Varesa Redesign! (Extra Notes Below!)

Varesa Redesign! (Extra Notes Below!)

Rahh, as soon as I saw her in-game design, I started sketching out some ideas. I adore pastel strong girls (I have an genshin oc in that category myself - she has braids like Varesa actually! Which was why I was excited when I saw her silhouette in the to-be-released genshin character silhouette announcement), but I was definitely quite iffy with her design ngl - it did feel a bit like a vtuber design to me at least (I used her splashart as a reference for her pose btw hehe :D)

Her beaded belt, earring, necklace and bangle is based off Zulu jewellery (as seen in the inspo sheet) as her name 'Varesa', is most likely Zulu fertility goddess Mbaba Mwana Waresa. Her pleated skirt is also based off the skirt used in Zulu traditional attire (I forgot to add the image in the inspiration sheet, but feel free to look it up!). Her overall design is a lot more flamboyant, as she is based off luche libre wrestlers and outfits generally used in luche libre are often quite bright and bold. I replaced the knitted sleeves with arm sleeves that are used more in luche libre outfits! I also added some body sparkles to her thigh and put on face makeup over her eye, which is reminiscent of the luchador mask (this was inspired by a makeup look I found online - as seen in the image collection). I kept some aspects of her original design, such as the gold mask on her belt, her luchador mask and her hair accessories! I aimed to mix both aspects of Zulu and luche libre attire for Varesa! I moved her cardigan aspect to her pyjamas, as it seems more fitting to have something soft and cozy in a time of rest rather than fights. Honestly, I was first confused why a knitted/crocheted aspect was incorporated into Varesa's design, until I read this thread by @/astrunaria, which had pointed out her arm warmers were likely inspired by Randa (Mexican crocheting). I used the patterns from Diego Armando Juarez Viveros' crocheted Tlapetlantli piece as an inspiriation and reference for the patterns on Varesa's cardigan/jacket (please do look into his works, they look rather fantastic - he is a tapestry crochet artist!). I designed a rough sketch of Varesa being in a different outfit for farming...cause well why not honestly haha (also her farming aspect and fighting aspect are so different that I honestly wished hyv would design different outfits)

Overall, I hope y'all do enjoy these redesigns! If there is any improvements I can make to these designs, please do tell me! However, if you cannot provide constructive criticism and only have a negative view on these redesigns, please do not interact with this post and move on!!