Avatars: The Remakes

[Hekiko]

Old avatars made anew. Maybe new skills, but probably just new items. A good candidate for a remake would be those that have a solid aesthetic or concept that can be enhanced with features given by newer items or just from becoming more particular about my aesthetic.

gaia_bunny

Bad vs. good remake candidates:

The left avatar encapsulates a very particular kind of vintage Gaia style. Trying to update her wouldn't necessarily 'improve' her. The best I could really do is try and create a modern avatar that was inspired by her and hope it matched up to the original.

The right avatar makes a better makeover candidate. The core concept of the avatar is very good, but the execution is...not the best, and there are so many better items that a remake could use to elevate the avatar, even just considering face detailing and arm mods.

gaia_bunny

The goal of a remake is to keep the original flavor and character of the avatar while updating it to something that looks like it might have been made from scratch today. For avatars that were part of a challenge, there should also be an effort to make sure the updated avatar still meets the challenge, whether that's using a certain item pose or meeting other, similar conditions.

gaia_bunny

2021 and newer remakes will have their own post. The vintage ones will be collected in the 2nd post.

gaia_bunny

show spoilerhide spoiler

[img]Original Avatar[/img] --- [img]Remade Avatar[/img]
[u][b]Avatar Name[/b][/u]
[b]Original Year:[/b] 2003
[b]Remake Year:[/b] 2003
[b]Details:[/b]
[spoiler]Remake Details[/spoiler]

 

[Hekiko]

Vintage (2016) Remakes:

 

[Hekiko]

---
Lady's Portrait
Original Year: 2013
Remake Year: 2021
Details:

show spoilerhide spoiler

The original is one of my all-time favorite avis, and it really does stand up 8 years later. Most of the clothing as well as the hairstyle was kept the same, including the Saint Ciel: Storge pose that inspired her. The background had some items added to give a bit of detail; however the majority of work went into the face. I changed out the Daughter of Snows face mod to a stand alone lip item, and used the Dark Moon face mod to give her eyes. Finally, I added some dark nose makeup and blush to provide more face detailing.

 

[Hekiko]

---
Coven Phoenix
Original Year: 2013
Remake Year: 2022
Details:

show spoilerhide spoiler

What caught my eye about the original avatar was the look of the phoenixes behind the head, and the use of the floaty fabrics. The intent going it was to maintain those basic effects while refining the silhouette and making the face more visible. I kept the Trilune skirt as is, but switched out pretty everything else for more modern items. I don't know if I would call her 100% successful, but she feels refreshed while also managing the same vibe.

 

[Hekiko]

---
Hatter Re-enactor
Original Year: 2013
Remake Year: 2022
Details:

show spoilerhide spoiler

After calling this out in the first post as a good remake candidate, I couldn't not remake it. I feel like more liberty was taken with everything but the hat the original avatar was built around, but it definitely keeps that historical vibe. The remake has the classic Heki face with the Paint Whiz cutter and the round eyebrows.

 

[Hekiko]

---
Lil' Dragon's Snacky-snack
Original Year: 2022
Remake Year: 2022
Details:

show spoilerhide spoiler

It's not the typical remake because like literally a week passed between making the original and the remake. The original was made for a challenge to use the last 7 items in my inventory for the little dragon. Actually, I used 8, but idc. I loved the concept and wanted to play with it without the challenge restrictions. I kept the dragon skin, and used recolors of the cookies and the eyes and took it into a more cohesive midnight snack direction.

They're both cuties, but the second one definitely has a much more unified concept.

 

[Hekiko]

--- --- ---
Gaian Archeologist Hekiko
Original Year: 2007
Generation 2 Year: 2013
Generation 3 Year: 2016
Generation 4 Year: 2022
Details:

show spoilerhide spoiler

The Gaian Archeologist is one of the two vintage avatars that I even remember after all this year. In fact, The original throwback was created in 2013 based off of a graphic someone made for me. The point of this is not necessarily to improve the avatar, but just to see how the concept evolves as the types of items expand and the style changes.

The key points that make the Gaia Archeologist is the hat (specifically the musketeer hat), the purple hair, the glasses, and some form of brown billowing outerwear. In the first three iterations, it's a cape, in Gen 4, I changed it up to an overcoat.

 

[Hekiko]

--- --- ---

OG Heki Bun
Original Year: 2003
Generation 2 Year: 2013
Generation 3 Year: 2016
Generation 4 Year: 2022
Details:

show spoilerhide spoiler

The original is a recreation of the first avatar I made on Gaia that I remember caring about, including the original eyes and hair that I had when I signed up back in 2003. If I knew then what I know know, maybe I wouldn't have made the hair hot pink. Or maybe I would have, since it was a reference to my favorite singer and my account's name origin. The point of this is not necessarily to improve the avatar, but just to see how the concept evolves as the types of items expand and my style changes.

To me, the key points that make the Heki Bun are the bright pink hair, some sort of bunny ears, a casual/street-type style, and a choker. The Angelic sash has evolved away from the look, turning to the a purse in Gen 3, and a coat now in Gen 4. The bunny ears became a hat, which is edging up to the line of what this avi is, but still captures the spirit IMHO.