#idk how this grew into an entire essay I'm sorry T_T

[herrscherofmagic]

tbh this is a problem I've had a fair # of times before, so I've thought about how to deal with it and a couple things come to mind!

one thing, which is probably the easiest & most helpful, is to just include a few key visual elements that are still associated w/ the character, even if you don't want to draw the full outfit.

In the case of Eden, that could be the pin in her hair, the bow, or even just the collar part of her outfit (so the band around her neck, but not the straps that go down and away from her neck

Another thing would be to emphasize some of the more unique physical characteristics of the character in question! That can be hard w/ the standard Hoyoverse smooth anime faces, but there's still a couple details (especially in hair) that can be made more similar.

Again, in the case of Eden, this would probably be

a) the two big side-parts of her hair, which come down from the top of her head

b) the large set of bangs that she has on her right-hand side of her face

c) the small side-part of her her that comes out from the front and towards her left-hand side

d) the long ribbon of hair that goes down from her right-hand side of her head and down over her shoulder in front of her body

Looking at your art again, I'm realizing that you might've kept Eden's front bang slim because you wanted to draw both eyes in full detail. That's just my assumption, but if that's the case that can be fine, but it's worth noting that it's going to inherently make it just a slight bit harder to recognize, so it might be worth covering up that eye for the sake of overall recognition!

The golden eyes are also probably worth focusing on too, especially in a portrait like your artwork where there's no outfit or other props to add extra color to the scene! but that can depend a bit on art style, and w/ a more realistic style you probably won't draw the eyes quite so bright and glowy, lol

Speaking of props... the 3rd and final thing would be the addition of specific props that are associated with the character! Alternatively, props that aren't ever shown w/ the character but which use visual elements frequently associated w/ the character, like in my first point

The obvious example for Eden would be using her signature golden cup ^.^

However, for a slightly different example, we can look at Kiana. Her earliest appearance in Honkai 3rd was the White Comet battlesuit and it's become a signature look for her, and one of its more easily-recognizable accessories the black-white-orange star headband Kiana wears!

So if you were doing a fanart with Kiana, and didn't want to draw that specific outfit but still wanted to have traits of Kiana to make it recognizable, then you could take the exact design of that star headband and incorporate it in a different way.

For example: a tattoo, a sticker, a t-shirt, a bracelet, etc. Or it could be a larger prop that she's carrying, holding, or using: a decal on a car, a design engraved on a thermos, etc.

That symbol alone wouldn't be enough to "prove" it's Kiana if you only saw the symbol and not the face of the character; but if you pair it w/ those other things, it'll probably help a fair bit.

A loooot of fanart tends to be copies of existing character designs, which makes it easy to recognize. So once you diverge from the usual outfit/design, and you draw in a style that's different from what media the character is usually shown in, it can get a bit tricky to keep them recognizable. But these few things are probably some of the best ways to try and keep the vibe of the original character even when you change the style and outfit and whatnot!

To wrap it up, I want to show an example using the HI3rd CG with Adult Mobius back in the Elysian Realm, cause I feel like it's a great example.

There's obviously a big difference in the overall appearance between "adult Mobius" and "child Mobius". Different body proportion, different outfit, etc.

But the Adult Mobius design keeps a few basic similarities in color (greens, whites, and blacks), and she keeps one of the signature accessories (the dual-infinity earring). And most importantly, the shape of the hair is nearly identical. That alone helps a lot in making the connection between the two different appearances!

This is a fanart of Mobius as an adult, which I remember seeing ages ago (link to the artist's original upload on Pixiv), and you can recognize it as Mobius despite being so different from the original design precisely because of the hair, the eyes, and the single accessory. The fact that she's doing vaguely science-y things helps too, of course!

As a quick bonus: setting/scene also helps! of course that can be way more challenging, but it would certainly pay off if there's a particular setting that folks are used to seeing that character in. For Eden that's obviously the Golden Courtyard, and for Kiana it might be the bridge of Hyperion, y'know? And in that last Mobius artwork, the fact that it's a biology lab also helps make the connection w/ the character, given that Mobius is known for her biological research.