Evolution of Ela
Part 47 ~ 4 August 2025
Posted: 22 March 2026
I mentioned after my amethyst road build that I wanted to do something about my amethyst block sounds. Well, tragically, I can't fix it with a mod – there is one that lets you tweak the levels for every sound effect, but it's ONE VERSION past what I'm running. But what I CAN do is play with the standard sliders to effectively turn up my own sounds and tune everything else out. (Super narcissistic, I know.) That way, I get more of those satisfying crystal chimes – and other assorted footsteps, which it turns out are rather satisfying as well – without ruining my ears with whatever else the world throws at me.
This sent me down an existential train of thought. It started with my choice of footwear. I'm wearing these cutesy white shoes. If I'm gonna be stomping around my domain at maximum volume, I should be wearing something with a little more weight. Some chunky black boots, perhaps. Where can I get myself some of those?
...Wait, I need to change my skin?
Oh right. I've been using someone else's skin this whole time.
I've been up front about this, of course. But it still feels a bit... weird? I've built a home, slain a dragon, crowned myself Sovereign... and yet I feel like an impostor! So it's time I set things right and create my own skin for the first time. I've been gaining confidence with MS Paint, and I'm ready to recolour some pixels!
But first, off to Skindex for some inspiration! There's all manner of cool and cute footwear out here. Feels like I'm going shopping :D I don't want anything too crazy, just some solid, short black boots, maybe with socks. I found just that in this adorable Wednesday Addams skin by sapphiresquare. Now THESE are some boots made for walkin'!
Next, I want something for my head to replace those... whatever those blue and purple extensions are. At first I was looking for ribbons, but then I started seeing flowers in the search results and I had a brain wave: DAISIES. Since oxeye daisies have become part of the lore of Indigo Empire, why don't I wear them on my character? So I landed on this skin by chocolatychip with an adorable daisy flower crown. Is it weird to wear two crowns at once? Don't care :P
Also, I've had some fun with the long purple hair, but between my crown(s) and my wings, there's really no room for it back there! So I'm giving it the chop by switching to the short hair variant, also by DarkEla5.
With the above components transferred across (thanks to this handy reference guide to the skin file layout), it's time to bust out the pencil for some manual edits. This is where it truly becomes MY skin and not just a random mishmash of characters! :D Wednesday's white socks were dyed purple to match my hair. I cut my jeans into shorts, and used the fabric to patch the holes. The precious hoodie got a spruce up too! I brightened up the dark blue stripe, and I made it a little more roomy since the outfit lost its depth with the change to the lower body. And last but not least: I changed the colours of my eyes! My left eye is Royal Blue, befitting my royal status, and my right eye is Light Sea Green, reflecting my love of the sea. The RGB values are taken directly from the HTML reference by the way. The indie web is bleeding back into the game. These eyes have seen some stuff.
All right, one pixelated makeover later, here's the new look!
And this is how I look in-game with my crown and wings! You have NO IDEA how satisfying it is to stomp around in the world with my chunky boots on and the sounds cranked up! :DD
I'm SO HAPPY with this outfit! It's adorable, androgynous, and – very importantly – lore-building! I can't lie, it's still a HIGHLY derivative work, BUT it's a new combination with some unique touches, and as a noob pixel artist, it's something I'm happy to call my own :)
Art History
So, about those extensions that were on my head. What's the deal with those? I'll be real, it's been bugging me since I found the skin. Well, by looking back through the user histories and checking the description texts, I was able to trace the history of this skin back as far as six iterations. And in doing so, I discovered that Ela's extensions are the vestiges of what used to be wolf ears! Is that why my hearing is so sensitive? Does this explain why I went so feral on those slimes at full moon? Do I refuse to associate with the wolves because I'm too alpha? The lore implications are staggering...
While I go through this existential crisis, here's a chronology of the skins that lead up to the one I present to you today. The Evolution of Ela. This is all possible because DarkEla5 is a GOOD CREATOR and credited other artists for their work, meaning I was able to go search these up! And if anyone in the future uses a skin that I made, they'll be able to do likewise :)
- This skin by Aldies with wolf ears and a flower crown (we've gone full circle, lol)
- "Gamer" version where the ears are partly obscured by a hoodie (ironically!) and headphones
- Over to DarkEla5 who recoloured the outfit
- Then took off the headphones
- Changed outfits to the one you know and love
- And
put on a wiggrew a lush crown of natural purple hair!
AND IT GOES DEEPER! It turns out that DarkEla5, like me, found parts of outfits they liked and cobbled them together! Ela's hoodie was designed by ARCADEWAFFLES and the ripped pants and shoes were done by ghosttown! There's SO MUCH history to this skin, so many people have contributed to its creation (likely more than we know), and it's wonderful to be able to add my own spin on the character.
Steal My Look! (With Permission!)
In preparation for this post, I made an account on Skindex and uploaded my skins there! Yes, skins, plural. In the time since I drafted this post, I've made another FOUR skins! Two of them were for server events only, but the other two will make an appearance later in this series. Say hello to Creaking Ela, Christmas Ela, Farmer Ela, and Carrot Ela! (All contributors are credited in the individual skin posts, of course!)
You're welcome to download and use these skins, but please be sure to credit me if you edit them! And don't go pretending to be me on Youtube or whatever.
So, yeah. That was a little tour of the world of Minecraft skins! Skin art is a great creative outlet, and I recommend it to anyone, even if you're like me and have zero experience in visual art! If anything, this might be a good place to start in that regard – all you need is good ol' MS Paint (or free/non-Microsoft alternative). I'm much more comfortable sharing this site now that I have a unique skin, and it feels awesome to create a new skin and share it with my server friends. Plus this project was a huge win for lore. There are SO MANY good reasons to make your own skin, and I wish I'd done it sooner!
