[Riot 2017 Art Contest] Lux(water element) Splash art.

MenoOG

Hi, I'm Meño!
Okay so I've drawn some thumbnails of some of the champions I like(3 of them lol) and I can't decide which one to go for. that pose was originally for lux but I thought maybe it suits Syndra. I'm thinking maybe I could develop two of them in separate threads is that acceptable? Please give me your thoughts, thanks! oops didn't notice the image was mirrored lmao sorry about that. update: picked lux
Here's what I'm working on, and taking inspiration from!

MenoOG

So I went ahead and picked my color scheme I'm going to go with the bottom left I believe. (quick Question Do I post progress and stuff like that as a reply to my thread or do I edit the original post? Also if I want to do two separate entries can it be on the same thread thing.)

MenoOG

Here is a better sketch of the Syndra piece, still haven't really decided on colors, Which I will do before I go further. I was thinking her Ionian "prison" that is now her home behind her that she raised into the sky, she'll sorta be defending it.

MenoOG

I went back to the Lux sketch and made her pose and the overall comp a little more dynamic I think? thoughts?

MenoOG

Alrighty, the pose and comp shouldn't change anymore, here's the line art before I start the official painting. If anyone sees any mistakes or anything I should fix please let me know, thanks!

Ioioz

this is so amazing

MenoOG

Ioioz said:

this is so amazing

thanks!

MenoOG

So in order to render this nicely, I found some new images to reference and take inspiration from! Love the water's colors and really wanted to get those into my painting two of them are sakami chan's work and I couldn't find the water elementals origin?! hopefully these will help me render the water haha theres gunna be a lot of it

MenoOG

I put some colors under my line art and sort of shaped the background.

MenoOG

AAAND I finally begin to paint, I do it very traditional-ish, very rough right now focusing on color and form! Also I've included the lines I used to sort of shape the wave behind her and place the horizon line! Any feedback is highly appreciated and needed!!

MenoOG

A little more done and some foreground splash. Done for today I think, I'll pick it back up tomorrow.  FEED back is always appreciated ALWAYS

j.culp

Hey @MenoOG, I really like the way your piece is coming across so far. the composition, body, colors are all working at this point.

I just want to say that I feel like Lux's face feels a little off. Its a nice general 'woman's face' It just doesnt look like lux to me.

Part of that is likely her lips, which look full here (to me), and appear thin in her other splashes (im specifically referencing her base skin and elementalist skin).

Also, her signature staff thing isn't featured anywhere in the illustration, and I think that can also help with the message that this is lux.

Good luck dude (or dudette!)

MenoOG

j.culp said:

Hey @MenoOG, I really like the way your piece is coming across so far. the composition, body, colors are all working at this point.

I just want to say that I feel like Lux's face feels a little off. Its a nice general 'woman's face' It just doesnt look like lux to me.

Part of that is likely her lips, which look full here (to me), and appear thin in her other splashes (im specifically referencing her base skin and elementalist skin).

Also, her signature staff thing isn't featured anywhere in the illustration, and I think that can also help with the message that this is lux.

Good luck dude (or dudette!)

I noticed that too, and I'll make sure to make her face more lux-y my issue with the staff is that it disappears when she ults in this skin, which is what she's going to be doing I just haven't added the effects. Should I still add it? I could make her other hand hold it or should I put it up front? oh yeah and I'm a dude XD

gyllenhaal

the skin color is amazing in this, good luck to you

MenoOG

Alright here's an update, I did e quick fix for the staff thingy but I don't really want to do any rendering on it before I can hopefully, get some opinions. I also added a quick mock ultimate so yall could see the comp with it in it anyways really looking for some feedback, thanks!

j.culp

@MenoOG Totally up to you on whether to use the staff or not.

I remember hearing or reading from riot about how the splash art should represent the fantasy of the character, and not just be a representation of their in game characters abilities.

The example used was Kayle's splash art:



The splash art shows a liquid gold bubble pulled around her, and it looks really really *cool*.
The characters in game ult looks more like a yellow energy sphere:



Basically their point was find the character and what makes them cool/unique and illustrate the fantasy of that character. Don't just represent what they look like in game. Like sure, Galio is a little bigger than other characters in game, but his splash has him as an absolute giant. That sort of mentality i guess.

To me, lux's staff is cool and unique to her character. It feels like lux to have her staff.

Personally I would try to incorporate it, despite it not being visible in the animation; but you of course have absolute creative freedom, and I think you should handle it however you want to.

All of that being said, I think your composition with the staff looks more dynamic and pleasing.

Keep at it!

MenoOG

j.culp said:

@MenoOG Totally up to you on whether to use the staff or not.

I remember hearing or reading from riot about how the splash art should represent the fantasy of the character, and not just be a representation of their in game characters abilities.

The example used was Kayle's splash art:



The splash art shows a liquid gold bubble pulled around her, and it looks really really *cool*.
The characters in game ult looks more like a yellow energy sphere:



Basically their point was find the character and what makes them cool/unique and illustrate the fantasy of that character. Don't just represent what they look like in game. Like sure, Galio is a little bigger than other characters in game, but his splash has him as an absolute giant. That sort of mentality i guess.

To me, lux's staff is cool and unique to her character. It feels like lux to have her staff.

Personally I would try to incorporate it, despite it not being visible in the animation; but you of course have absolute creative freedom, and I think you should handle it however you want to.

All of that being said, I think your composition with the staff looks more dynamic and pleasing.

Keep at it!

Really great advice, you're totally right! I'm gonna go back to experiment some more with the staff. Thanks!

ijur

Love the color palette!
But the body type is a little bit off. I think Lux is more like slender girl rather than superheroine. And totally agree with @j.culp with the face and staff thing

Looking forward with this one!

MenoOG

ijur said:

Love the color palette!
But the body type is a little bit off. I think Lux is more like slender girl rather than superheroine. And totally agree with @j.culp with the face and staff thing

Looking forward with this one!

Yeah, I also thought she wasn't slender enough  Probably because I used me as a reference and I'm a guy so....lol.  Will definitely fix that, thanks!

MenoOG

Okay, I heard yall and I decided to get messy again! haha and just redo the face I also shrunk her rib cage and leg width, along with that I increased her head size to make her look even younger, I'm liking this a lot more. I separated her from the background so you could see it better. Really looking for some feedback. thanks for the awesome critique! 

MenoOG

Okay, Here's where I'm at. I'm trying another position for the staff because it created a weird tangent with the golden piece on her shoulders. Feedback is extremely appreciated on anything! 

MenoOG

Chain of progress and thought whilst working... So I've sort of started rendering and cleaning up the painting and I got on today and instantly noticed my values(contrast) was off. too bright!  

I check my values and yup their quite boring 

I flatten everything to experiment with the values, Note that even though I like this better I don't want to get rid of my layers quite yet so I'm going to continue working from the top one and fix everything again later.  I also want to add that the saturation is generally too high as a result, I'll consciously try to fix that too.

I also took this to BnW

I believe this version has a better atmosphere. I think I need to start working a bit on the background. Plan on working a lot more on this, this week! Want to finish it soon.

Comments and Critiques always appreciated! 

RockaFella

Wow, this looks so cool, the staff looks much better in its new position, it now flows nicely into a spiral composition. Looking forward to seeing your plans for the background!

sugoilord

http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Lux/Quotes#Water
This is a nice little source to get some insight on her personality when she transforms into the water elementalist. After trying out the elementalist skin in-game I noticed her attitude changes when you use different forms.
Hope this helps

MenoOG

sugoilord said:

http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Lux/Quotes#Water
This is a nice little source to get some insight on her personality when she transforms into the water elementalist. After trying out the elementalist skin in-game I noticed her attitude changes when you use different forms.
Hope this helps

Yeah, I almost exclusively play the water form first, then change into fairy, ice, dark, sometimes I do magma. Anyways I think i'd say she's calm but also very cheeky. Personally for this piece I keep in mind, "hahahaha, wipeout."

MenoOG

Update on where I'm at

sugoilord

Oooh! some really nice things happened with the colors. Loving the variety of cool tones. I was worried this piece would end up being too monotone but you're tackling it well, friend

MenoOG

sugoilord said:

Oooh! some really nice things happened with the colors. Loving the variety of cool tones. I was worried this piece would end up being too monotone but you're tackling it well, friend

Thanks!

MenoOG

Some big changes to the hair, I wasn't feeling the movement, I am very much taking some creative liberties with it though. rendered some stuff out some more corrected some materials and shapes. The new hair let me add a silhouette of Demacia in the back

FirDrawsStuff

Whooah! Looks so awesome!!!

Keiraya

I literally just noticed this now, but how is her water drape going to interact with her new hair? I love the new hair btw, wish it was actually like that.  I'm loving this piece so much though, can't wait to see it finished.

MenoOG

Keiraya said:

I literally just noticed this now, but how is her water drape going to interact with her new hair? I love the new hair btw, wish it was actually like that.  I'm loving this piece so much though, can't wait to see it finished.

Thanks! I thought about it quite a bit I basically have two options leave it waterless or have it be flowing and just hitting the hair. I'm leaning towards leaving it bare simply because the path the water would take is so stationary it contradicts the movement of lux. If there wasn't so much moment with her pose I would definitely add the water drapery, otherwise. I think what I'll most likely do if I don't find a way to drape the water in a cohesive way is just add the water pool at the very least.

Keiraya

MenoOG said:

Thanks! I thought about it quite a bit I basically have two options leave it waterless or have it be flowing and just hitting the hair. I'm leaning towards leaving it bare simply because the path the water would take is so stationary it contradicts the movement of lux. If there wasn't so much moment with her pose I would definitely add the water drapery, otherwise. I think what I'll most likely do if I don't find a way to drape the water in a cohesive way is just add the water pool at the very least.

What about taking a bit of liberty with it and having it sort of hit the hair and flow along it sorta becoming part of the water background?
On a side note, Yes! Another water lux. I love water > frost/dark. Mystic looks cool but I want to claw my ears out with the voice.

MenoOG

Keiraya said:

MenoOG said:

Thanks! I thought about it quite a bit I basically have two options leave it waterless or have it be flowing and just hitting the hair. I'm leaning towards leaving it bare simply because the path the water would take is so stationary it contradicts the movement of lux. If there wasn't so much moment with her pose I would definitely add the water drapery, otherwise. I think what I'll most likely do if I don't find a way to drape the water in a cohesive way is just add the water pool at the very least.

What about taking a bit of liberty with it and having it sort of hit the hair and flow along it sorta becoming part of the water background?
On a side note, Yes! Another water lux. I love water > frost/dark. Mystic looks cool but I want to claw my ears out with the voice.

same, although I actually like mystic's voice its so sweet XD I feel like as I play the skin more and more I learn to love all of the forms because as I play one I might get tired of it and try something new and learn to like it haha. I usually pick my form based on my enemy cuz I'm cheesy like that. For example if its anivia fire/magma if its brand water if I'm going up against tanks I take ice for the "piercing" cold :P

BUT my # 1 will always be water, 90% of the time I do water as my first transformation.

MenoOG

I finally got back to this. In all honesty I'm not feelin so good about it. Very much wanted critiques and comments!

DawnHeart

Looks nice tho I gotta say the face / expression from beginning looked far better than this semi-crazy look she has now. To me this looks more like Jinx than Lux. I guess you want to draw her while she's ulting - why would she be smiling like that then?
But I gotta say you draw really well this looks fancy af.

Shayumi

Hey, nice work so far! I agree with DawnHeart, the look on her face is too Jinx-like! To me Lux is a little crazy, too ("DEMACIAAA!") but especially the water form resembles quiteness and calm to me. I think a calm expression would look way better and add to the atmosphere! 

MenoOG

DawnHeart said:

Looks nice tho I gotta say the face / expression from beginning looked far better than this semi-crazy look she has now. To me this looks more like Jinx than Lux. I guess you want to draw her while she's ulting - why would she be smiling like that then?
But I gotta say you draw really well this looks fancy af.

Shayumi said:

Hey, nice work so far! I agree with DawnHeart, the look on her face is too Jinx-like! To me Lux is a little crazy, too ("DEMACIAAA!") but especially the water form resembles quiteness and calm to me. I think a calm expression would look way better and add to the atmosphere! 

I think you all have brought up some very important Issues, thanks guys it's super helpful. I think I sort of took a wrong turn at some point, and I'll be changing it up quite a bit hopefully I can do it in time and more importantly hopefully it will be better! XD

MenoOG

okay, so I said It would be quite a change in the next update. I nearly gave up but I decided to just do a reset, i'm keeping some of the things that worked just to save me time but here is where I am at now, I realize i'm short on time but I should be able to finish in time, I think. Again comments and critiques are extremely appreciated! I am planning on chaning the water a bit just haven't done it wanted to tackle lux's issues first.

Skyzocat

The colors are really great, and I think her new expression is really beautiful so don't give up !
I did this little edit of the torso and the size of the head, I thougt it would help your perspective a bit more. Hope it helps and good luck on hitting the deadline!

MenoOG

Skyzocat said:

The colors are really great, and I think her new expression is really beautiful so don't give up !
I did this little edit of the torso and the size of the head, I thougt it would help your perspective a bit more. Hope it helps and good luck on hitting the deadline!

I'm going to implement your critique and repost, hopefully, you can tell me what you think?

MenoOG

update, next update it should be close to done or I have failed

Keiraya

I'm still a huge fan, and I'm so in love with her staff right now. Hope you keep going, I really want to see this one done.

MaoAkari

Love the colours! Good luck

MenoOG

Yeah I don't think I'll be able to finish this in time, school/work are working against me . I don't know if i'll ever finish it but! it was a great learning experience regardless.