Boards›[ARCHIVED] Miscellaneous

Between Two Turrets - Chat with IronStylus! [COMPLETED]

RiotA Small Man·6/17/2015, 8:04:54 PM·26 votes·100,469 views

http://na.leagueoflegends.com/sites/default/files/styles/scale_xlarge/public/upload/btt_header_final.jpg?itok=HSvllf8j

Welcome to the first installment of Between Two Turrets, a new Q&A series from the NA Community team in which we’ll connect you with various Rioters to chat about League, life, and anything in between. You can expect an installment every couple weeks or so, with Rioters from all over jumping in to spend some time with you on the boards.

First up, we’ve got concept artist (and lover of all things parrot) IronStylus!

EDIT - Alright guys, heading back to work! I'll try to check back every now and then over the next couple days so feel free to leave more questions. Great talking to you all!

Why hello! My name is Michael Maurino and I'm a Senior Concept Artist here at Riot. I currently work on the Champion Update team as one of two concept artists who are dedicated to bringing our older champions some well-deserved love. I've been at Riot for just over 4 years and have worked on each of the character content teams: Champion, Skins, and now ChampUp. During my time on these teams I've worked on some extremely fun and rewarding projects with some amazing people, helping to visually design such champions as Leona, Talon, Xerath, Skarner, Graves, Diana, and Quinn & Valor. I've designed various skins including Steel Legion Garen, Lunar Goddess Diana, Pool Party Leona, and others. While on Champion Update I've worked on such characters as Master Yi, Sejuani, Trundle, and others. Currently I'm slated to do character concept art for Taric's upcoming(tm) update and other characters as well!

You can also check out a bunch of my League-related work here.

This Q&A is wide open to discussions about my work here at Riot, artistic practices at the studio, art education, all of that! Pretty much anything that is in good taste and can be discussed openly.

In addition, what we can discuss goes beyond League, art, and game development, too. There's a lot of passions I have that I'm happy to share thoughts on and would likewise love to hear yours! I'm a parrot owner, a traditional sculptor, lover of all things sci-fi, a proponent of gender equality and positive representation of women in games, a lover of social media, and online communities (especially the League community).

I also have a tremendous interest in psychology and the workings of the human mind as someone who has dealt with anxiety and depression. It is a topic dear to my heart, and I always want to reach out to those who struggle or have struggled with mental illness.

So! Whether your questions are League related, art related, or you just want to hang out and chat about parrots, it's a big world filled with big discussions! Let's talk!

284 Comments

Toa of Death6/17/2015, 8:08:11 PM14 votes

What champs do you personally want a VU for right now? What champs do you think need it the most?

RiotMiniWhiteRabbit6/17/2015, 8:06:52 PM13 votes

You're very well-known for your "armoured ladies" -- which is to say female characters who are not only wearing armour, but who are also powerful. Leona is a great example of a more conventionally thought "strong" woman, but her counterpart, Diana, is another strong woman yet she is a slightly more unconventional.

Can you discuss your thoughts on female character design not just at Riot, but in games in general, and the kind of thought process and considerations you have when crafting your "armoured ladies," particularly more unconventional "strong women" like Diana?

Destínum6/17/2015, 9:13:38 PM11 votes

Hello IronStylus! Long time fan of yours, and I have a few things I'd love to hear your opinions/thoughts about:

  1. Mount Targon. Because of your fondness for Leona and Diana, I assume as far as lore locations goes, this one would be the closest to your heart. However, as it's pretty under defined, what do you personally think of when you hear "Mount Targon" and what direction do you feel it should take when it comes to themes? Mythology? Religion? Strength? Something else? Do you think there are any other already existing champions that could be tied to the area, like Alistar, Malphite or even Janna?

  2. With such a diverse cast of characters like League has, do you think it is important for HBTQ people to be represented, as there is already a fair amount of straight/CIS representation, or do you simply feel like league should try to stay out of political messages and simply do classic fantasy things? If you think such a representation is of importance, how would Riot or you personally try to approach making a, for example, openly gay character without it seeming like you're only making the character that way to represent the gay community?

  3. How important do you think it is for a character to be identifiable as either male or female? What is your opinion on a character that is completely gender neutral (and not technically gender neutral but identifiable as a gender like Bard) or is an equal amount of male/female and impossible to identify as one or the other alone? Is a character like this something that would work in LoL, or would it complicate things for little payoff?

You don't have to answer all the questions if you don't want to, but thank you for spending your time talking to us players!

WarWork6/17/2015, 8:15:36 PM8 votes

Hey Stylus could we get any get any info, leaks, sneak peaks or teases on Poppy's (mainly her seeing as she is an armored lady) and Taric's update?

Also I would like to know the process of creating a champion from the artiste's side. What the process is like, how long does it take, what do you do with rejected/ cancelled characters.

And do you guys at riot ever look at community created characters for inspiration and ideas? Like what happens if a member of the company conceptualized a champion you really like?

What's going on for Warwick???

Ekko Will Rekko 6/17/2015, 9:14:31 PM7 votes

Fairly Innocent question, will there be a diana skin coming out soon?

please say yes please say yes

Ashtana6/17/2015, 8:12:23 PM6 votes

Which faction of League's lore (Noxus, Demacia, Zaun, ect) would you like to see developed the most? Besides Mt. Targon, that is :P

A while back there was talk of the Yordle Unification Pass- we've already gotten Tristana and Heimer's (awesome) new looks from it, and we know Poppy's next. What other yordles do you have in mind to look at?

Raxistaicho6/17/2015, 8:15:19 PM4 votes

I've got three questions:

  1. Can you tell us about any champion projects you might be working on at the moment?

  2. Is there any chance for another female tank (We only have Leona and Sejuani as far as true tanks are concerned).

  3. Did you have any involvement in choosing Leona's voice actress?

TerraRising6/17/2015, 8:15:18 PM4 votes

Any update on the Champ Reworks? Specifically, how long before you can get to serious work on Yorick?

IAintDarius6/17/2015, 9:52:19 PM3 votes

I heard you were in the middle of the Poppy VU and rework? How close is the end date?

Besteau6/17/2015, 8:15:53 PM3 votes

Ironstylus. I am a self taught artist. Everything digital I have done I have taught myself through experimenting and tips from other artists on sites and even one of your employees. I was wondering how would I come across making a portfolio for Riot Games and what would you expect out of it? I know Toli is teaching me how to shade by doing a wire frame over the original drawing. Also, since the furthest thing I have is an associates, does the degree you have matter? I think its the amount of effort and growth from the effort that matters as well as your drive and desire to continue to do so. How do you determine a price for your artwork? How would you go about selling artwork or advertising for it? Is there anyway to see your entry portfolio you used to apply to Riot? Could you make a Bilgewater Quinn skin with a parrot please? How do you price your art? How would you set up goals and rewards in a patreon? How do you get a following so there is more demand for commissions? I have many more questions too.

Perhaps this is a long shot, Could you add me as a friend in client please?

Edit: Got to gold with Leona. Best support.

Edit2: Attached is something I'm working on. It's pretty tough when you have to find things out on your own. But I am proud of myself for getting this far. Now to keep pushing myself. My goal is to finish a champion concept page with color and move up from there at this moment in time.

I wish I could make sense of cartoon like styles so i can fluctuate between realism and cartoon.

PhoenixRed6/17/2015, 8:16:57 PM3 votes

Hey Ironstylus!

Duo? I can initiate poorly and miss all my Q's on Vi again!

No but really, here's my questions:

Oftentimes when people in the community see something art-wise they might immediately develop an impression from that which might be mistaken or which doesn't reflect the amount of work put into it.

What are the things that you wish the community understood better about the art process at Riot (or any subsequent fixes to art based on community feedback) that would allow them to gain better insight into what you and the people you work with do when it comes to creating a look and feel for champions?

Conversely, what kind of challenges or common scenarios do you encounter in the studio working in your area when communicating with other teams or areas?

And lastly, what sort of goals do you have moving forward as far as A)updating older art and B)presenting a more consistent and unified theme for art that you or your team are responsible for? Can you share some of your ideas about how the art in League can or should evolve in the future?

Thanks for doing this.

Krosan6/17/2015, 8:49:53 PM3 votes

How's Kiwi?

Kent Mojo6/17/2015, 8:57:43 PM3 votes

Hi Parrot Lord!

First of all I wanted to tell you I really love the work you've done in the past with updates, especially Sivir, who now has a lot more personality, I think. It was a shame losing you from champion design to champion update, but you've done a really great job in the past!

I also wanted to thank you for all the conversation you've had on the forums about your design process and what the community thinks champions' core themes are, like you did for Taric. You should do more of those! It's nice to get a look into the ideas behind the design end of things.

On a more personal note, thanks also for your posts about handling depression. It's nice to see successful professionals talking openly about their experiences with it. It can be hard describing something that exists in your head and won't go away no matter what you do, and especially seeing it as a real problem that deserves help, so it's reassuring to see other people talking about it.

Sorry for being such a suckup, I just think you're cool and wanted you to know.

In terms of an actual question so I'm not wasting everyone's time, I remember a while back you said you wished you could do a Quinn update. If you had the time and resources to work on her, what sort of changes do you think you would make?

333lom6/17/2015, 8:58:09 PM3 votes

Hello IronStylus! I always wanted to ask about the direction in which female champions are developing in League - when I started playing League, I, of course, browsed first through the champion pool. Leona caught my eye as a female knight, and I was amazed by the fact that such a character exists in an online game. I know there will be plenty more female champions whose primary trump card will be how attractive they are, in the conventional way. But what about intellect and brains? A lady, for whom you first spot how smart she is, rather than how pretty she is? What do you think about female characters whose primary fantasy would traditionally be called male, like miners, mechanics, scientists, etc. Is there hope one day for such iterations to appear in League? It looks like to me that there is a lot of room for that kind of champions, and I would be very happy if that were true!

Embertine6/17/2015, 8:05:49 PM3 votes

Hey Ironstylus. Leona is my second favorite champion and by far my go-to for support laning. Without her, I can honestly say my experience playing league starting back in mid season 2, and up to now, would be completely and utterly different.

So what I want to know is, what do you think would be the future for Leona? How do you see her evolving in LOL as time goes on and where do you think she will end up? How do you imagine her lore expanding in the future? Please do not give anything away yet if it has changed in any way! Simply share your thoughts on how you see her standing in the world of Runeterra and where you imagine her to be in the future. Do you think she will get any cool new skins in the future? Again don't spoil anything, a simple yes or now will do. Something like a "Super Nova" skin would be excellent for her. Where her abilities would look super charged, and she would have some cool golden armor. Okay enough about skins lol. I don't want to be the guy who pesters Riot all day about skins.

I guess the last thing I have to say really is this. If you really did base Leona's looks off of your wife, well then you are one lucky man.

JustSomeClothing6/17/2015, 8:14:40 PM2 votes

How do you normally go about designing a champion's visuals? Are most visuals based on the personality of the champion, the kit idea, or something else?

Blood Reaper6/17/2015, 9:19:44 PM2 votes

Muffins or Cupcakes? The world must know!

Aerelia6/17/2015, 9:07:56 PM2 votes

Sorry for my bad english at first.

I love your work, but it's possible that you may show us more concept arts? We can see Leona, Talon, Diana, Skarner, etc... In internet, but... I want see all _

You think that it's possible make a skin of Talon Batman? >_< I love Batman and I love Talon!

nosafterburn6/17/2015, 8:07:12 PM2 votes

so do you ever stream your artwork like Riot penguin does? If so where could I go to watch?

PsycloneJoker6/17/2015, 8:06:44 PM2 votes

I know at one point your name was being thrown around as someone working on the Cait VU. Is it still being worked on and are you still a part of it? If so how is it coming? What are some challenges you faced working on that project? Got any interesting stories about the creation process from you or your team in that project?

One last question, are you also working on the MF VU?

Phoenix Kotori 6/17/2015, 8:58:02 PM2 votes

Hi IronStylus you mentioned awhile back something about a Quinn texture update being in the works, but another rioter posted and didn't seem to know anything about such a thing, so could you update us if or if not it's gonna happen? As I'd like to know where I should keep my expectation.

Also I've suffered anxiety and depression in the past, well still anxiety sometimes, but not depression anymore since I finally started dealing with the root cause of it. But I want to ask have you tried any form of yoga, and/or mediation to help deal with it? As personally speaking I found they've helped me a fair bit.