The Idea/References

For this project i wanted to work on creating moving illustrations for characters or cinematic scenes. This was an idea I had for the Pitch bible project, but instead on working on a short animation video with moving illustrations, I instead wanted to do animated splash art like League of legends and Cookierun kingdom, as I have been a fan of the games loading screen moving illustrations and style also animated splash art brings static illustrations to life, using subtle motion to enhance atmosphere, mood, and storytelling.  I showed my pitch idea to a lecture going over the details of all my plans, goals and references. 

 

The reason Iam doing this idea was to try animating a character using the Puppet tool in After Effects and have a go animating and compositing in the software and showcase storytelling of my characters based on its illustration.  It adds life to the static image  and subtle animations like glowing eyes, drifting smoke, or cloth movement make an artwork feel alive.

I studied videos and artworks how various Riot splash artists such as ‘Jennifer Wuestling’ a Senior Illustrator at Riot Games and Cookierun Kingdom artists like Ghim Naheun and Jeong Hyejin from STUDIO KINGDOM, the development team behind the game’s visuals, created stunning character artworks. My main inspiration came from a timelapse of a fanart of an in- game character and the process of the splash art login screen animation.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DODw__3EalU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=aTdvNXExM3hxYzEz  

Character Animated illustration reference [Cerydra]

Inspiration for animated splash art project [Neeko Animated Illustration – League of Legends – Timelapse [Fanart]by Vaanek

 

 

 

Mood board of refences for “Male character, Lycon”

In week 1 I created a mood board of my characters from Semester 2 Pitch Bible project. The mood board includes artwork references and inspiration from artists and different media, pose ideas for the composition, thumbnail ideas and character references. This time around for this project as its a solo project, I focused on redesigning the characters with animated elements that are simple to draw and rig in After Effects. As for the art style, I was inspired by Riots “Soul Fighter Splash Art champion skins. The bold, almost comic like  line art spark great interest to me as my own art style are inspired from comic artists and Social media content artists such as “Par0lell and Vivienne Medrano. The vibrant colours also make the artwork stand out on its own, gives it life and energy which I wanted to recreate in my own project.

[Soul Fighter Splash arts], inspiration for the mood and bold line art style

Previous Lycon design

Redesign of Lycon

For the first character that i wanted to create an animated splash art for, I needed to keep in mind what elements would be easy to rig and give a sense of motion like his hair for instance acts as like the end of a wolfs tail in a way. I wanted to change some aspect of his character and design to fit his “lone wolf assassin vibe by including some wolf motifs such as “claws on the toe end of his combat boots the fur on his jacket and the fang/teeth like design on his twin blades. As the world he resides in is a mix of fantasy and sci or urban fantasy, I changed his clothing to fit his world as profession.

Even though he is an assassin, I didn’t want to give the imagine of a standard assassin in media but as a hunter or mercenary of sorts. The colours I choose are dark in nature as part of his personality with some lighter purple accents in his clothing that give shim a mysterious almost magical like feel. The red pink colour in his blades serves as a connection to the were beasts he sought to hunt, another character I wanted to create an illustration for the project. This serves as a link between him and the beastly of the creatures he swore to not become or a reminder to not give into the beast but control it.

Mood board of refences for a creature “the Werebeast”

During the week 1, the same process for the Lycon, I applied to the second character the “Werebeast”. This creature was a concept from the Pitch Bible project and story wise has a connection to the male character, Lycon. The redesign of the character is an improvement from the concept art I did of the previous design. I changed his body shape to be more muscular and broad in appearance, visually I wanted to enhance its primal beastly essence. The number of crystals going across his back is reduced as it would be easer to animate and draw, the tuffs of fur with red pink highlights are inspired by lions mane and a character from league of legends Naafiri. The artstyle is the same for Lycon inspired by Riots’ SOUL FIGHTER skins in League of legends. Moreover, I removed the sigils/line from its libs and subbed them with veins flowing from the crystal growths protruding out from the joint of its arms and legs. The reason was then when i rigged them in After effects the lines would not line up well with the poses I had in mind, on top of that I thought it didn’t quite fit well with the design of the character as I wanted to make it look it bit more wild looking.

Previous design

Redesign of the Werebeast

 

 

Research/Develpoment

The first page i focused on gathering my thoughts and ideas onto paper and while drawing out the rough sketches, I constantly keep thinking about what elements can be animated who are what is the main focus point in the composition, any dynamic poses that can enhance the focus on the main subject, what would the lighting be or place etc.

I started off with “Lycon” first has he was the main character from my Pitch Bible in the last semester. For the thumbnail sketches I wanted to portray him as a “man of action” a person how gets the job done fighting against the Werebeast monsters. I also wanted the focal point to be the twin daggers, as its an important story element to him. I did need to keep in mind when I was sketching how many layers or elements was going to be animated. I didn’t want too much yet too little elements in the illustration to be animated.

Thumbnail page one [lycon]

Initially the number 4 on page one seemed more dynamic but the pose and angle didnt showcase his full body and also barley had any good animated elements for it so it was scrapped.

Thumbnail page 2

In the end after receiving feedback from one of the lectures, the best ones was either 3 or 4 in which I did a more detailed sketch of the thumbnails. I picked no 4 as that one feels more powerful visually, its dynamic and links back into the narrative of him being a quick and fast assassin. It also includes many elements that can give motion and life to the illustration as well.

 

Thumbnail no 3

Thumbnail no 3 i s set in the woods, I wasn’t a big fan of his pose, although the arc of the blade cutting the creatures in the foreground looks appealing and was inspired by the visual effects from characters of SOUL FIGHTER from League of Legends , the placement of his right leg near the foreground wasn’t a good idea so I scrapped it.

Thumbnail no 4 [chosen]

Lycon dashes through the corridor of what seems to be a high tech facility in which he cuts through the pack of Werebeasts from his tail, his focus is sharp as a blade

As for the thumbnail process for splash art ,I researched and looked up videos and artists on how they approached it. Examples include illustrators who worked on Riots splash art  :

This video is the first part of Aaron Min’s tutorial series on creating animated splash art, introducing the early stages of the process such as concept development, composition, and sketching. I followed the way he gathered references, from rough thumbnails to the technical work around it and applied it to my own work.

 

This video showcases the sketch stage of creating “Kindred” splash art—part of the League of Legends series—where the artist explores and refines more dynamic poses as the initial step in developing the final piece. I focused more so on the thumbnailing process and how he used 3d assets to create an environment and get the correct perspective and dynamic angle of the illustration.

More references and inspiration for splash art process:

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ZaxxJ1

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/aq6ek

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Ev100n

Pose reference and inspiration for Lycon

the Werebeast thumbnail page

 

Thumbnail no 4

Inspiration for posing [Werebeast]

I went with no 4 for the Werebeasts. I quite liked how low his body posture looks as I wanted to showcase his beastly nature an almost feral look to the character. The background and the elements in the forground helps to frame him in the composition as the central figure. Its claws rake and create claw marks on the ground, gives it and unstable feel. The pink red colour scheme of the moon and environment elements creates a domain where the creature rules this desolate place.

Once the two sketches was finalised, I moved onto the illustration process, in which I encountered many mishaps that I will discuss later in the next sections.

 

Illustration

The software I used for the illustration was Clip Studio Paint as it seems similar to Photoshop and I was able to export files as a PSD file and import them into After Effects.

First I worked on Lycon first, starting the refining the rough thumbnail sketch then adding more and refining the details. I worked on the background just refining and correcting the perspective. I looked through Sketch fab and Pinterest to find a good sci fi corridor for the background and thought through what design on the layout of the corridor would be.

Sketchfab screenshot of corridor for reference

First sketch of corridor layout

I changed the position of the lights to better suit the mood and atmosphere of artwork.

 

Second sketch design

This one felt more “open spaced” and less cluttered than the previous version, however I did included some features back like the slitted parts of the vents.

I wanted to use greyscale to determine the dark and lighter values so I can use the Gradient map to try out different colour scheme that fit the mood.

For the light source I used the layer mode Add Glow to enhance the bright vlues of the light and give it a bright glow to illuminate the scene. I also added in the Werebeasts silhouette chasing and entering through the door, I added in some motion blur to make it seem like its moving.

After the sketch I moved onto the line art of Lycon which took quite a while, as I needed to figure out which elements would move and separate those pieces into folders. I did the same process with the colouring part. I did encounter some instances where some coloured parts would over lap with the lineart too much to the point its visible, so I either had to erase that part out or separate it differently which worked out in the end.

I followed a useful tutorial on how to separate pieces that have line art in them and how to animate them into After Effects.

The art style is a mix of bold sharp edges to enhance to ferocity and  the rough scratches and various line weight in the foremost area of the characters are aspects that I was inspired by from the SOUL FIGHTER artworks.

 

Color coded separated elements that would move

Organized layers into folders for better organization and allows for flexibility in terms moving parts around using using clipping masks for layer modes etc.

Sketch with coloured flats

Finished lineart with over lapping lines in their own respected folders

Completed colour flats

Lycon with grayscale background and with basic lighting.

Once I coloured the flat colours on the character, I went back to the background and added Gradient map layer. I wanted to include mostly cool colours to make the pinks and purples stand out more from the color and give it a cold tense like atmosphere. I played around with a blue red colour scheme, to achieve a cold futuristic mood to the scene.

Gradient map settings

 

To add more depth to the background, I duplicated the Gradient map layer and using the soft easer tool, I erased the area where I wanted it lighter, then on top I added in yellow lines on the floor and set the layer to overlay.

Yellow lines with Overlay mode

Unfortunately after this stage, the file became corrupted when I wanted to transfer the data from my USB drive to my laptop which ended in a loss for all the progress that I had done, which includes the extra lighting in the background, the shading of the character and any filters and effects I might I have. The only last screenshot of the progress I had was sort of enough for me to remember where I had left off. Nevertheless, I told Sarah the problem and suggested I work on the other character instead as time was running out. I decided to come back to Lycon later if I had the time but I would not have time to rig it in After effects. I focused on the Werebeast splash art and once I finished the animation, I later went back to finish Lycons’ illustration but no time to animate it.

Last documented progress

Later I added Adjustment layer to change the lighting. The red contrasts the blues well and gives it a tense danger like moment in the scene.

More adjustments and lighting to the background

I added in a Werebeast chasing him through the corridor, moreover the I wanted to include some action in the scene by making one of the Werebeast lying on the ground appear to be decapitated. I planned on adding in some motion blur at the end of the illustration to give a sense of motion and speed.

 

Added shading an lighting to the character, using blending modes “Multiply and Add Glow or Color Dodge in some areas.

For the shading of the character, I choose a dark blue to match the surrounding environment and adds a bit of contrast to the strong red light source. I added in some of the pink red rim lighting from the “aura” coming out from his twin blades. The colour chose stems from his story that he has a connection with the Werebeast and sort of uses their corruptive beast like power but does it with noble intentions. The yellow in the slash is similar to his eye color and shows how much he is still in control of this power.

slashing aura inspired by SOUL FIGHTER league of legends skin style

Merged all layer blend modes and added Screen layer on the slashes for it to glow and become transparent.

I then added in some motion directional lines to insinuate motion and motion blur to the character, environment and the Werebeasts. And so the illustration is completed. Nevertheless due to loss of time I was unable to to animate and rig the splash art.

Finished Artwork

 

For the Werebeast, it was the same process I had done for Lycon. Form the rough thumbnail I first focused on the environment and figured out what the back ground, middle ground and foreground.

Thumbnail sketch

Background in grayscale

Foreground

Middle ground

Background

Using the same technique I used for Lycons’ splash art background, I wanted the environment to feel desolate and feel like the domain of a monstrous creature. The sharp shapes of the a mountains and rocks, the art style is semi realistic with soft soft and hard shading, an inspiration from Riots League of legends background.  For the colour scheme, I picked pinks near the warm section of the co0lor wheel and some greens and purples to complement the colours with each other. The sky I used the evening sky graident map and adjusted the settings to match the atmosphere.

Gradient map for the sky and clouds

Gradient map for background, for atmospheric perspective, I wanted everything further way to look faded in the distance and achieve depth. Added in a blur filter

For the middle ground is where the character would be placed and I had the idea of including in glowing claw marks that would add a bit of character and interest to the composition. Later I would add a pulsing glow of the claw marks in After Effects. The foreground , I used the same gradient map settings as the middle ground and darked the values and added a blur effect to show depth and make the Werebeast as the focal point of the scene.

Finished background

For the Werebeast, I cleaned up the sketch lower the opacity and started to organize what elements would be animated. I then finished the line art then worked on the colours following the redesign ref of the creature.

Sketch

Sketch against background

 

Lineart completed

Color flats completed and separated into layers

Shading process

For shading I used a Multiply layer for shadows and shading and strategically painted each part and I was aware where the light source was during the process.

Seeing how the moon is the main light source, I painted where the light hits the character, I also included the light source coming from the claw marks on the ground as well. I did change my mind as to where the smoke/flame would come from. Instead of of it coming from his mouth I changed it to appear near his eye. I wasn’t a fan of the flame coming out from his mouth as it did obstruct some of his face a bit so I changed the position of it .

Eye flame addition

For the finishing touches, I added in some blur on the body, near the tail and rear leg so the viewer can focus their eyes on the important aspects of the character. For more ghastly atmosphere, I added in some smoke/fog effects around the character

Finished Artwork

 

 

Animation

The programme I wanted to use was After Effects, however I saw in some time-lapses of Riot Splash Art that they use Spine 2D, which am unable to use due to its expensive price. But After Effects was the next best thing to use as one of its features has the Puppet tool that allows you to rig and move images . For the Werebeast I research some videos on how to rig hair or fur without the use of a Script. I also had to keep in mind that due to my low specs on my laptop, I had only 8GB of ram which is not idle for rendering or working in After effects so I had to close down any programmes I wasn’t using  or stuff working in the background, delete cache on After Effects and adjust some settings in “Preferences”. I also changed the Preview resolution to as low as I can to reduce lag in After Effects, which helped a lot.

Error message pops up about Low Memory

Changed settings for Ram availably for other applications

 When importing in the Werebeast illustration, I was unaware that you can import a Photoshop file and it can update  any changes you have made, instead in the past I would export each individual layers/pieces which was a time consuming process. In Clip Studio Paint saved the file as a PSD and import it into After Effects and retaining layer sizes so the boundary box is surunding each piece instead of the entire file size.

After importing the files, I went into the Werebeast composition that was automatically created  and started to mask each layer so when I add in the Puppet Tool the mesh boundary would stay within the masked area and easy to rig.

Ear with masking

Fur masking

Once I masked every piece, I when onto adding Parent and Child links, so If I move the head the pieces of the head e.g.. eyes ears, jaw etc, would move with each other. The idea for the Werebeasts animation was a simple body movement of it moving its forearm slightly clawing against the ground, his head moves in a sort of circular motion and the jaw would jitter as if its growling at the viewer. The eyes would squint slightly then open back again, the fur and tail would sway as if there is the presence of wind. The flame coming out from his eye and the smoke will be animated as well.

I placed the puppet pins in places that would move, the more I place the pins to more smooth and range of motion the layer would have. For most of the pieces like the fur, tail and ears, I place one or two pins near the base of it so it would not move and be stationary through out the rigging process.

Placing Puppet pin tool on tail

Additionally I wanted to add some loop to the illustration so for example for the tail, each pin would have its own loop set to “pingpong”. KI played around with the timing of each piece so it flows well altogether.

Added Puppet pins to smoke/fog effect.

I then came across an issue where after I made changes to the torso and the eye flame in Photoshop, for some reason the files names got mixed up. The torso was named “tail” and the rear leg was named “torso” I tried refreshing the footage but it did not work. Thankfully, I solved the problem by importing the files with the correct names and it worked.

Problem with layer file

For the pulsing glow effect of the claw marks, I added a “Soild” layer  to the composition in the colour of the the claw marks and set the layer to Color Dodge for the glow effect. I then masked around the area that would have the glow effect then using the opacity timer, I randomised the glow of the claw marks

Added key frames to the Opacity timer for pulsing effect and set everything to “Easy Ease”

All pieces rigged and animated

For rendering the animation the settings I did was 25fps at 1080p resolution in HD. I made sure i set the motion blur on before I rendered it out.

 

Final Reflection

Overall, creating this animated splash art was both a technical and artistic journey that pushed me to explore the storytelling power of visual design. Inspired by the dynamic presentation styles of Riot Games, Honkai: Star Rail, and Cookie Run: Kingdom, I aimed to capture the same sense of energy, depth, and atmosphere that makes their splash arts feel alive. The process challenged me to think critically about composition, lighting, and motion, while also experimenting with timing and effects to enhance the character’s personality. Through this project, I learned how animation can transform static artwork into an immersive experience, making the character more memorable and engaging. Even through all the mishaps and technical issues that I have encountered. With that said, now I have a collection of new skills that I can work on and evolve with so many new projects to come in the future!