[Riot 2017 Art Contest] Fiddlesticks

j.culp

*Current Stage*:


Thinking of doing an illustration of fiddlesticks. (Potentially spectral fiddlesticks? That splash art is ready for an update.)

 The first two thumbs felt pretty generic to me, but the third one feels like its got promise. Fiddlesticks draining the soul of something and funneling it into a gap in his chest. Potentially there are crows inside of fiddlesticks chest? That could be cool. I think that the composition would offer enough of that funky colored lighting / atmosphere that feels so riot-y.

I also really like the tension shown in the fourth image (an apparently lifeless fiddlesticks being approached by a mob holding torches), but i'm not sure its right for this contest. I think it could have some very cool impact as an illustration that implies story, but doesn't really show off what fiddlesticks can do as a champion.

I should do more thumbnails before getting committed though.

Update: Two more thumbs. Really like the top one on this page.


Update: quick color comp to test out the scene. Will have to try to work the perspective out a little more solidly before continuing. Probably going to take some selfies with a fish eye lens to try and nail the perspective.

j.culp

Reserved for final image. (Saw someone else do this, and it seemed like a cool idea.)

j.culp

working out the face and trying to get a fiddlesticks likeness. Thinned his body some, laid in some perspective lines with a nice fisheye lens.

It's an angry mob / fleeing mob in the background, mid crowstorm fiddlesticks, standing on a victim who is having is soul drained from his face into fiddlesticks' chest.

j.culp

Not sure this one is even an improvement, but I did some more painting. Figuring out how to give him a spectral glow in an interesting way has been hard. I'll buy some burlap tomorrow and try back lighting it as reference.

Nilefar

looks cool dude, I'm also doing spectral fiddle
Let the battle of the spectral spookies begin! 

j.culp

Reworked composition. I've now got fiddlesticks pulling / dragging / guiding? the viewer towards a mausoleum. Spooky gnarly trees with crows (maybe their eyes will glow?) and glowy lanterns around the mausoleum (and on fiddle's hip?) can help add that strong colored lighting riot does. 

@Nilefar Good luck man! Getting spectral fiddlesticks to glow in a pleasing way was tricky for me. I tried referencing ghost gangplank, but I'm not sure thats the vibe i see for spectral fiddlesticks. Wishing you a lot of luck, creativity and painting skills as you go.

j.culp

really loving this one with the scythe in foreground characters chest, pulling his soul out and into fiddlesticks' chest. I really want to capture fiddlesticks' drain, but in a way that feels cool. I remember reading once (or maybe it was hearing once at a league of legends talk at GDC?) about how kayle's splash art, showing her with a golden liquid bubble thing was kind of revolutionary over at riot. It wasn't how the ability looked in game, but it was cool. 

It was better than what was in game.

I want to represent fiddlesticks drain as something that fulfills that fantasy of this creepy lifeless reaper scarecrow, and i think a big part of that is his ability to drain your soul/lifeforce. I'd like to illustrate that in a cool way.

Currently fiddlesticks illustrations play up his crows, and I think thats definitely part of him; I just want to see what his drain might look like if it was represented well.

tldr; i like the first one, i want to see fiddlesticks drain people in a cool way.

j.culp

Update

j.culp

Update

j.culp

Update: (Will add life drain flowy magic afterwards, as more of an after effect.)

j.culp

Update:
Spent a lot of time rendering fiddlesticks today, and focusing on getting a likeness of the face.

j.culp

Update:
Trying out some 'vfx' over the top of my painting.

These are all glazed layers over the top of the painting. Not sure that rain is a good idea for the clarity of the character, but I wanted to play with some colored lighting, since that's always a strong part of riots splash images.

TempestWorks

I LOVE the progress on this! The fact that you got to painting and then decided to scrap it and work on the composition more really shows.

If you'd like some critique, I would move the secondary light source behind him a little more to the left to balance out the image values more.

Keep it up!

j.culp

Take 3.

Got some really good feedback from a friend, and it was essentially that fiddlesticks isn't taking up enough room on the page.

Recently learned that league has started doing updated lore which is cool, and found this in fiddlesticks story:

" But the scarecrow stepped on his back, pinning him to the ground. The monster reached down and pulled Niram’s head back to slice his neck, as if butchering a hog for a feast."

(The rest of his story is here: https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/fiddlesticks-color-story/)

So I'm trying to illustrate that moment. In order to do that, I'll need more crows.

Going to work on balancing value scheme next, and I'm going to have to turn fiddlesticks head to face the guy on the floor better. Lastly, his arm thats holding the guys head is a bit wonky.

Any and all feedback super welcome, especially at this early stage. Or suggestions going forward. THANKS!

JacobMobleyart

YUS! I found your entry finally. There are so many entries, it's nuts. Anyways, I'm loving the changes and feel this is definitely heading in a better direction than the last one. Keep it up man! 

j.culp

Update: 
Once again feeling happy with the composition, but only time will tell if I keep it.

Working through colors, saturations and values right now.

Any feedback welcome!