With the Mount Targon short bios hitting the PBE, and my hope for an incoming Mount Targon Lore Event plus 
VU, I am wondering where this amazing artist is and how his armor crafting skills will amaze us with 's VU. (wishful thinking?)
RiotIronStylus9 votesHiya. Indeed, as the handsome and exotic Kindlejack said, I'm around. Indeed, I'll be back in force at some point I'm sure.
2015 was an interesting year to say the least. What occurred last year for me in my personal and professional life is still sort of reverberating beyond just those exclusive life events. I've had a lot to do, a lot to think about, and a lot to adjust to with the happenings of 2015. Honestly, everything that came out of last year put me in a better place, objectively speaking. I'm happier, stronger and more in touch with how I've grown and what I have to do to continue to do so. Growth comes from success and movement but also comes from loss and struggle.
With those struggles, those times of muscle-tearing growth, friends like Kindlejack have been and continue to be indispensable. I've learned a lot from last year. The biggest being how the people in your life matter, in what capacity they matter, and how they either help you move forward, or drag you down. I'm lucky to say that in my life I'm surrounded by the former type of people. Those who've been a beacon of light, which not only has helped me move out of the dark, but shine in a way where I can see my reflection in a way I had not before. I've been looking out to the horizon, but very much looking at the person in the mirror.
That said, yep, I'm still here. Some things are the same, some things are different. Different as they may be, I'm looking forward in 2016 with a mindset of appreciation and cautious hope. Lots to do. Lots to say.
Lots to be grateful for :)
Ralanr4 votes[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]
Great to hear from you Ironstylus! Glad to hear you're doing alright.
ZiPS5 votesIt makes me happy every time I see your name pop up in the red-tracker. I've always loved the amount of your voice that shows in yours posts. Glad to see you again.
Garentheon1 votesGasp. I am not worthy Lol Geat to hear from you. And great to see that you're doing better
Decrit1 votesrock it on Stylus
[slayer-jinx-wink]
1Ferdinand11 votesDid your parrot come back?
RiotIronStylus3 votesYes, she did. She got lost twice actually and came back both times. I was relieved.
In the end though, I had to give my birds explicitly to my wife, as I was unable to give them the attention they needed alone.
That's a whole other story, however.
1Ferdinand11 votesHappy to hear it. Not much for the second part [zombie-nunu-tears]
FlashnFuse1 votesThat sounds rough man. Honestly, take as much time as you need. They say that time heals all wounds, and it sounds like you need a lot of time.
RiotKindlejack5 votesAs a player I always felt like IronStylus' posts were tremendously humanising; they reminded me that Riot is a company full of real people with real opinions and lives. Now I have the privilege of working along side him every day and it's still kind of unreal. Let me just remind you, in his stead, that we are real people and sometimes real life just takes precedent over work - no matter how passionate you are. With that said I think he'll be back on the forums in due time. He certainly inspired me to be active here even before I joined Riot so the least I can do is return the favour >:P
Sometimes it can also be a little unclear what each of us do at Riot. I'm a concept artist on the Skins Team; that means that I spend almost all my time designing skins for champs. IronStylus is currently a concept artist on the Champ Update; so he's designing the new look for champions on the update roster. Foundations is the team that works on updating lore and world building, and they have their own cadre of awesome artists! Sometimes we change teams to bring new insights and experience, but that's where we are right now (and that's why I almost exclusively talk about skins).
As for Panth, of course, we definitely want to VU him but he's not in the works right now.
Ralanr2 votesI hope Ironstylus gets to work on 's design when a VU happens. It feels fitting since he's done 
and 
.
RiotKindlejack3 votesMe too, I know he'd do an awesome job!
Garentheon1 votesThanks for the reply. I really appreciate the time you put into it. I've been on the forums before talking about , posting art designs and having some discussions with IronStylus himself. Please tell him I am a huge fan, to keep up the amazing work, he rocks, put pants on Panth lol, and thank you
RiotKindlejack3 votesHey thanks for caring about our Targonian paragon! I can tell you that, because Panth right now is super generic and a little too familiar in his design, when he does get a VU there'll be some dramatic visual changes. I don't know what they are because he isn't being VU'd any time soon, but be prepared for change >:)
Garentheon1 votesYYYAAASSSSSS (lol) I am so with it dude. My body is so prepared
Ralanr1 votesAs long as he still has a helmet that hides his face, then I shall be content.
I like those kinds of helmets.
Nagoh Shan1 votesWhat if people like the design?
Should people who like how he looks now not buy skins, and wait to see what he ends up like?
RiotKindlejack2 votesYou can take a look at previous visual updates such as Twitch, Sion, Gangplank and Poppy to get an idea of how VUs affect skins. We try to keep the thematic the same and just update the quality, while the base often changes more drastically.
Note Pantheon is not being VU'd at the moment, so it could be quite a while still.
Nagoh Shan1 votesThanks for the response. That's a pretty big range in change though.
Sion was completely overhauled with no Traditional skin, Gangplank was changed dramatically but got a traditional skin.
Twitch and Poppy both had the feeling of fidelity upgrades rather than full visual reworks like Sion.
I just don't want another Fiora situation where I regret buying skins. Especially when traditional skins are on an "as we feel like it" basis.
RiotKindlejack3 votesWe don't create traditional skins anymore. Gangplank was as strange exception because of the event where his new skin and his update were switched.
Skins team are a little more involved in the updates on champion's skins now. I think Lollipoppy is a good example of ensuring some of the charm of the old skin is respected in the update. Ultimately though taste is subjective, so just keep in mind that skins get updated along with the base.
Retillin1 votesWhy was Poppy's anvil removed from her Blacksmith skin? I've never gotten an answer on it. That fact alone makes me regret having bought the skin.
RiotKindlejack1 votesI'm not sure, you can see in the concept that the shape was still there so it must have been a decision based on 3D constraints such as her new animations.
Retillin1 votesWhy would that hammer constrain her new animations? I have no idea about animations, so I'm a bit of a noob there. But with Lollipoppy the different hammer didn't seem to hurt that skins animations.
RiotKindlejack1 votesI don't know because I didn't work on it, but if the model is changed from the concept it's usually because of animation limitations. I'll let the champ up team know you miss the anvil though, it's good to get that kind of feedback so thank you!
ArcticSirius1 votesI'm curious as to where you could foresee his Fullmetal skin going in terms of direction. Do you believe it could meet along the lines of FM Jayce with a processed voice to match, or maybe refine and rename it to a PROJECT skin with not only processed vo but added particles as well? Personally I have no idea what could happen to it, though I would like to see a processed vo at the very least (probably why I've mentioned it twice here).
RiotKindlejack1 votesIn the past I don't think we've added new vfx or sound to old skins that didn't previously have them. There would be a conversation about whether to change it to look like FM Jayce/Rammus, or stay true to the almost 'junkyard' design of the original. I'm only guessing here but I think we'd be confident losing the scrappy element and instead making it look battle-worn.
ArcticSirius1 votesSo a possible renaming if that route is taken to help keep themes reatively the same? I don't own the skin, but I find the possibilites that could happen for this skin interesting
Lucifer1 votesBaker skin confirmed
RiotReav34 votesPantheon will for sure need a full VGU and change pretty dramatically. He's a bit too genetic Spartan guy right now and really should be a unique version of LoL's embodiment of War.
There are a few champions that need it more then him right now though. Hopefully with the larger size of the champ update team it's not TOO long before we get to him :)
Being as IronStylus is on the Champion Update team these days it's definitely a possibility he works on the concept art for pantheon.
Pikmints2 votesI feel like part of his current "generic-ness" is from the traumatic incident that turned his head black and made his eyes glow. Does this mean he would gain a face if he was touched up? That sounds like a high-level conversation like the "Should GP have his hat" one.
Ultîma3 votesJust for the sake of conversation; I really like the idea of turning Pantheon into a paragon of war as it gives him a much clearer identity than that of a simple warrior. That being said, don't 
AND 
also represent avatars of War? There's a lot of symbolism in Hecarim's design relating to the horsemen of the apocalypse. And Aatrox`s entire concept is basically built around the idea that he revels in war and conflict. How would Pantheon's design resonate with that ideal without borrowing too heavily from Greek/Roman depictions of Ares or stepping on either of those character's territory?
On another note, it's no secret that Mt. Targon was ravaged by a long-standing war between the Lunari and Solari. If Pantheon was to represent it, is there a chance his symbol might be the eclipse?
Ralanr3 votesPersonally I like to think would represent the mastery of combat through war. represents the first charge of battle, the stampede of warriors coming in to slaughter the enemies.
Think of as the tides in the ocean of war. Now think of as a ship captain in this sea. He has and has mastered every single tool of war, using them to their most effectiveness as he sails through this turbulent ocean.
As for design, I like to think of Bellona from Smite (Not outright copying of course):
Bellona is basically a war god who changes weapons with her basic abilities. She is a master of every tool of combat. Hence an avatar of war should represent their mastery in not only their skill, but their attire. I think would carry extra weapons with him, like actually soldiers (at least a short sword on his side).
Unlike and , I imagine his actual armor wouldn't be too regal. It would have something specific about it so people could identify his position, but it would need to be something that would be sensible to wear in combat. I don't mean like a king/nobleman's armor that they wear to lead battles from a chariot. But armor similar to his fellow soldiers.
His symbol would probably be the Rakkor symbol, if not the fighter symbol (because what else works?).
GhastlyGhoulMan1 votesPantheon will for sure need a full VGU and change pretty dramatically. He's a bit too genetic Spartan guy right now and really should be a unique version of LoL's embodiment of War.
There are a few champions that need it more then him right now though. Hopefully with the larger size of the champ update team it's not TOO long before we get to him :)
Being as IronStylus is on the Champion Update team these days it's definitely a possibility he works on the concept art for pantheon.
Whenever he DOES get his update, could you guys PLEASE make his dream job of baker extraordinare a reality?
The baker inside cannot be contained!
SpecterVonBaren1 votesCan we at least keep his helmet? Or at least some amalgamation of his helmet?
Ralanr3 votesI haven't seen him interact with the community in a long time. Either he is really busy, doesn't feel like interacting...actually there are a number of reasons as to why he probably doesn't interact with the community.
Cause Rioters interact with the community of their own free will and time.
But I would really love Ironstylus's thoughts on the upcoming Targon lore. I know he's not a full fledged member of the lore team, but he probably interacts with them often considering he is one of the artists for the area.
I mean most of the champions from their are of his artwork designs. and . And since Shurellia (or however you spell her name) no longer works for Riot (she made Pantheon) it wouldn't surprise me if he was given creative liberties with his design (if he gets a VU, which I do sincerely doubt).
Basically I don't see why Ironstylus couldn't be the main artist for the Targon update. And I'd love to hear his opinion on it all.
Garentheon1 votesI doubt he's getting a VU also, although I hope I'm wrong
But all points you made I totally agree with
Jeddy0173 votesTo quote his last post from over 5 months ago
I'm quite here :)
Lots been going on recently. Lot's of pretty crazy life stuff, honestly. Perhaps when it's all over I'll tell the tale.
Aside from that though, I've been working quite hard on Taric recently. Been a long ride, but we're getting close to a concept which I think will work. Here's hoping!
I guess things have been too busy in his life for him to comment on the Boards.
Ralanr4 votesNow I am convinced that Targon is his baby.
SeargentAnus2 votesThey've had him locked in the basement for 5 months working on it.
Feedlord Salad1 votesHe posted a smiley face on Reddit when the lore changes to Diana and Leona were posted on the PBE.
Ralanr1 voteshttps://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/44ykky/29_pbe_update/
You are right.
FUCK I AM STOKED!
Garentheon1 votesReally?!? Nice
CaptainJacq1 votesDear IronStylus,
I've got the best idea for skins, and this concept can be used on all champs!!!! Email me @ [email protected]! I have a feeling I'll be working with you guys in the future. Later
