Diana of the Dead

blue_skies · Oct 2014

Finally figured out where I'm going with this. Although I haven't played her much lately, Diana was my first main and my first love in League. Plus, you know, Halloween and such. So, Day of the Dead Diana!

First, initial concepts:

Still need to do concepts for her scythe, but I'm pretty happy with where this is going right now.

dapperowl · Oct 2014

I think the bottom right is the strongest so far, i'd expand on that (but maybe making her top dark as well, so that the only things that stand out will be her skin, hair and the bones painted onto the black.

chewie105 · Oct 2014

I like #4.
can have like an undershirt shot (like in the anime). or an overhead shot. but the thing with skirt is that you want to have it flying; not entirely, but just enough. also. she's wearing something underneath so you wont really see "it" anyways.

awied18 · Oct 2014

I agree with #4 being the best out of all of them

blue_skies · Oct 2014

Cleaned up the initial concept a bit and did some colour thumbs. I considered going with a darker scheme so that her lighter areas (skin, moon symbol, hair, bones) really stood out (as per dapperowl's suggestion), but ultimately decided that while it would definitely look really cool, it wouldn't hold true to the concept. I want to veer less towards Halloween, and more towards Day of the Dead, which is traditionally a very bright and colourful celebration.

Anyway, with these I think I'm currently leaning towards 1, 3, and 4. 3 is my favourite, but I'm not sure if it's bright enough...

And, just for fun, here's an image of the current (and so far, only) file I'm working in. When concepting, I tend to keep everything on one ever expanding canvas (I think it's around 12,000 pixels right now >.>) Most of my reference is just on my other screen, but sometimes I pull stuff straight into the document.

dapperowl · Oct 2014

I think i'm leaning towards 5 on this one, all the other outfits have very drab and desaturated colour schemes, while 5 really pops as bright and festive. Though I'm not sure on the yellow bones...

crownedking · Oct 2014

I quite like number 3!
The color scheme really suits Diana's personality, the others, not so much.
I also like outfit concept number 3 as well, the long dress is very beautiful, and it also suits her personality since it isn't too frilly or flower-y.

Flaxor · Oct 2014

I am in love with this idea!! The colours are all very nice, I do like number 5 or 6 if there were more blue or no blue. The blue looks a little lonely among the other colours you see.
Looking forward to the illustration!

Domax · Oct 2014

Very nice idea! I prefer the 3, 4 and 5 ones for the colours. Her sword could be modificated too. Maybe bones could be interesting

blue_skies · Oct 2014

Yeah, still need to do her weapon. Totally placeholder right now.

Thanks for all the great input guys... right now I'm stuck between deciding to tone it down to match her personality, or brighten it up to match the theme. Augh! >.<

TheNatasha · Oct 2014

Number 5 colour scheme looks super good

blue_skies · Oct 2014

Did some more detailed passes on her colour... and changed up the top of her dress a little bit, to give it a more authentic Mexican vibe as well as to fit her character a little better (slightly less frilly!).

Played around with that for a bit, then, since everyone liked it so much, did one with colour scheme #5... and I think you guys may be right. >.<

I swear one day soon I'll start the actual illustration. I just... I just love concepting. >.>

Domax · Oct 2014

Nice! That's better with the colors. I like the x ray glowing bones. I prefer the 1st and the 2nd ones. Keep it up!

crownedking · Oct 2014

Wow! These are starting to look absolutely gorgeous!
The 2nd and 3rd ones are perfect! The 2nd one more so, simply because there's a lot more contrast! Giving the floating skulls that glowy blue would also look wondrous.
I might suggest spicing her hair up a bit (currently it's a bit too similar to her original), maybe add some colorful strands, braids, curls, flowers, etc. (search up traditional mexican hairstyles might help)
Hope I helped ^^

blue_skies · Oct 2014

Alright! After procuring a temporary replacement for my ailing tablet, I've finally started some compositions.

(also, I agree on the hair crownedking - planning on working that in)

Been feeling pretty intimidated by all of the awesome and somehow flawlessly dynamic compositions I've been seeing here... by default I tend to gravitate towards designy, semi-abstracted compositions, so I did the vertical one below first. I do like it, but I know it's not quite Riot, so after some flailing, I managed to work out the latter, which actually has background and story and such. Diana is throwing a Crescent Strike (thought I might make it at Thresh, since I don't want to really detail the other character and he has a nice silhouette. Also, death guy.). The background will be decorated with flowers and candles and day of the dead stuff.

Thoughts? Full background images aren't something I get around to very often, but hopefully this will be a step in the right direction.

disanski · Oct 2014

woow

loving this

Keep it up!!

blue_skies · Oct 2014

(Extremely messy) value comps. At first I was sure I was going with the first one, but now I think I like the second best. Can't ever resist a good backlight. :P

Doodle things · Oct 2014

Nice work!

naomi · Oct 2014

perhaps you do not need to make it harder on yourself (if you are not comfortable with full backgrounds as it is) by adding an opponent into the scene, and she is looking into the camera

just an idea, by all means challenge yourself.. but oftentimes it is easier (and more convincing) when you play to your strengths and have fun- it will show~ leave the hardcore struggle to studies ^__^

looking good and good idea, thanks for your comment!

blue_skies · Oct 2014

Yeah, I may or may not go with that.. it just felt weirdly off balance to have her throwing a Q and not hitting anyone. :P I'll play around with it some more. In any case, if I do leave it in, it's going to be very much silhouettey.

Thank you!

Fetus · Oct 2014

I think the backlight works better, creates more of a dramatic look to it. Though her Q is more visible in the first one.. I also like the candles(?) you put to the background, having overall a dark picture would make them pop out :O Maybe you could try combining the 2 value comps? Like, a faint backlight from moonlight or something would make it dark enough for highlights to pop out better.

Can't wait to see the finished version!

blue_skies · Oct 2014

A much cleaner version of the previous comp... now with clothes! Her right hand and weapon are missing at the moment, because the way she's holding it weirds my brain out and I want to take some reference pictures to figure it out.

Also, I quickly roughed in some hip flap.. things (technical term?), and flowers for her shoulders, since those are sort of Diana staples and I thought it'd help her silhouette be more recognizable.

blue_skies · Oct 2014

Relatively minor edits... adjusted her right arm (and drew it!), got that khopesh in there, adjusted her pose some, and roughed out some shadow lines. Thinking I'm about ready to start doing the clean version..

Also, weapon!

blue_skies · Oct 2014

Here we go... colour!

blue_skies · Oct 2014

More progress. Think I'm gonna change the flower on her left shoulder to match the one on her right.

viniciusbortoletto · Oct 2014

Really loved the desing and the colors you chosed. In case you didn't notice, her eyes are eash one looking in a different direction. And about the flower, I think it would be behind her weapon, barely showing. The pose also looks a little stiff. You could use more movement on the legs, maybe flex it a little bit. Just suggestions haha.

Diana of the Dead

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