Kamisato Ayato | Genshin Impact
Back to back post before I forget my password and disappear for months again…1/4 of the series.
Kamisato Ayato’s signature sword: the Haran Geppaku Futsu 波乱月白経津 is based on the roiling waves. It’s a popular motif in Japanese art, especially in Ukiyo-e. The tides refer to the shift of water from still to violent - a metaphor for the constantly changing tranquility and brutality of life. It’s something I learned from art school...
In the game, Kamisato Ayato is described to be unpredictable. He pursues peace, but will go through all means to protect his family, like the type of duality reflected in the concept of his signature weapon.
Having the roiling waves as sword instead of integrating it in his outfit was a nice touch by the devs, and shows that he’s the type of person who manipulates whatever life throws at him to have them work in his favor, as opposed to Kazuha who avoids conflict allows himself to fall, or be one with nature instead of controlling it. I like to think of Kazuha and Ayato as opposites.
These were the reasons why I decided to pose Ayato leading a wave, and have an Ukiyo-e backdrop for him instead of realistic, as a nod to the real-life art movements that inspired his design.
If you’re into character design or making OCs and want to pursue it professionally, here is a little tip: colors and clothes, what the character looks like and their background is not enough. There is also how they move, what tools do they use if any, what motivates them, and so much more… Basically the types of visuals that show personality, and not just the inspiration and ideas behind them.
One thing my mentor always told me during my apprenticeship: “A great idea is different from a well-executed one. There are a lot of beautiful artworks that are composed badly” - this was something I had to learn from experience as I struggled at the studio multiple times before understanding what he meant.
Just sharing a little something I learned at work and having to pitch characters to producers over and over again.
With me, I draw fan art not just because I love drawing characters I like, but because I also want to understand why they were designed like that and see it from the perspective of another artist. There is so much to do with fan art that I think gets overlooked too much as tacky or for clout or “unoriginal”, it is not.
Anyway, I got too lazy to describe the Kazuha and Heizou works properly, but forgive me on this one. Well, who reads this other than me? I’ll keep that in mind.Oct 30, 2023
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