#stylized traditional vietnamese clothing

[alienturnipp]

The new attendants to the Court of Shuengol ✨

Update: now with image IDs by @/louminescence !

[nananarc]

EXCUSE ME WHILE I RANT FOR A BIT

So anyway I finally started with the graduation project and, lemme tell ya, it was annoying. I mean I expected this, but it's still annoying.

The school and the mentor wants things to be of a certain aesthetic and standard so it can fit with the general public's taste and eventually it can be picked up by a publisher. it has to be commercial and easy to digest, for a lack of better words. Which is like, the opposite of essentially what i am as a person and as an artist.

So anyway I'll be doing Truyện Kiều again, illustrating the full book with better art this time. Here are some sketches I did:

Below is the mentor's very quick sketch for demo:

Which is. Ok cool, it's very traditional, Vietnamese fine art design and aesthetic. The thing that you see everywhere in books and media. The thing that is taught in fine art school. And it's also very HIM because he's a very prominent artist since a long time ago. I'm not talking about the difference in the era clothing tho because he demoed in Nguyễn dynasty while mine is of the Trần dynasty.

My style was criticized (politely) that the face doesn't look pretty, the nose is too prominent and big, the lineart is too scratchy and loose, and that I have to restrict the freedom in my lineart more.

Which is. Like. Pretty much all the things that i like about my art the most. I don't really like drawing "pretty" people, I wanna draw distinct and unique people. I like the fact that the nose is prominent because that's a very Vietnamese facial feature. Our nose is big, flat and flared. And I like it. AND I DIDNT EVEN DRAW IT THAT BIG. it's already stylized and stuff. The lineart is scratchy and spontaneous because that's how my ADHD brain works! And I like the freedom, the raw unfinished feel to it. And my way of scrawing is kinda similar to sculpting in a way that I like to put in a block of line or shape (yang) and then erase it and putting in more nothing space (yin). And I like Maximalism and Kitsch and Neo-traditionalism so I love to do things a bit crazy and new and filled with emotions.

My mentor comes from a very different generation, and a different field than me. He's very commercial, leaning more into minimalism, fine-art conservative and traditional aesthetic. WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE OF ME. Sadly we don't get to choose mentor cos there's only one lmao.

And also I don't understand why I have to aim for publishing in Vietnam too, because that's not where my target customer is. I'm a niche artist with limited customer base and they are international clients (who mostly pay better, treat you better, and appreciate your art more than the general public in VN do). Luckily I have a bachelor in business admin so I know how to do brand and marketing myself, othewise id just keep on trying to please everyone (flexing a little bit, but i was graduating with excellence and on the top 10 of my intake lmeo). Not to mention the fact that why do I even have to publish in the first place, because this is a school, it is a place to experiment, make mistakes, and learn. It's not a place to conform to the industry to make a living. If I wanna do that I would not be here and start working for a company already!

I understand it when they said that it would be a huge advantage if you can get published, but then again, that route is not for everyone, and it's not the only way to be an illustrator like they said. I have my own path to walk on, and I don't think they are aware that we even have those paths, because they are from a different generation. I mean, that's why I was struggling so much before to find a footing, because virtually no one here knows there are other paths! I had to dig things up myself through sweat, blood and tear.

Anyway I rant but i will keep trying to fight and do it on my own terms. They can't make me anyway. There's gonna be sticks and stones, but I mean, I can't physically make myself do something I do not wanna do. There's another option which is to drop it because I don't need the certificate anyway, but I wanna finish a big project of my own too.

[the-railroad-earth]

Map of Vietnam on cloth, created by an anonymous cartographer sometime between the 1850s to the 1880s.

"[...]it showcases the rivers in broad branches of colour, flowing down from luminous blue mountains, labelling innumerable cities, towns, rural districts (‘huyện’) and temples, the most important of which are shown pictorially, while all major roads are delineated; the map was possibly used by French officers as an orientation guide during their invasion of northern Vietnam, the Tonkin Campaign (1883-6) - an exceptional museum quality work of art. This grand and lively work of cartography and art is a map of the Red River (Song Hồng) Basin, the heartland of northern Vietnam, in the region historically known to Europeans as Tonkin. It is executed according to traditional Vietnamese style and conventions, almost certainly made sometime during the reign of Emperor Tự Đức (ruled 1847 - 1883), being the latter half of the period of sovereign rule of the Nguyễn Dynasty. Created by an anonymous professional artist-cartographer, the map is drafted on fine cloth, in pen and ink and vibrant watercolours and wash, depicting features in a stylized, exaggerated form for visual effect"

[source]

[alienturnipp]

Nemi Soreiyuu's summer outfit for my friend (fellow Midheaven WOA dev)🌿

[alienturnipp]

Dragon Age AU where everything is still the same, except the characters are wearing (stylized) traditional Vietnamese clothes, and up this time is Varric!

Happy Lunar New Year! 🐯 I'm happy to share another artwork inspired by my traditional culture, especially for this time of the year.

I've also updated the references for Isabela and Hawke's concepts! Links to characters whose design has already been done are below:

Merrill | Fenris | Varric | Hawke | Isabela | Anders

Part of my DA Vietnamese clothes AU

[alienturnipp]

Freedom

Part of my Vietnamese clothes AU

Update: Image description by @/louminescence <3

[alienturnipp]

Bánh chưng, sticky rice, peach blossoms.

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New Year and feeling homesick, so I project onto the Hawke babies 😔 To those who celebrate Lunar New Year, I wish you a wonderful time with your friends and family. These moments are worth treasuring.

Part of my DA Vietnamese clothes AU

[alienturnipp]

Dragon Age AU where everything is still the same, except the characters are wearing (stylized) traditional Vietnamese clothes! This one is for Isabela my siren.

This attire is inspired by the Muong people in Thanh Hoa, with quite a lot of changes and stylization that are not 100% accurate. Muong traditional clothes are not hard to find (and groups of Thai people in Thanh Hoa also wear clothes with similar form), but I will be whipping up reference sheets for all character designs.

Merrill | Fenris | Varric | Isabela | Hawke | Anders

A big thank to my friend Wind1006 (facebook) for helpful suggestions!

[alienturnipp]

Dragon Age AU where everything is still the same, except the characters are wearing (stylized) traditional Vietnamese clothes! Featuring my Cirilla Hawke.

I worked on Anders a while ago, and the layout has changed quite a bit since then. I'm still trying to figure out the quickest and neatest way to do this 😭

Merrill | Fenris | Varric | Isabela | Hawke | Anders

[alienturnipp]

Attempting a depiction of Rua Narsi, my personal player character in Midheaven: Winds of Ambition, although they are probably more mature in this painting than they are in the actual demo. I also remembered to make a timelapse this time, but still forgot to record the last bit of post-rendering (that actually made a lot of differences) 😂

[alienturnipp]

[Image ID:

Image 1: A digital monochromatic painting of Anders from Dragon Age against a dark brown background. Anders stands front-facing with his left palm open in front of his chest as a ram head floats above it. His right hand holds a xà mâu: a snake spear with a bamboo shaft and a wavy blade like a snake—the lower end of the blade curves like a snake head. Bamboos trees and spears surround Anders, and two wooden cloud reliefs flank him on the top corners. Behind his head, the symbol of the Circle of the Magi is shown fractured, like a broken halo. Anders is wearing the giao lĩnh: a traditional cross-collared robe worn by Vietnamese people. His eyes glow yellow, so do the cracking veins on his skin and the ram head in front of his chest.

Image 2: Anders stands slightly facing the side with a serious expression. He is wearing a traditional Vietnamese cross-collared robe in shades of black, blue and green, off-white pants, leather wrappings on his forearms and legs and his feet are bare. He is holding the xà mâu with a red cloth wrapped around its shaft. On his belt hangs a leather pouch, the silver xà tích and some containers made of bamboo.

Image 3: Same artwork of Anders in the second image, with additional design notes. The texts are as following: - Anders - References: Anders wears an amalgam of clothes and accessories that might have looked shiny and fashionable when they were new. - He wears two layers of six-panelled giao lĩnh (cross-collared robe) & chest armor hidden in-between. The outer layer has its long sleeves cut off, while the inner layer has narrow sleeves rolled up/held together by arm guard, allowing for better mobility. The front panels of the outer layer are separated, one tucked under the belt and the other left outside, in apostate fashion! - His staff is inspired by xà mâu, a Vietnamese spear with wavy, serpent-like blade. I used a bamboo shaft and took some creative liberty in designing the smaller details. - Bare-footed, because that was our custom. - (point to his belt): Xà tích, popular accessories usually hung on the belt (for decorations or to carry necessities. This model was inspired by the Thai ethnic group. I image he would be carrying herbs, smaller potions or poultices in here! The feathers are not traditional, but I added them in to pay homage to his feather pauldron.

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Dragon Age AU where everything is still the same, except the characters are wearing (stylized) traditional Vietnamese clothes. First up is Anders!

A big, big thank you to my friend wind1006 (on fb) for her valuable advice and all the helpful references 😭 She helped me to come up with many design ideas that I couldn't have thought of myself.

Merrill | Fenris | Varric | Hawke | Isabela | Anders

Update: Now with image ID by @/louminescence!

(Rambling under cut)

I finally decided to try (stylized) traditional Vietnamese clothes on Anders (and potentially other DA characters) as a personal side project! I was worrying a lot over this decision: can this type of character fit with the clothing? can I both respect the traditional Vietnamese aesthetics, at the same time retaining the style of the game and the character's personalities & backstory? To some degree, I'm still anxious about my potential mistakes, but I'm glad I finally dared put this idea into paper.

The portrait was inspired by the colors and style of lacquer painting, but my limited skills didn't allow me to fully simulate it 😭 I hope I will be able to improve on both the designs and the portraits as I progress with this series!

[alienturnipp]

I may take a while to finish this so here is a WIP 😭 As usual, this is part of my traditional Vietnamese clothes DA AU.

[alienturnipp]

I wanted to make like a doodle compilation but... considering my drawing speed... here have one sketch at a time 😭

Part of this AU.