I love reading the lore of the game, so I frequently look at characters and items (even if I do not have them). I was struck by Xiao's Vision story, where he is forced to battle especially hard during the Lantern Rite:

"Xiao has his mission to perform the time-honored "Nuo Dance of Evil Conquering," and so he fights night and day during the Lantern Rite. Thus, he has come to hate it."

The dichotomy of Xiao's loneliness and protection, compared to the joy and warmth of the other festival-goers really struck a chord. Thus, I wanted to illustrate something a bit "different" in mood and tone from the Lantern Rite that people of Liyue enjoy: Xiao's night.

I was also inspired by certain areas and color schemes from the game. This is my first time incorporating phototextures into my work (it was much more difficult than I thought!), but I hope it came out ok!

Time: ~30 hours

Good luck to everyone and Happy Lantern Rite!

Instagram/Twitter: @vtasart