[Riot Creative Contest 2017] Desert Dancer Akali

FrancoDraws

Hi there! Super newbie aspiring concept artist  Franco here. First time submitting in a Riot contest.  I don't expect to win anything, but I would really love some feedback on how I can improve as a concept artist and illustrator.  Please leave some comments for me, I would really appreciate it!

Now lets talk about my concept.  My absolute favorite champion in LoL is Akali.  I spent a lot of time looking at her aesthetic and I can't help but look at her face mask.  This reminded me of arabian dancers and the story of Arabian Nights.  I wanted to make a skin for Akali that really makes her look like an assassin that uses dance as a means to get close to her target.  

Here is the mood map I made to get inspiration for this project:

and here I made a few rough drafts on what she might look like.  What do you guys think?  Anything in particular stands out to you?

once again thanks for taking your time to check this project out.  I hope you leave some feedback!  

atanu2ghosh

Awesome Idea..I personally like the 4th Option but with the weapon from the fifth one..keep it up..

FrancoDraws

> @atanu2ghosh said:
> Awesome Idea..I personally like the 4th Option but with the weapon from the fifth one..keep it up..

thanks for the feedback! The fourth one was more inspired by egyptian stuff. Thanks for leaving some feedback again!

FrancoDraws

here are some thumbnails I made.  Which one seems interesting?  I would really appreciate feedback, good or bad!  Help me get better!

Jeffrey_Luo

I really like your 5th character design. I think it would stand out well as a silhouette! 
I like your composition of the 6th thumbnail in the bottom right because it looks like Akali is waltzing in. I feel there's a story there and gives here so much more purpose.

FrancoDraws

progress on the splash art.  Please keep on commenting!  Been looking for motivation lately.

FrancoDraws

FrancoDraws

wip

FrancoDraws

getting over it....

FrancoDraws

I needs some feedback!

FrancoDraws

FrancoDraws

bump.

Mego

Looking good but you should try and push your values now, if you were to convert to black and white you would see the value range isnt very broad at the moment. Really pushing values and having a direct light source can do miles of good for an illustration. 

FrancoDraws

Mego said:

Looking good but you should try and push your values now, if you were to convert to black and white you would see the value range isnt very broad at the moment. Really pushing values and having a direct light source can do miles of good for an illustration. 

thank you tank you for the advice!  I really appreciate it!

emelle_arts

Lovely idea, I also love the pose you chose, has a lot of dynamism. I agree with the top comment about pushing your values more. If you’re using photoshop throw a black and white filter on there and maybe use the posterize filter to get a read of where your values are right now. Also, akali’s face needs some more work. For a pose as beautiful and full of action Iike that, her face isn’t saying much. If the lower half of her face is going to be covered anyway, try giving some more life to her eyes. Good luck!

FrancoDraws

emelle_arts said:

Lovely idea, I also love the pose you chose, has a lot of dynamism. I agree with the top comment about pushing your values more. If you’re using photoshop throw a black and white filter on there and maybe use the posterize filter to get a read of where your values are right now. Also, akali’s face needs some more work. For a pose as beautiful and full of action Iike that, her face isn’t saying much. If the lower half of her face is going to be covered anyway, try giving some more life to her eyes. Good luck!

thank you for the helpful comment! The tips really help because I'm quite a novice at this!  Here is a posterized black and white version of what I have so far. So should I push her values off from the background?

FrancoDraws

fixed the values and face as suggested.

FrancoDraws

thanks for the tip! fixed the chest!