[Riot Creative Contest 2017] Arcade Sona
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Hey all!
I'm a Sona main, and with Arcade Sona being my favorite skin of hers, I decided to illustrate a new splash art for her! I'll be posting updates in chunks, so this post will contain my reference images and initial thumbnails.
I started out with Sona, grabbing some of her splash arts and her Arcade in-game model!
Since I want the splash art to match and be consistent with the other Arcade skins, I grabbed those as well, including the group Arcade shot.
After comparing Sona's splashes to the rest of the team (especially Ez and Ahri) I realized Sona that wouldn't necessarily be in such dynamic poses, jumping around like that. To me, Sona is more reserved -- there for her allies to heal and protect them, while defeating enemies without being flashy about it. Although I do find AP Sona very fun to play as well. :^)
Either way, I wanted splash arts that depicted a more reserved manner, without being boring, which is why I grabbed Star Guardian Lulu and a couple of Janna's splash arts as well!
These references have more to do with posing and lighting. As I mentioned above, I wanted examples of something reserved yet interesting, which is where Yuna comes in. I also wanted to do bounce / underlighting so I could show the use of her Abilities / Auras, so the Great Fairy is there to remind me! I also like the "Healing at Fountains" game concept and want to reference that in the illustration. I grabbed the kneeling poses during the sketching stage, so I had reference for how her dress may lay when kneeling!
1. I believe this sketch is the most similar to Sona's other splashes, which is good because of the consistency. But because of that, it's also very safe.
2. For me, this sketch captures the "reserved but interesting" idea I wanted for Sona and I think it's really pretty! But again, I think it's a little safe compared to other splash arts Riot has put out.
3. This sketch is the one I'm leaning towards most. It's pretty much the same pose / idea as the first sketch, just with a more dynamic angle, which is what I'm looking for! The angle and proportions need work, but I want to push myself and get out of my comfort zone, which I think this sketch will do for me!
I'll do some clean up and iterations on the third sketch next.
I'm a Sona main, and with Arcade Sona being my favorite skin of hers, I decided to illustrate a new splash art for her! I'll be posting updates in chunks, so this post will contain my reference images and initial thumbnails.
Reference Images
I started out with Sona, grabbing some of her splash arts and her Arcade in-game model!
Since I want the splash art to match and be consistent with the other Arcade skins, I grabbed those as well, including the group Arcade shot.
After comparing Sona's splashes to the rest of the team (especially Ez and Ahri) I realized Sona that wouldn't necessarily be in such dynamic poses, jumping around like that. To me, Sona is more reserved -- there for her allies to heal and protect them, while defeating enemies without being flashy about it. Although I do find AP Sona very fun to play as well. :^)
Either way, I wanted splash arts that depicted a more reserved manner, without being boring, which is why I grabbed Star Guardian Lulu and a couple of Janna's splash arts as well!
Misc. Reference
These references have more to do with posing and lighting. As I mentioned above, I wanted examples of something reserved yet interesting, which is where Yuna comes in. I also wanted to do bounce / underlighting so I could show the use of her Abilities / Auras, so the Great Fairy is there to remind me! I also like the "Healing at Fountains" game concept and want to reference that in the illustration. I grabbed the kneeling poses during the sketching stage, so I had reference for how her dress may lay when kneeling!
Initial Sketches
1. I believe this sketch is the most similar to Sona's other splashes, which is good because of the consistency. But because of that, it's also very safe.
2. For me, this sketch captures the "reserved but interesting" idea I wanted for Sona and I think it's really pretty! But again, I think it's a little safe compared to other splash arts Riot has put out.
3. This sketch is the one I'm leaning towards most. It's pretty much the same pose / idea as the first sketch, just with a more dynamic angle, which is what I'm looking for! The angle and proportions need work, but I want to push myself and get out of my comfort zone, which I think this sketch will do for me!
I'll do some clean up and iterations on the third sketch next.
Replies
Hello! Here is today's update.More Reference Images
I wanted to iterate on the third sketch, so I pulled up Design Doll for better reference, making a quick and similar pose to the idea that I was going for. I also wanted to add more foreshortening to the pose, so I grabbed some of Orianna and Katarina's splash arts for further reference.
New / Iterated Sketch
With the added focus on foreshortening, the sketch turned into the one above, which I ended up liking more due to the more dynamic and action-y pose. Because of this new sketch, the concept turned from 'healing her allies' to 'rushing into battle with them'! Although I love the reserved nature of Sona, I think this idea fits in more with the other Arcade splash arts and the idea of defending and fighting in the Arcade World.
Value Thumbnails
Next were value thumbnails!
1. This was the straightforward 'focus on face / chest area, with back-lighting' which is always a good bet. I also wanted her to be using her Hymn of Valor to empower her teammates, so I added that aura, which I think will work well in the future with bounce light under her and her Etwahl. At first, I wanted Miss Fortune and Riven's abilities to be flying in the foreground and background, so I sketched them in a bit.
2. The second value pass was an attempt at the original bounce / under-light idea I had for this splash, although Sona turned out more sinister-looking that I'd wanted. Most likely due to the contrast, I think it was a little too much for the Maven!
3. I tried the top-left 3/4 lighting in this pass, and substituted MF and Riven's abilities for general flashes of light, similar to Arcade Corki's splash. I liked the lighting for this one, but it's pretty standard and I don't feel like the contrast is as great as I want it to be.
4. The last value pass was a combination of the three before; the face / chest focus and back-lighting, rim / bounce light, and the flashes of light / abilities. Contrast still needs more work, but I think it's a good starting point!
Color Thumbnails
To be honest, these are all pretty similar, with the colors of the abilities and backgrounds being the biggest differences.
I wanted to keep the color palette consistent to the other Arcade splashes, trying out some teal / orange from MF's splash to green / bright pink from Corki's. I ended up preferring 2 the most since it was the most vibrant with the saturated pink background.
Current WIP
This is where I'm currently at! I have a lot of cleaning up to do, but I'm looking forward to it! I redid her twin-tails since I didn't like the original flow and silhouette, so I think this works better.
Constructive critique is highly appreciated!!! I lost a lot of contrast with all of the bright colors, so I have to work on getting that back into the piece. Having so much going on is another concern of mine, because I want to have an obvious focal point (her face). Either way, more updates tomorrow.
Sona Reference
Including Sona's splash arts, models, and VFX!Splash Art Reference
Arcade splashes to help me match the style and feel of the Arcade Theme, then reference for how Riot handles perspective and lighting!Misc. Reference
This includes references that I used initially, but stopped using when the way of the illustration changed.I usually keep all of my references images in one giant file that I flip through, so hopefully this is a bit easier to look at.
Jan 17 2018
Alrighty, so compared to the previous WIP, Sona's pose has really changed! This was due to feedback from my friend Rachel who suggested adding more motion and flow in her pose, which I adjusted according to her feedback; pulling Sona's shoulders and head back to get a nicer arch in her back, pulling her arms out to get flow between them, and repositioning her twin-tails so they trail behind her instead of just float.
I also switched the painting to greyscale because I was having trouble cleaning up the color because I found it too distracting. I like working in greyscale for drawing illustrations because it helps with rendering, but I usually paint in color, so this doing this was a challenge for me!
Jan 18 2018
I worked on her head, hair, and torso this session, cleaning them up and adjusting positioning, especially in her head area. Her neck was really long in the previous WIP so I shortened it and tilted her head a bit more. I adjusted her arms a bit again, primarily her right arm because I wanted to start thinking about how her hands would be interacting with her keyboard (pressing buttons with her right hand and holding the joystick in the left).
Jan 19 2018
This session I sat down and started cleaning up her keyboard! Using the 3D model for Arcade Sona, I took screenshots of her keyboard from all of the standard angles (top, bottom, front, back, left, right), along with an angle similar to what I wanted in the illustration. I took the latter screenshot into Photoshop and used the Transform tool to get an even similar angle. :^)
Image with the 3D reference:
Jan 20 2018
This session I went back to working on Sona, refining her face and clothes while adding some accessories. Silhouette is pretty important so I wanted to pull her necklace upwards and to the left (which also helps with movement), along with pulling her right (our left) bra straps out to create the silhouette that her Arcade Skin is pretty known for. Or it's important to me anyway LOL.
Jan 21 2018
More refinement of her keyboard this session!! Arcade MF's splash art was super helpful in rendering her keyboard, due to the chair she's sitting on and its similar buttons and joystick. Having that reference also helped keep it in style too, which I wanted for this illustration.
I also added her earring and hair clip accessories, and did a little more work on her face!
Jan 22 2018
This session was for blocking in her skirt belt and straps, and adding the stars to her belt and hair! Fairly small but important additions.
Jan 23 2018
Here I finished rendering her keyboard (in greyscale)!! Pretty happy with how it turned out, especially with the highlights and buttons / details.
Jan 24 2018
The last thing to do was to render her arm warmers and hands some more. At this point I was satisfied with the greyscale and felt like any other details (like her hair) were things that I could take care of while doing color. Also there was only a week left so I had to get to color soon!!!
Jan 25 2018
To get into color, I Colorized the greyscale image using the Hue / Saturation Tool in Photoshop, and then I blocked in the base colors using Overlay Mode layers on top. I also broke each section into their own layers; her body, clothes, hair, and keyboard. I like keeping things separated because they're easier to change that way, rather than painting over an entire layer. :> They're also a lot more to manage that way with all of the layers, but I feel safer working that way.
I knew I wanted her using her Hymn of Valor, so I blocked that in during this session as well, having the ability come towards the camera to help with depth and make it more dynamic!
Oh, also! I painted this using Clip Studio Paint, with some Photoshop too for adjustments.
Jan 26 2018
Here I realized I didn't like the negative space above Sona's head, so I blew her up and had part of her twin-tail cut off the top. Doing this made the silhouette a bit more interesting as well, which I'm always a fan of! I rendered her some more because I felt like I lost contrast in the shading when I went into color (like the darkest darks), and added some more background and foreground elements.
The background was inspired by the Loading Background for Summoner's Rift during the Arcade Event!
Jan 29 2018
Did a lot more work on the background and foreground here, trying to accentuate the depth in the piece! I added more mesh lines to the background and turned down the contrast, as well as added the dark gradient coming from the back. The mesh lines helped with scale, while the gradients helped with perspective.
The pixel foreground and background elements were inspired by Arcade MF's confetti, and since Sona had pixels in her original splash, I thought it would be a fun idea! I really tried to have varying sizes and colors to keep it interesting, and to emphasize where in space everything was. I also rendered her bangs more this session, adding more of those darker shadows.
Jan 30 2018
Took me long enough but I finally took care of her twintails this session!!! They felt really flat in the previous WIPs so I ended up redrawing them, trying to force some perspective on them. Color helped a lot with that.
I adjusted her Hymn of Valor a bit as well, as I didn't like how it looked in the foreground and felt like the background was too straight. So I squashed and stretched them, respectively, trying to make them look more interesting. xd I began adding the underlighting her as well!
Then here is the final piece!!!! Which was mostly finalizing it with lighting, effects, and textures.
p.s. Here's a gif of my WIPs in case you were curious:
Any further feedback or critique would be super appreciated -- I always want to improve and learn more!! Thanks for reading.