Splash art. This is perhaps the main “Oooo, I wanna do that” thing for so many illustrators. What better game to create such art for than Riot Game’s League Of Legends.
LoL, released in 2009, was inspired by Defense of the Ancients which I used to play back when it was a Warcraft3 thing. It’s a 5-a-side battle arena game where you select your heroes an try to destroy your opponents’ base. Straightforward, but with so many possibilities, both in terms of the visuals and gameplay tactics.
One thing that really fires up my imagination is the League Of Legends Splash art for the 140 playable Champions. Appearing usually while a game loads, splash art is attention-grabbing, dynamic, and highly rendered. Take a look below at a handful of images done for the game by various artists…
Vayne splash art
Feel the festivity with the Firecracker Vayne by senior illustrator at Riot, Bo Chen. Also check out this interview by Bobby Chiu with him about his journey and work.
Morgana splash art
Definitely one of my favourites. Done by Alex Flores, senior artist at Riot.
Sylus
By Victor Maury – Senior Concept artist at Arcane.
More of Sylus, including character concept images and VFX can be found on the Artstation art blast for his release here.
Neeko
by Atey Ghailan, Creative Director at ENVAR.
Riven
By Chengwei Pan, Principal Illustrator at Riot Games
This skin for Riven was painted for the Spirit Blossom event. You can see the art blast for here on Artstation.
LeBlanc
By freelance concept artist and illustrator, Francis Tneh.
Thresh
By David Villegas, concept designer and illustrator.
Porcelain Kindred splash art
This awesome piece of a porcelain Kindred was done by Deiv Calviz/David Villegas. See more of his work over on Artstation, and check out the process video for the illustration below.
Want to see more?
There is some much more to see. For each character, there are multiple skins and a splash to go with it. If you want to check that out, head on over to the Champions List on the LoL site.
Definitely be sure to check out the Artstation profiles of the artists mentioned here too. There is no shortage or amazing treats for your eyeballs. Some have even included process videos with their pieces which I always enjoy watching.
Want to learn?
Reference photos are key to making League Of Legends splash art. Get into the head, the attitude, and the pose of your character and snap a few shots. You can read more about that over at this Nexus article.
If you are looking for some tutorials, take a look at this post with 10 digital painting tutorials for $5 or less on Artstation. Some of those listed have actually gone up in price… just a heads up.
If you are just getting started, and looking for an affordable drawing tablet, you might want to take a look at this post.
So who is your favourite League Of Legends character that you’d want to see the art behind?
*All images © RiotGames or their respective copyright holder.
