#Ain't no way I'm using the white palette

[lovinglin]

Haven't updated my carrd in ages BUT I'm working on smth rn regarding my mutuals section :3c

SO CALLING ON MY MOOTS!!!

If you check my carrd rn, there's these characters in a v specific Chibi artstyle (from Ge.nshin specifically) and I'm trying to replicate that style and draw y'alls f/o in it

My only problem is who's f/o do y'all want me to draw for it? Asking bc I know some of y'all don't have a main f/o so I can't exactly choose, since there might be an f/o u hold more dearly than the others

[dragynkeep]

*SCREAMS* YOU'RE DOING REDESIGN CRITIQUES! NICE! I'm gonna send my friend's for her since she doesn't have a Tumblr lol. Admittedly, she said she changed next to nothing for most of the designs so it's not worth it to critique them...buuuuut she's also pretty bummed about her lack of engagements SO I'M SENDING THEM IN ANYWAY FOR EXPOSURE >:D Happy critiquing!

Overall, these are some brilliant designs. Honestly, if these were in the show as the new Beacon de3signs, I would not mind one bit, that's how much I love these outfits.

The link is in the ask for anyone who wants to go and look, and the post with the notes are here. I highly recommend it. Give the artist some love and spread their art around, I'm gonna do the same on my twitter (hawkswukong)!

Disclaimer: I'm gonna post the art here just so I can talk about the designs and people looking at this post can directly see what I'm critiquing, but just a standard warning not to repost artists' work without permission.

This outfit is so adorable.

Obviously, none of these outfits stray far from their original designs, but the artist has added and changed some bits that I really like with Ruby.

The short ponytail at the back is adorable. It sells Ruby's youth and more child personality to really show that Ruby is the youngest out of the entire group of students. The addition of the cross hairpiece adds a dash of silver against her dark hair, and I love it when more crosses are added to Ruby. It just helps with her gothic theme and connection to Qrow.

The overall structure of the outfit is great. All of Ruby's main features are kept; the puffed skirt, long boots, puffed out sleeves, the cape with some modifications. I like that the sleeves are really puffy with the silver bands to keep them in place, they mimic her original sleeves but in a more exaggerated way.

The segment with the lighter grey on her chest honestly adds a bit of interest there. The lighter grey isn't too light that it would be too distracting, but it's a nice touch and helps the eye to move right to the red segment of her corset. Which I also appreciate, 'cause now her corset isn't being lost in the black of her shirt.

The addition of more silver is good! It's not too much, just added to the tip of her boots and on her wrists, but when combined to the silver on her belt, chest, earring and hair, it travels through the design and looks more coherent.

It's also helped by Ruby's skin tone. Her having more of a tan just makes the silver pop, especially her eyes.

I know that I have repeatedly said that trying to put all of RWBY's colours on each member is a sure fire way of making an ugly colour palette, but this honestly makes it work and that's because they are so small. The tips of the bullets each have the four colours, but because it's so concentrated there and small to begin with, it's not clashing much with Ruby's overall dark colour scheme. Now she has some yellow for Yang in a way that doesn't look bad!

The only thing I'm not a fan of is the gloves. I like the red gloves, but the two fingers exposed look is just something I'm not a fan of. But really, that's the only thing I dislike on this design.

Very solid. Wish her later outfits took some inspiration from this.

This ain't a snow princess, this is a snow QUEEN-

First thing I have to say, I like how the red is used here. Weiss' original outfit pretty much restricted the red to her collar and inside her boots, which isn't a bad thing, but this outfit really highlights how you can use this accent colour in ways without making it too much. The main sources are still the collar and boots, but the additions are small and scattered throughout enough that it isn't too much compared to Weiss' blue and white colour palette.

I especially like it in the crown. It adds a bit of pop at the top of Weiss' head with all the white, but it's small enough not to distract the viewer from the rest of her. It also has the same RWBY colours as Ruby, with the same positives in being small enough not to distract. Same with the painted nails, it feels like such a Weiss thing that I'm surprised she didn't have painted nails in Beacon.

Really, all the jewellery and intricate lace does the job in selling Weiss’ rich background.

I really like the jacket. The shorter sleeves and gloves combo keeps the white travelling through her arms, while looking more suitable for both Beacon's temperate climate and Weiss' fencer fighting style. The shorter sleeves also keep the bell shape, which is neat!

The dress is very similar, but the additions are something I love. I think the added detail of the silver on her dress helps with separating it from her white jacket, and the added black provides more contrast between all the white and light blue that she wears in the sash, chest piece and inside her sleeves. It also stops the white gloves from blending into her white sleeves.

The gradients are really pretty and keeps the outfit more interesting. I'm not sure about it on the jacket, rather than keeping that the light blue with the white dress, but it's not that big of a deal and it looks good regardless.

And I noticed that she's blind in one eye! I love when Weiss is drawn like that, I do it all the time now, so it's great to see other artists doing it too. I think it just adds a more unique detail to Weiss' design apart from the other girls, and I like more disabled rep thank you.

Look at this dapper cat.

Really, the biggest changes to these are the boots and the hair. After the trauma that was Blake’s short hair in Atlas, this is an adorable rendition of her short hair. It looks curlier and sells the French aesthetic she has, while now giving Blake a more unique hairstyle in the team rather than the long, slightly wavier version of Yang’s in canon. 

It also frees up the design to have the black travel through more coherently, rather than having the black blob behind her all the time. It’s more concentrated on her head, with her outfit picking up more of the black throughout her body. Great job!

Really, I like that she seems to be wearing a white bodysuit underneath her black vest. While I miss the lace on her vest, the change of it’s style still looks good and I actually really like the style of the shirt. The RWBY buttons add the same style that I see going throughout the girls, and I really like it. Once again, it’s not being used too much, so you don’t have all these colours fighting for attention, especially with how easily the black can be overpowered. 

Also, with colour, Blake having darker skin works really well with her design. They make her yellow eyes pop more and contrast the bright white, but the black doesn’t blend in with it either. Wow, who would’ve thought,,,,,,

Despite what Ais says because they’re wrong, I like Blake in thigh highs. I know they’re not practical, I know they’re uncomfortable, but I don’t care because she looks good in them. I’m not sure of them being connected to her jacket rather than her shorts, it looks a bit weird for when Blake isn’t in that pose, but I still like them.

Now, what I’m more on the fence with is the use of purple. I read the notes and it says the purple is downplayed on her legs, but the issue is they’ve been downplayed a bit too much. I can see that the purple is used for her emblem, but the emblem is now so dark against the black boots that it’s difficult to see. It might help to lighten that and the gradient on her boots a bit more just so it’s easier to spot.

Still, this is a great outfit for Blake. 

This outfit screams Yang and I love it. The reduced colour palette really helps with not only Yang looking more coherent, but helps her fit with her team and allows the yellow to stand out rather than being buried in 50 different colours. Black instead of brown works for her, please everyone, use black for her. It will help the design, I promise.

The lighter grey helps break up the all black jacket and is a cute connection to Ruby’s design! It adds a bit of interest to what would otherwise be pretty boring, and helps the gold buttons stand out against the dark fabric. The clamped sleeves make sure they don’t fall down without the added collar of her original outfit, but the added necklace keep from her neck looking too simple in comparison. 

I think it would’ve helped more if the jacket did have something going over the neck and collarbones, similar to Yang’s V2 jacket where it had the collar and then the strap going over. Not only would the black separate the yellow from her skin more and have that contrast, but it’d make the jacket look more complete and protective. Right now, it kinda looks half done. 

That being said, I love how saturated the purple is now. Yang’s purple is always washed out in the show, so I like that it’s returned in this piece. It’s an added bold colour that compliments Yang’s yellow. It also helps that it’s placed more throughout her design rather than just on her face and leg. It’s disappearance on the leg is helped because of the tattoo instead, so her left leg doesn’t look boring in comparison to her right with the longer yellow sock. 

Also, her nails! I like the idea of having this small bundle of the RWBY’s colours on each girl in different ways. It helps ties the girls together but also has a lil’ cute design choice to add something to each individual design. I love that it’s on Yang’s nails, it just feeds into her design as a feminine party girl.

Really, this design helps the main issue with Yang, that either her colour is nowhere to be seen, or too much is used. The splotches of yellow on her outfit helps carry it through with her giant mass of hair picking up the work. The reduced colour palette and use of black helps this, with the purple stopping her colour scheme from looking too boring while Yang’s skin tone just makes the yellows feel warmer. Skin tone is honestly really important when designing a character and colour scheme.

I love how the hair is styled, especially the big scrunchie. It keeps the hair out the way while still stylised, something that shows Yang values her hair while being practical about it.

Overall, these are some really good designs. Your friend did a great job with them!