[Riot 2017 Creative Contest] Jax Mask Off

Arcane_raccoon

I'm extremely hyped about this contest, therefore I want to use the opportunity and give some love to one of my favourite champions - Jax. I want to delve into the idea of Jax's appearance and explore the ways I can show the audience what he looks like without really revealing his face. I'm planning to use other champions' emotions and actions in my scene, specifically Fiora's, to achieve my goal. I'm planning on implementing the sense of mystery, intrigue and maybe even intimidation with my piece. You won't see Jax's face, but Fiora's reaction will trigger some thoughts on what he might look like. It'll be one of those open-ended paintings which I'm a big fan of. Hopefully I'll get the necessary critique and feedback that will keep me going through this project. 
I chose as a central character because, in my opinion, he deserves more attention than he currently gets. I want Riot to notice me and expand more on this champion (maybe create a comic or give some more info on his background and/or his origin) 
I've done 3 thumbnails so far and will do more as soon as I get more ideas. C&C are more than welcome, in fact, please tell me which of one of the 3 scenes you prefer the most. Thank you! 

Yangyexin

C has some great composition, but if you could position fiora just a tad closer(not too much so we don't lose the dynamic pose), we could see her expression, and it would work better, perhaps?

Arcane_raccoon

Yangyexin said:

C has some great composition, but if you could position fiora just a tad closer(not too much so we don't lose the dynamic pose), we could see her expression, and it would work better, perhaps?

Alright, yeah I get it
Will do, mate
Thanks a lot !

Arcane_raccoon

[UPDATE] 

SO
I've decided to go with this composition. I've moved Fiora closer to Jax so the audience can see her emotions better, changed her leg position to a more confident stance and added some details to her costume. Worked on the values a lil bit. 
Again, I'm open to any feedback and critiques so feel free to share your opinion
I hope you like it

MadameDaFunk

ahaha so kakashy XD keep going man !

Arcane_raccoon

MadameDaFunk said:

ahaha so kakashy XD keep going man !

Haha, not sure what you mean by kakashy xD, but thanks will do
Gonna update it today 

Baac320

Omggg aweonao culiao (very cool, in mapuche) great job bro, cant wait to see it finished!

Arcane_raccoon

[PROGRESS UPDATE]

So for the past couple of days I was rendering Fiora's clothes and was working on her face. But the face still looks wrong to me. 
I'm focusing more on Fiora at the moment because obviously Jax's hand won't be as difficult to render, so I can finish it later. For this project I'm giving my ALL, so I'm spending time to actually nail every single detail, every little bit; otherwise I would usually finish this kind of painting in 8-10 hours.

But yeah, I'm open for C&C, as always

razz

I find it strange how you want to tell everyone more about Jax, but this illustration is very much about Fiora. There are ways you could compose this idea by showing Jax fully, but hiding his face, in the shadows for example. Now I'm just not buying it as showing Jax's story.

Arcane_raccoon

razz said:

I find it strange how you want to tell everyone more about Jax, but this illustration is very much about Fiora. There are ways you could compose this idea by showing Jax fully, but hiding his face, in the shadows for example. Now I'm just not buying it as showing Jax's story.

Thanks for your feedback I find it very helpful. I'll see what I'm able to do

sugoilord

Seconding what Razz said, the illustration seems to be more about their relationship at the very least, rather than about Jax himself.
Could be cool to make up some story to go with the illustration.

Would also be good to think about the background in your thumbnails, characters are very fun to draw but the entire illustration needs to be plotted out to ensure everything works together

Arcane_raccoon

sugoilord said:

Seconding what Razz said, the illustration seems to be more about their relationship at the very least, rather than about Jax himself.
Could be cool to make up some story to go with the illustration.

Would also be good to think about the background in your thumbnails, characters are very fun to draw but the entire illustration needs to be plotted out to ensure everything works together

Yeah, I'm thinking of maybe changing the name of the illustration and actually putting some sort of context behind it. I'm working on the background at the moment. I'll release an update on the characters' colours and post some backgrounds later. Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it lots.

Arcane_raccoon

[UPDATE] Adding colours slowly working on the background. Will release backgrounds in my next post! 

Arcane_raccoon

Added a background. I'm quite satisfied with how it turned out. I thought that it was too bright and saturated, therefore I added a vignette and blurred it out a little bit. 

Arcane_raccoon

Draft 1

Arcane_raccoon

Pre-Final Edit

Arcane_raccoon

[FINAL PIECE]