BelaBean - Buzzing Valkyrie
Inspired by the Chinese Gatcha game, Genshin Impact.
Bela is one of my friends that I commonly play games online with in my free time. We often play Genshin Impact together, and because the art style and character designs in the game are absolutely gorgeous, I decided it would be fun to do a study on various Genshin characters and create a set of my own utilizing the online avatars of some of my closest friends.
Reference Image for Bela’s online avatar created by i3errycake.
When it came to designing the outfits for these characters, the process was more or less trial and error and in the moment decisions. I had a few guidelines I gave for each characters given what I know they like and dislike and the general vibe they give off as individuals. From there I was able to add on pieces and build off their existing personas until I reached something I was happy with. These pieces take by far the least amount of planning ahead of time because how the spontaneity of my process, and my familiarity with my friends.
Bela controls the power of Anemo, or air/wind. The visible gusts of wind present surrounding Bela, as well as her current state seemingly midair helps to connect her control over wind with her care-free, airy personality. Her love of sunflowers and bees is also present in her bee companions around her and sunflower magic circle below her, both of which create the predominant light sources of the piece, giving her a striking underlit lighting effect.
For each of these Genshin designs, I placed them into mockups onto hoodies, as I feel the design would look good on clothing. Down either arm I’ve also included their character title as well as the symbol of their element, in this case “Buzzing Valkyrie” and Anemo.
These mockups help to bring my pieces to life and get an opportunity to see them out in the real world.