[Riot Creative Contest 2017] - Blood Moon Xayah and Rakan

Xelandra

Hello everyone! My name is Alex and I'm a 2D Concept Artist and Illustrator. This will be my second Riot Art contest entry.

I've learned a lot over the past few years so I'm excited to see how this works out in comparison to last time.

I'm a little late to the forums because I was contemplating about what to do for a week and half (I wasn't certain if I could change the title of the post). Originally I was working towards making a Xayah Soulstealer skin, but as my Xayah playing friend had mentioned..."what about Rakan? They should be together."

She was right. NOW I'm adding Rakan and scrapping the Soulstealer idea. I thought about making my own original skin designs, but alas I got too wrapped around the idea of the Blood Moon skins.

Wish me luck! This will be a lot of work. As per the rules, I will be posting WIPs and references. 

Xelandra

CHARACTER REF: This has a lot more Xayah than Rakan because of the original direction I was going in.

Xelandra

COSTUME  REF: Photos of Traditional Japanese armor/art/depictions/kabuki/patterns/clothing..etc.. (Everything in the black box is Tengu specific) Some photos are different depictions of Tengu that I commonly saw. Also added in LoL Blood Moon art as an extra 'moodboard'.

Xelandra

MASK EXPLORATION: Some sketching - The last set at the bottom are after looking at the league blood moon ref. I may still pull from the other sketches as I work and alter coloring (Xayah and Rakan have alternate coloring in other skins. Purple/Gold - Blue/Orange). I'll be working on the full costumes next. 


SPLASH SKETCH BASE: This is fairly rough and I'm seeing a lot of flaws, but I'll iron them out as I go. The effects will change. Xayah's feathers will be kunais.

DawnHeart

Looks fantastic! I love the white versions of the mask and the splash looks nice too
I'm just not that sure about Rakan's hair it looks a bit too much like its a Shaco skin (cant remember the name) I'd consider to shorten it (maybe a bit spiky?)

Xelandra

XAYAH COSTUME CONCEPT: I may go through more colors palette ideas...but I think these are a good start. Once I have Xayah's costume figured out I should be able to put Rakan's costume together quickly.
 

DawnHeart

Xelandra said:

XAYAH COSTUME CONCEPT: I may go through more colors palette ideas...but I think these are a good start. Once I have Xayah's costume figured out I should be able to put Rakan's costume together quickly.
 

Number 3 totally rocks it! 
I wouldnt change too much it reall does look good! I'm really digging it. 
When u go for Rakan I wouldnt go for long hair tbh it doesnt rly look like him but you did very well with Xayahs hair keeping that ponytail on the shoulder!

AndresDunkel

The number 3 seems more Xayah

Xelandra

Still deciding on poses so I can finally go ahead and block stuff in. :P I'll be doing more.

One doesn't work because of where Rakan's sleeve will be. Two and three may cover too much of Rakan.

Xelandra

Another sketch

Xelandra

RAKAN COSTUME CONCEPT UPDATE

Xelandra

SPLASH UPDATE: Refining the sketch and going to be blocking in soon.

BeccaBeeArts

I'm super excited to see more progress on this!
Rakan and Xayah are two of my favorite characters, and the blood moon skins are so cool (your designs are great!)

JoPainter

Looking forward to seeing more! Love the idea

TheIceWolves

Rakan

Xelandra

Changed the posing again. I just want to make sure it's "clean" enough so I can start painting. I don't want to have to paint over some really flawed mistakes. I was going to flip the image and show the other sides of their costumes (depending how I'm feeling and how much time I have...I will probably do it). PHEW this is stressing me out...but it's really my fault for picking up a contest while being a full-timer and wanting to do personal work and studies. I'll have to sleep on this image.

Xelandra

Update: Black and White for value - still refining this.

Xelandra

Some first bits of coloring and refining.

Xelandra

More tuning and refining. The next few pics are me messing around with what I want.

Xelandra

Color Pass - darkening everything because it all felt too bright for moonlight.

Xelandra

Current state : Needs way more detail and refining. Once I get some more bulk pieces laid out and fixed up, the detail should come along much quicker and then I can add cool effects and liven up the piece more.

Liichan

I absolutely adore your entry! The splash art's angle look balanced, there's no one 'dominating' the picture as a whole-- it's Rakan and Xayah, in balance! However, I feel like you could play more with the lighting, the contrast is a bit...lacking? I hope to see this excellent piece finished! Good luck

Xelandra

Liichan said:

I absolutely adore your entry! The splash art's angle look balanced, there's no one 'dominating' the picture as a whole-- it's Rakan and Xayah, in balance! However, I feel like you could play more with the lighting, the contrast is a bit...lacking? I hope to see this excellent piece finished! Good luck

I totally agree about the contrast. It's something I'm adding after since I want to build it up. I usually work from dark to light.

Thank you!

EraiViolett

Hey there! Great entry, though hurry up!! we all in here pressuring xD.
One small advice: Both of their hands near us are almost the same size, but the hands that are close together, Xaya's is too small and Rakan's is too big, I suggest make xaya's a bit bigger and rakan's a bit smaller

Xelandra

Still a wip - needs lighting adjustments/effects/kunai/more details

I should have this done by the deadline on Wednesday.

Xelandra

Should be done tomorrow. More to detail and more to add.

Xelandra

PHEW
I think it's finished BUT I'm not going to submit it just yet. I want to let this simmer.

Xelandra

I think I'm all set here. This was quite the learning experience for me and I hope it was a great learning experience for everyone else too.

Good luck!