Hey guys, here we are again with a character that I’ve been interested in drawing for some time, and with this contest I’ve had the perfect opportunity to do so!
Design
I was after a fashion expecting a MOC design similar to the winner. What I chose to do for my drawing is to prioritize having something cohesive yet having room for interesting deteails. This included adjusting the proportions of several components and for his stance and body language be more immediately readable - which is no small task considering the MOC’s sheer bulk!
Some of these tweaks involved lengthening the arms and reducing the size of the legs to look much less bottom-heavy. Of course, also differentiating which “parts” were organic or mechanical, though the MOC made that decision very simple at times. Part of the process of designing involved trying to figure him out from the inside out, as shown below.
One of my overall goals was for him to seem less “familiar” than the average Toa would be. The sheer complexity of the MOC helps here, and there were some interesting design choices of the MOC that help in this regard. I actually really like the amounts of black/grey/sand green in the piece already so those aren’t as changed. I did substitute teal for black so it would be dark but still fit visually.
The color scheme also goes nicely with my personal headcanon that Artakha and Karzahni were the Great Beings’ attempts to build their own versions of the leader-class Skrall. (Also, you see those carvings on his torso armor? Yeah, those are actually maintenance instructions by the Great Beings.)
Some parts of the design really grabbed my attention in a way I didn’t expect, which was a nice surprise. One was that the MOC actually gave him 5 fingers! That was something that really took me by surprise as most characters have four, but it helps to cement him further as something from out of myth, kind of like a six-fingered giant for us.
Another was the little “cape”, which I pictured as more of a loop held in place by the two front hooks. Generally, though, figuring out and simplifying the basic shapes of the design was very fun.
The hammer is a spin on the one the MOC has. I opted to go with something that was less a weapon and more a tool, and having it be kind of a grungy, simpler design was something I felt was more natural.
The Mask of Creation
I had fun going down trains of thought for the mask. Before Mata Nui, Artakha was basically a representation of Law, in a much harsher and more primordial sense than the Three Virtues represented. There was a reason that the Hand of Artakha bore his name, and there was a reason it disbanded at the arrival of the Toa. Even later on, he was enigmatic and, let’s face it, dangerous. Having the mask be very simple and geometric, then, made it a good contrast to Karzahni’s mask as well as placing it visually in a different era.
Drawing out the Mask of Creation for me was a matter of putting together design elements I knew I wanted. I liked the overall shape of the G2 mask so that was a big inspiration for me. I also knew that I wanted “horns” on the sides as maybe an analogue to Karzahni as well. Lastly, I more than anything wanted the mask’s eye slits to look the way I’d pictured them when reading the serial.
Having a more simplified geometry for the mask also let me really go to town on its intricate designs. They’re actually a series of vignettes of the different (known and unknown) beings of the universe, show below in more detail here. These complex looking designs also help to offset how simple the mask is structurally.
While it’s perfectly feasible to think that “runes” just mean something written in Agori/Matoran, having the mask be covered in basically heiroglyphs was too cool an idea to pass up. Are some of these beings extinct? Did some even exist in the first place? Who knows?
Also, I was hoping that the mask shape made it easier for people to model out and 3D print. If I do win this contest (or if enough people ask) I’d be happy to provide higher-res versions of the runes so you can print them out as stickers!
Overall, though, I was hoping to create a design that hit in the middle between complete toy accuracy and a Miramax-style look, and I’m rather proud of it.
Thanks for your consideration (and thank you to Connor_Hoffman for the helpful building instructions and breakdown images) and I hope you like the art!
EDIT: Thanks also extended to Kini_Hawkeye for allowing me to amend coloration so the artwork falls under contest parameters, it was very gracious of you.