Spellthief Lux - Visual Update
polycounter lvl 6
Back in 2012, my roommates convinced me to try League of Legends. My first character was Lux, and I immediately bought her the Spellthief skin. Since then, I feel like its visual style has fallen out of line with the game, so I want to try to give it a bit of fan love!
Usually, my process involves a lot of scribbled notebook pages and folders filled with reference images, but for clarity I'm articulating my thoughts in a few images.
So, first I'm taking a look at a recently updated champion that had with a similar style to the current Spellthief Lux: Ryze. The notable changes are in the expressiveness of his face and gesture/silhouette, the color palette, and the scale of his accessories.
Keeping these changes in mind, I look to Lux's skin. At a glance, her accessories have the same effect of adding noise without lending readable detail, and her weapon blends too easily with her body. The silhouette is stiff and closed, in contrast to Lux's later skins (it's fair to count Elementalist as several, no?), and her face is hard to see. The colors have low contrast, contributing to a muddy appearance.
With those things in mind my goals are to:
Finally, as I move onto the Zbrush sculpt, I grab her (gorgeous) splash art to use as a visual reference.
P.s. I think she should be my avatar for the time being!
Usually, my process involves a lot of scribbled notebook pages and folders filled with reference images, but for clarity I'm articulating my thoughts in a few images.
So, first I'm taking a look at a recently updated champion that had with a similar style to the current Spellthief Lux: Ryze. The notable changes are in the expressiveness of his face and gesture/silhouette, the color palette, and the scale of his accessories.
Keeping these changes in mind, I look to Lux's skin. At a glance, her accessories have the same effect of adding noise without lending readable detail, and her weapon blends too easily with her body. The silhouette is stiff and closed, in contrast to Lux's later skins (it's fair to count Elementalist as several, no?), and her face is hard to see. The colors have low contrast, contributing to a muddy appearance.
With those things in mind my goals are to:
- Help her staff stand out with a defined shape, color, and effects.
- Enhance and exaggerate her face so that her bubbly personality can be felt.
- Use gradients and bold islands of color to breathe contrast and life into her forms.
- Add interest to her accessories so they aren't simply visual noise.
- Pose her to mimic Elementalist Lux's updated rigging and animations.
Finally, as I move onto the Zbrush sculpt, I grab her (gorgeous) splash art to use as a visual reference.
P.s. I think she should be my avatar for the time being!
Replies
Btw, I'm working on Ryze for the contest and noticed some of his changes...but seeing all written down makes things a lot easier to understand. From now on, I'll add this to my workflow. Thank you