Rakan: Hey! I Ain't gonna kill ya, she is!
Xayah: Nice yo unmeet you.
Hello everyone! It's my first time participating in this contest and I'm really exited. Main Support here : D [Riot Art Contest 2017] Forest Guardians : Elderwood Rakan and Xayah (FINAL)
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I was thinking yo make a skin for Thresh, but all of the sudden an idea came to my mind: "Hades and Persefone's" Myth. By that time I was playing Rakan, a lot, because he was soooo dynamic and funny to play. Obviously, the love between Xayah and Rakan is not that twisted. So, decided to make a skin for them both: Two Forest Spirits who protect the balance and the natural cycle of life and death, bloom and decay.
Rakan, as a battle-dancer, wild lover would be something related to "life" and blossom, as he is really protective with Xayah; shields and heals her. A natural care-taker.
Xayah on the other hand, is the one who takes action. Always prepared and self-confident, she doesn't hesitate: If she has to take a life to preserve the balance, she will. The one who ends the cycle, but the one who let it flow and restart.
As the human kind always do whatever they want, altering the cicle of nature itself for their purposes, these two spirits would stop that and restore nature as it is, wild and untameable (like their actual lore with "magic" and etc..)
Sooo. Let's beggin shall we?
Note: In game there are plenty of "Themes" that could match this ideas, such as Elderwood, Deathblossom, even "Hauted Zyra" came to my mind. I don't know if the concept will go in that direction, so I won't name their skins yet. Certainly I'll have all of that themes as a reference.
Ok, my post dissapeared soooo, I'm re-writting / reposting aaaall the process and stuff. (18/11/2017) -- Restored, Thank you! (19/11/17)
Finished! : )
Thanks to everyone who came to this post and gave some tips, feedback etc... That helped a lot !. This has helped me to learn new things and improve my coloring skills (a little bit).
Replies
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References:
First we have Rakan, the Battle Dancer. A lot of his features , abilities and qualities sugested me something swift, something bright, something unpredictable. But, he is very, VERY protective with Xayah, like the mother nature itself (a caretaker), soo I'll be trying to transform him into a Forest Spirit (similar to "Elderwood Skins? Maybe).
Rakan Studies:
Rakan Moodboard / References:
Leafy , swift, colorful and playful. [Color Palette] : Yellow / Green / Vermilion / Orange?]
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Second we have Xayah, the Rebel. She is the darkest of that two. Cunning , silent and focused, Xayah has a strong will, an a cause to fight for. Humans always tried to tame the Nature, she will prove them wrong.
Xayah would be the opposite of Rakan (The one who gives life). she would be incarnation of decay and death, the one who precedes rebirth of Nature ( like Autumn / Winter kind of feeling).
Xayah Studies:
Xayah Moodboard / References:
Stealth, foggy, thorns, darker colours, Nature Decay, Cunning. [Color Pallete]: Dark Brown, Dark Blue(s), White / Grey, maybe some fade Red.
Rakan Concept and Process:
Trying to get that Blosssom / Decay look for both characters. First Impressions.Rakan Early Concepts:
Six options I had in mind. I just tryied some colors on them, but not definitive of course.Concept Art V.2 : Rakan
Did some polls and asked some people, the options prefered by the fans and fellow artist were C, D and F. So I combined some traits of each design and came up with this three options and some minor variations, such as legs and hairstyle.Color Variations: Elderwood Rakan
Ok this are the 6 options I made for Rakan so far. E and F are version of the previous options (trying to make them more interesting adding more color tones).
FINAL CONCEPT:
Final Concept with the color palette.Xayah Concept and Process:
Xayah Early Concepts:
Ok here we have Xayah. These options are designed to match Rakan's skin, but also to be somewhat, the opposite (less flashy, autumn/winter themed). The color palette may change.I think the hood always will suit her, but I tried some variations without it, just to give her another look.
Concept Art V.2 : Xayah
Took A as a base, D , E and F for little details etc. Still thinking about doing her without the hood , OR , that it can be removable like in "nighthunter Rengar Skin". I may add some "thorns" details to these variations (like in C, below). And yes the color palettes are on the way. c:Color Variations: Elderwood Xayah
Update 1 : Four color variations trying to get the best ones and comparing it to her partner. Dark Blues, Gray, Dark red, lilac and faint purples where my main focus on here.Color Variations: Elderwood Xayah
More Versions. Did this with some opinions and feedback of the previous ones. Even tried one more "wintery" look.
FINAL CONCEPT:
Final Concept with the color palette.Splash Art (Process): Elderwood Xayah and Rakan:
Updating this soon with the previous Thumbnails(*[+] Update 13/1/17
[+] Update 15/1/17
[+] Update 19/1/17
[+] Update 22/1/17
[+] Update 25/1/17
Good luck, I can't wait to see Xayahs look
@Joric Yeah you're right, I like C option too but .... dunno, I have to make sure it doesn't mix up with the river / jungle colors. Thanks!
@DawnHeart I want to use it as a base palette soooo bad, but it lacks something and I don't know what. I'll keep working on it, Thank you
i like f,d most
Dont worry with a nice model like this you cant do too much wrong. Maybe use other colors but keep the "glow" as thats it what makes C so amazing. Btw what are those things on his ears? Leaf earrings? Can you try to put them away once (like pre - after comparison) as thats kind of disturbing me. But I really like the the rest especially the hair with those leafs falling down
Thanks a lot for your feedback really
Regarding colors: I mean your idea of that green and virbrand green mix is amazing I love it but you said it lacks something so I thought you want to change it
Still loving your art as and cant wait for your Xayah (I love these 2 champs rly *-*)
F is totally heaven and I'd go with that. Without the hoodie you can see the amazing leaf-hair even short hair would look good
how about going purple instead of blue? (b is a bit purple a bit I'd say that direction but a more vibrant/pinkish one look at Elderwood bard to get what I mean)
Ok a little update of Xayah. Happy Holidays everyone!
I love the hair on A (the little bit on the left looks sooo nice!) but C is also nice *-* sooo hard to decide good luck with that xD
Happy holidays too x3
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Some Xayah Color variations
I really like the values for C in your latest post. The light hair helps her face stand out a little better against the dark hood. I also think that the brightness of the symbol on her skirt and the subtlety of the rest of the skirt really helps to keep the design from looking too crowded.
Its great watching this one develop! Favoriting this for sure.
https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/7pja4l/amazing_elderwood_xayah_rakan_concept_art_by/
New Update (Final update I hope
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