Hair colour opinion question

Ladycheru · Post by **Ladycheru** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:57 pm

Midori Kano

I had decided that this character had green hair. Then I realized that it made her look too much like Marmalade Boy's Arimi. I wanted to get some opinions on what other people think her hair color should be.
Some vitals:

Name: Midori Kano (I realize the irony, being that her means "green" XD)
Age: 14
Grade: 9th
Birthday: January 6 (Capricorn)
Height: 4'10" (148cm)
Weight: 90lbs (42kg)
Midori's almost always in a good mood, and very peppy. She rarely gets angry. She has a starry-eyed view on the world, and tries to make a good situation of anything bad. She's in her school's chorus and likes to read.
The comic she's in (Shinseki) is just a plain shoujo manga (girl's soap-opera-like comic.)

Like I said, I don't want green. I'm also shying away from blonde, because I already have 2 blonde characters, and both of them are love interests of her. Please be specific in what color you mean!

Thank you! :)

Joel Fagin · Post by **Joel Fagin** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:32 pm

Firstly, I think it would be hard to make a manga character who didn't look like some other manga character somewhere else anyway. Use whatever colour you like.

Secondly, why are you using fancy colours anyway? Do you have a reason? It is part of her personality that she dyes her hair, for example? If there's no reason, I wouldn't bother myself. (Yes, I realise it's manga but I tend to care more about the story than the style so I dismiss any stylistic requirements if they don't serve the story in some way. That's just me.)

Finally, what would I pick? Light brown but I'm not considering the manga colours here because I wouldn't use them myself.

- Joel Fagin

Johndar · Post by **Johndar** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:36 pm

I say black, but only because I like girls with black hair. And I guess it would look good with green eyes(which could be her physical reference to "Midori")

Vulpeslibertas · Post by **Vulpeslibertas** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 2:21 am

Joel Fagin wrote:Firstly, I think it would be hard to make a manga character who didn't look like some other manga character somewhere else anyway.

What?!!! Joel are you huffing something? Name a manga character who doesn't look exactly like some other character somewhere. Hard? More like...impossible.

More seriously...

If the character is cheerful and peppy, pick a cheerful and peppy color. Like yellow or orangish red. If you want, you can draw your "blonde" characters with white hair so that the yellow hair stands out better.

You might also pick a different shade of green. Since green isn't a particularly cheerful color (IMO), you might try a very light shade of green.

As Joel was getting into...If you're drawing a shojo manga, and calling it a shojo manga, you're essentially trying to copy someone else to begin with. Expect your stuff to be strongly similar to other people's work because, subconsciously, that's what you're trying to do. Don't get so caught up in the form and customs of anime that you forget the reasons and theory manga style art exsists. It's not about cute characters, big eyes, and funny hair colors; it's about visually communicating emotion (As opposed to Western comics which typically are about visually communicating facts).

That guy · Post by **That guy** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:13 am

Make it green. If you've created a character that looks JUST like another character, hair color is not enough to make her different, so you should be true the the character regardless of what else exists. Her name is "Green," it's your first choice, use it.

If you want her to be different than the other character, don't make it a surface difference, make it a real difference. The shape of her face, her body type, hairstyle, personality... the way she stands, the way she talks.

You designed a character with Green hair. If she looks somewhat like another anime character, then congratulations, you made a real anime character. If she looks identical to another character (one which you know), then you ripped her off, so start again from scratch and make a new one.

Black Sparrow · Post by **Black Sparrow** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:41 am

Like Thatguy said, go with your gut. You drew her up with green in mind, so you might as well.

Failing that, she looks like someone who would have a bolder hair color to me, like red or blond.

NakedElf · Post by **NakedElf** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:08 pm

Greenish blue or blueish green.

Ladycheru · Post by **Ladycheru** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:14 pm

That guy wrote:You designed a character with Green hair. If she looks somewhat like another anime character, then congratulations, you made a real anime character. If she looks identical to another character (one which you know), then you ripped her off, so start again from scratch and make a new one.

XD That's the thing. I <i>did</i> know of the other character before I made that one. I didn't particularly have her in mind, at the time. But I suddenly realized that she did look like that anime character. While the character, as a person, is different, she does look identical to Arimi. Which is why I wanted to change the hair color. I don't think that it'd matter that the hairdo's the same, so long as the hair were color different.

That guy · Post by **That guy** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:55 pm

ladycheru wrote: That's the thing. I <i>did</i> know of the other character before I made that one. I didn't particularly have her in mind, at the time. But I suddenly realized that she did look like that anime character. While the character, as a person, is different, she does look identical to Arimi. Which is why I wanted to change the hair color. I don't think that it'd matter that the hairdo's the same, so long as the hair were color different.

That's one of the reasons many people unfortunately shun anime/manga. As was stated earlier in the thread:

vulpeslibertas wrote: Name a manga character who doesn't look exactly like some other character somewhere. Hard? More like...impossible.

Manga and anime characters are largely seen as interchangeable - it's one of the few styles in which characters from one could be cut and pasted into another and not look the least bit out of place.

If you came up with her on your own, you have no reason to alter her original design. Doing so makes it seem like you're slapping a coat of paint over some stolen merchandise to hide your crime. If it's yours, own it. Be true to it. YOU thought up a girl with that haircut with green hair (NAMED "Green"), that's who she is. I would actually recommend changing the hairstyle before you changed the color, if it really matters to you that they look alike. Green is a more distinguishing characteristic, afterall.

Ask yourself: Why did I need help deciding what color was right for her? My guess is, you knew what color was right for her, and you were having trouble forcing her to be something else.

NakedElf · Post by **NakedElf** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:05 am

Honestly, I don't think that anyone's going to care that she looks like some other character. I mean, a *lot* of the character is what they wear--so long as her clothes aren't also identical, she'll look different enough to people.

Ladycheru · Post by **Ladycheru** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 5:49 pm

<a href="http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o137 ... idori2.png" target="_blank">I've changed her</a> :)

Sorry to kinda mess with y'all about the color. I just needed some time to figure out what I needed and wanted in the character. Thanks anyway. I appreciate all your advice!

That guy ~ You're right. It was a lot easier to change her hairstyle than her hair color. I actually like it better than the old one, and it still matches her personality traits. Thanks for the help! :)

That guy · Post by **That guy** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 7:35 am

ladycheru wrote:That guy ~ You're right. It was a lot easier to change her hairstyle than her hair color. I actually like it better than the old one, and it still matches her personality traits. Thanks for the help!

Glad could be of assistance. I like the coloring job, too - nice work!

Fabio Ciccone · Post by **Fabio Ciccone** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 2:47 pm

She seems like a pink hair to me. Light pink.

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Hair colour opinion question

What color should Midori's hair be?

Hair colour opinion question