It's a very nice tribute to him, I'm sure he'd have liked it.

I kinda feel bad critiquing it now, though, so I won't unless you specifally ask for it. :/

Feel, free to. It was previously an entry for a Fanart contest so, that's basically what it's for.

Good Job, I like it! Nova, Keep bringing your "own" design drawings!!!

lol, don't worry, I will.

That's very thoughtful...beautiful job Nova...he's probably seeing it...

*Nova whimpers* No more visitors. *feels unloved* :P j/k

I like it. Something about the way he looks. He looks a lot younger than he ever did in the games. The sleeveless shirt adds to the touch to show off his arms.

I have my gripes about it, but it's a nice design and it's better than anything I can do at the moment.

4.5 from me...

Very nice, I'd give it a 9/10

I like it, but I think he needs to look more royal.

The second I saw it I thought to my self, Rayden could look cool with pail skin like that. It would make sense with his powers. The movie powder comes to mind.

Bleed Wrote: I like it, but I think he needs to look more royal.

Royal? O.o

Excellent pic, Nova! It's nice to see a new design to my fave mk characeter! Love the look!

Fine art Nova, but 1 comment I have, why not draw a landscape behind Rayden, it does not have to be very detailed or beautiful, you could even draw the sea or desert + horizon or a big wall behind him, it is not that difficult to do,

By Nova, I really like your art,

lol, I realized that I have yet to talk about why I did this piece, what things inspired me, etc.

Okay first of all, as you all probably know, I did this piece originally for a Fan Art contest at the website formerly known as MKI. This particular drawing started out as a sketch to practice for a more final piece that I will do in the future which will be a full body picture of Rayden in this new look. His clothes are loosely based on the image "The Gods of Wind and Thunder" by Sotatsu Nonomura, which I can’t find a copy of and the net O.o. I wanted him to have more of the spirit of his Japanese origin but still be suitable for the god of Thunder of Mortal Kombat.

The inspiration for his face and hat are slightly based on Christopher Lambert in the first movie. I wanted a slightly more realistic feel than the game but still wanted his look to be "Rayden-ish" not "an actor playing Rayden-ish". I think I achieved this to an extent but I know that there is a lot that I still want to do.

I left his skin black and white *or gray, however you look at it* because of several reasons. First of all it was meant to be a sketch and usually I don't color my sketches, I simply felt inspired to this time around. I also felt that coloring his skin would take away from the shading of his skin that I've really grown to love. From my view, coloring his skin would give him a race, and as the former protector of Earth Realm, I wanted him to be able to identify with people all over the world. In the future however, I do plan to color his skin. The reason for him not having a background is similar, he was originally a sketch.

A few more reasons why I kept his skin black and white was because I like how it looked, and wanted to try something new as an artist. I also wanted to see what other people's reactions would be to it. Well, I think I covered everything concerning the image itself.

After this piece I will make the full body image of Rayden in this outfit. That will be followed by a redesign of Fujin, which will also be based on the image by Nonomura Sotatsu as well as a modernized remake of his painting.

I don't know what I will go to after this. I have a list of several Mortal Kombat ideas that I want to try so I suppose I will start on those. I will start all of this after my finals in college, which should end next Wednesday.

Any other questions, feel free to ask.

oh nova, u so smart

i nominate u to be the first lady of mk5.org

now go and marry scott howell

Well I like this piece alot. Very well drawn. I got you on the grey skin but to me at a casual glance it just looks unfinished. Perhaps just add a little color to show difference between the skin and the hair. Other than that the lightning looks more like worms or creatures with the outline around it.

That critique aside this is one of the best pics I've seen here in awhile. I think I've seen enough cheesy fake screen shots to last a lifetime.

Wonderful
Wyatt

looks like a woman to me, when you actually click on the picture to enlarge it look at the face, the lightning could of used more work.

4 anyhow

Great work Nova, and great use of lighting on his vest. 5 stars.