#not to ramble aimlessly about this but the color red and the theme of “blood=vitality” are central to his character in general | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

canisalbus · 5 days ago

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Forgive me if this comes across as strange, but I really enjoy the rich color you use for blood in your drawings. It's great for contrast against Machete's otherwise pale complexion, but it also really conveys the blood's vitality - it makes it feel alive and living, warm, even. That color, and all your art, really, is vibrant and full of life, enough so that it challenges the negative associations of death and injury that blood conveys. I just wish poor Machete had more of it inside him than outside

Thank you! I've never thought about it from that angle.

I know that realistically I should color the blood darker, maybe with a more maroon tint, but the visual intensity of vivid scarlet is just irresistable to me I guess. The excuse I tell myself is that in Machete's case, his white fur naturally provides the lightest possible background for that blood to sit on, maximizing the brightness and vibrancy it has to offer.

This is beside the point but I've also understood that anemia can affect the color of your blood if severe enough, but I'm not a medical professional so I can't really verify how visible that is to a naked eye. Not having enough hemoglobin makes it look diluted in a way.

#not to ramble aimlessly about this but the color red and the theme of “blood=vitality” are central to his character in general #it's the color of his cardinal robes obviously and an eyecatching symbol of his accomplishments which are a crucial part of his identity #vivid red dye like that was exceedingly expensive so being able to wear it was a mark of high status #since he doesn't produce pigment of his own and doesn't have natural markings per se all color in his design #the hues of peachy pink and salmon even the vascular dark circles under his eyes #come from blood showing through the subtly translucent tissue #he struggles with an undiagnosed blood disorder and goes through regular bloodletting in a lamentably misguided attempt to cure it #a widespread and ordinary treatment at the time #and eventually gets assassinated and dies of hypovolemic shock #as a result of not being able to let go or escape his position in the church in time #answered #skespers #white dog syndrome

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