An artist named "Mikan no-ka" recently dropped a new illustration on X (formerly Twitter), expecting a typical update. Instead, her comments section blew up with questions like, "What's up with the skin tone today?" and "Looks a bit green...?" sparking a massive online discussion.
Even more shocking, the artist herself couldn't see the green tint, insisting the character's skin was "definitely yellow." This stark difference immediately raised concerns about her color perception.
The whole saga began on November 19, when Mikan no-ka posted a new illustration of Dogo Izumi from "Onsen Musume." Fans quickly noticed the "character's skin color was different than usual," flooding the comments with remarks like, "Isn't that a bit too green?" "Today's skin tone is off from your usual!" and "Is this character supposed to have green skin?".
While netizens were pointing out the unusually green skin compared to her past work, the artist herself felt nothing was amiss. When asked if she intentionally made it green, she replied in shock, "Does this look green?! To me, it's clearly yellow!"
What's more, she revealed she's always had mild color blindness but had never experienced issues with skin tones before, leaving her even more baffled.
To get to the bottom of it, she straight-up asked her followers: "Can you guys really see green in this skin tone? I seriously only see yellow..."
The replies poured in: "It's definitely green on my end..." "At least it's not a normal skin tone." "Kinda looks like a goblin's skin from a game." Netizens even shared color simulation tools, confirming the skin in the artwork indeed had a green tint.
After work, the artist used the eyedropper tool in her drawing software to check the actual color code and was instantly floored: "It's really green. I was so sure it was yellow, but it's green..." This discovery made her worry that her color blindness might be getting worse.
Several netizens analyzed the situation, suggesting that the surrounding orange and red hair colors and background might have created an optical illusion, making the green appear yellow. Others pointed out that this aligns with typical Type P or Type D (red-green color blindness) characteristics: green appears yellowish, and the boundary between green and yellow becomes blurred, making it easy for artists to unconsciously shift skin tones towards green.
Many users highlighted past cases where illustrators suddenly had "color displacement" issues, only to discover through medical exams that it was due to worsening color blindness, eye disease, or even more serious neurological problems. Numerous netizens urged her to see a doctor immediately. The artist responded that she would schedule an ophthalmologist appointment, stating, "Normally, I can tell green and yellow apart, but this time I couldn't at all. Thanks for the heads-up, everyone; I'll get it checked."
She also revealed that she'd previously misjudged character hair colors (like seeing blue hair as pink) but this incident truly made her feel the need for a thorough check-up.
Many netizens also realized that without public concern, an artist might never discover such a color blindness issue if they were just drawing on their own. This resonated with many creators: "Suddenly I'm wondering if I've drawn the wrong colors without knowing it..." "Color blindness is so hard to self-diagnose, it's terrifying." "If my art style ever suddenly goes wild or weird, please, everyone, remind me!"
However, fans were relieved to see that the artist's new illustration, posted after her medical visit, featured normal skin tones again. It seems sharing your work on social media can unexpectedly lead to discovering health issues... who knew?!
via： togetter