FanArt_ink.Swollen

MTGinktober pumps up for Day 17, "Swollen," starring Grand Warlord Radha and Radha, Heir to Keld!

I knew almost instantly I wanted to draw a buff, or "swole" character for this prompt, but it felt way too easy to go for say Maraxus of Keld (too gross looking) or Iwamori of the Open Fist (too obvious), so I thought it'd be cool to draw Radha hanging out with herself.

Jim Murray's been one of my absolute favorite artists since Fifth Dawn, and the OG Radha's one of the coolest illustrations of his, so I've been wanting to draw a salute to that piece for years. I'm not super into her new version, but it is a cool demonstration of depicting the same character in radhacally different ways. While drawing this piece, I came to appreciate how Magic executed on the "buff girl" archetype successfully and how Icons: Combat Arena just plain missed on their character, Xana. I bring Icons up because I've been quite bummed that the game, technically still in beta testing, got all but cancelled after its studio, Wavedash Games, abruptly laid off basically everyone a couple weeks ago. I've been thinking where Waverdash fell short, and what they could have done to turn the game's reception around. As an artist, I more readily think to aesthetic issues and solutions, since the gameplay felt decent enough and I'm by no means in a position to be critiquing video game gameplay.

So when thinking about the visuals, Xana has always been a pretty apparent stumbling block to me. The great KNKL, who I admire and respect, got the charm of her in the early concept art for sure, but something of that spark got filtered out in the pipeline and she just turned into a bit of a flavorless, hulking character--she's supposed to be a celebrity wrestler, but in her final appearance, she just looks like any old, orcish warrior, perhaps even a background character rather than a playable one.

In contrast, I was delighted to discover when looking over larger versions of the art that new Radha still retains a charm to her while still being quite physically imposing and burly. It was really cool seeing how Magic balanced upon that fine line between bulky and feminine. It feels like it comes down to the gentleness in the face and the groundedness and femininity of the hair, which guides the interpretation of the character to being softer than just a grunting "Ahnold" type of character. Xana was just a bit too gruff in all directions, so despite being a fabulous celebrity on her home planet, that appeal and playfulness just didn't translate to the final design in-game.

Fun Facts: One of my early ideas was to have them posing all tough with Iwamori in the background, but it felt like that detracted from the gag/gimmick of before/after characters hanging out together. Plus the heart of the piece is Radha, no need to try to share the spotlight if a non-Radha character wasn't absolutely necessary or supplementary enough not to intrude.

Easter Eggs: You can find New Radha's sword on the left and OG Radha's club on the right. The backgrounds are a combination of both characters' backgrounds. I introduced a curve to OG's hair so its form mimics her flexing.

Not normal,

Reuxben