When Concepts Clashed, a Fanart Duology Hatched

Kamen Rider fanart: Bio Rider with Black RX in the background

While drawing a Robo Rider fanart recently, a clash of concepts sparked an idea.

First, I formulated my drawing goal this year:  "I would like to create images that evoke an emotional reaction. Maybe through dramatic expression and posing."

Second, I was painting "Piltover's Finest", an Arcane fanart, which kept a few pose ideas in my mind.

And so as I was drawing the Robo Rider fanart mentioned above, an idea came to me of how to depict Black RX turning into Robo Rider. I saw in my mind the scene in Arcane Season 1 Episode 3, where Vi screamed in sorrowful agony to the sky, hands in claws. I imagined Black RX, in a great sorrow, in the foreground, with a moody Robo Rider in the background turning away.

Here is what I scribbled in my sketchbook to capture this idea.

Idea for Black RX turning into Robo Rider

My mind was racing and I got a secondary idea for Black RX turning into Bio Rider in anger. As the scribble below showed, I used what I remembered from the Arcane episode as RX's pose. I was not as clear about Bio Rider's pose. He was bent with claws, a typical Bio Rider pose.

Idea for Bio Rider

These were scribbles I drew on a bus ride. Later on, I drew thumbnails based on these ideas. With some time to process the ideas, the core concept became clearer. The problem to solve was expressing the concept in a composition. I spent more time on the Bio Rider idea because I already finished a Robo Rider drawing.

Thumbnails: Bio Rider (upper half) and Robo Rider (lower half)

The series of thumbnails showed me that landscape orientation worked better. Also, Bio Rider head was unexpectedly difficult to get right. I drew a couple of sketches to understand its shape.

I used to finalize a thumbnail before scaling it up to A4 size. For whatever reason, I did not do so this time. This meant I made mistakes as I drew the image on a larger paper. Below is my first attempt to draw on an A4 paper. (Apologies for the noisy image. In this early stage of drawing, I employed a blue pencil, drawing in thin strokes. This made noisy photos.)

Pencil drawing, first round

My priority was getting the overall composition. Placement of elements was important to get right. I drew Bio Rider on the foreground multiple times to get the best combination of placement, size, and posing. Black RX was too small, making the drawing look empty.

I redrew Black RX, making it larger. The constraints/guide I followed were: (1) the head must be just below the top of the image; while (2) the pelvis must be just above Bio Rider's leg. Below is the result. I also started to draw the claws because I considered them to be rather important. (On hindsight, this was probably premature.)

Making Black RX larger

I was satisfied with the relative size and placement of the large elements. Now it was time to proceed to smaller elements like the heads. Drawing more details to the heads should make the characters recognizable.

Another element to get right at this stage was posing. I started to feel that Black RX's pose felt rather comical. It had the feeling of "a nerd freaking out" rather than "a rage so great it manifested physical agony".

So here is the next stage of refinement.

Improving Black RX pose and adding details

I decided to make RX's pose asymmetric by lowering his left arm. I thought it was successful enough to remove the nerdy rage feel.

For detailing, I used a Black & Black RX S.I.C. figurine I happened to own. Drawing details is why I love drawing. I had so much fun drawing that I did not notice that I was drawing Kamen Rider Black, not Black RX. Not a big issue; I redrew Black RX details and had another round of fun. 

Adding Black RX and Bio Rider details

This is as far as I went this month. I drew exoskeleton details to Bio Rider, but I had second thoughts. The head, which is faithful to the costume, looks out of place with the body.

Further, RX pose strayed from my original intention. There is not much agony here... These changes will have to wait for another post. I hope you enjoy this draw-trough post!