Artists seem to fuck up alot when it comes to this
What a strange thing to keep fucking up
Yeah, not an artist myself, but not sure where the hell did anyone see a dark skinned individual with pink skin. No amount of light is going to make me or any other dark skinned person look pink.
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Yup. Nailed it. People reducing this whole debacle to "it's just one dude who drew it, just ignore it!!!" are missing the point.
God damn its fanart. The artist liked the character and decided to try their hand at it. Are people trying to gate how artists can make fanart? Does this particular artist have anything to show they are against darkskin characters?
The tweet that was posted had nothing to do with the subject of racism, it had to do with specifically criticizing their attempt at a pastel color palette. Like an earlier reply to me said, a majority of the tweets are particularly helpful in pointing out how to not screw that particular subject up.
The fact that you can extrapolate racist undercurrents from it isn't something I'm arguing against, as it's not something I disagree with, and it's well worth being educated about that. It sure as shit beats shaming one lone amateur artist as if they can't be subject to constructive critique of technique.
Has this particular artist fucked up before? If so I'd like to see it.
This is something that is very consistent about fanart involving darker skinned characters. It's important to talk about why it's an issue so that it doesn't pop up again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again every time a dark skinned character is revealed and praised and gets fanart.
Hush
It is. It's a conversation that can not only help fan art, but concept development in the industry as a whole as well.
Not that I can see. Their art style varies and they use a lot of colors, some characters they draw can have a striking orange or pink shading to their skin color, but largely pink.
I remember there was a situation with a character from Virtua Fighter going from dark skinned to basically Spam-colored over the course of one game, and it always reminds me that these things are always deeper than people make it out to be...colorism is a very REAL thing, and shit like this is just another reminder that those of us with darker skin will rarely ever be preferred in matters of representation (amongst many other things) in comparison to anything that's closer to whiteness...
If someone creates art and puts it out there to be judged by the public, there are obviously gonna be people who will speak up on what bothers them about it. It doesn't exactly call for the defense of said work by people who clearly don't have an issue with it...
If someone creates art and puts it out there to be judged by the public, there are obviously gonna be people who will speak up on what bothers them about it. It doesn't exactly call for the defense of said work by people who clearly don't have an issue with it...
^Please read and understand this post...
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You'll have to excuse the people saying that. They don't see colour.
Yep, you got me, i'm racist because I think a twitter controversy is silly over one unofficial fan art.
Despite the fact I was FULLY on board getting mad over Marina Plush.
You aren't helping.
Personally I'm far more offended by her suggestive posing given that she's likely no older than 15, but then again I know what time we live in, people will sexualize anything.
However I'm just rolling my eyes so hard at these lame ass defense attempts about color palette and whatever such bullshit. In that fan art she's a tan white girl, maybe a Latina.
Also couldn't help but crack the fuck up at "if anyone has studied art, you may have come across that name" in regard to warhol. I would say that was sarcastic but...
However I'm just rolling my eyes so hard at these lame ass defense attempts about color palette and whatever such bullshit. In that fan art she's a tan white girl, maybe a Latina.
Also couldn't help but crack the fuck up at "if anyone has studied art, you may have come across that name" in regard to warhol. I would say that was sarcastic but...
All that matters is the official character, she's perfect. People are always gonna have their own version of different characters and it will be reflected in their own artwork. Isn't that the point of individual art creation?
Has the original artist responded at all? Hell, can they even read english given that they're Japanese?
Yeah the community reaction to her has been super positive, and we haven't seen any bullshit from Nintendo regarding her like say...
User Banned (1 Week): Dismissing concerns on racism
Who cares? The bigger issue are all the westerners hounding some artist on Twitter in a language they don't understand.
Exactly, its the beauty of art and fan art, people can interpret it in their own ways, if the artist says its not whitewashed, then its their right to say that, just like its the observers right to say it is a bit too pale in their taste. but to prove a point in how color theory and how individuals perceive color and tones is quite tricky, (purple black/white gold dress anyone?) Art is such a fluid subject and personal interpretation of subject matters is such a major aspect of it.
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A lot of people considering this has been blowing up for the past few days. Why did you feel the need to post in this thread? Genuine question.
Nah, white washing is a big issue. Though I kind of agree that if the artist in question can't speak english at all that there might've been better works to jumpstart the conversation
Well, yes. I even explored their Twitter just now, they like to use pink tone a lot across their images. It makes some of their art more pinker than others. In this case, it may be that they didn't account for the darker skin tone with their pink tones they often use in their art.
I guess I should go back to the post I did way back in the FF7 Barrett thread about skin color and photography. It's definitely relevant here as well, probably more relevant.
Based on at least this exchange I think they can read more than a little English.
Based on at least this exchange I think they can read more than a little English.
This and the Casca anime film changes are the two instances of official whitewashing that pissed me off THEE most.Yeah the community reaction to her has been super positive, and we haven't seen any bullshit from Nintendo regarding her like say...
Yep