This is pretty cool. I definitely like the colour choices.
I also really like the decision to depict a specific scene, and the action poses are really nice, particularly for Bomonga and Kualus.
Tiny Norik is always appreciated as well.
The only thing that I, personally, don’t really care for is the change of Pouks’s thigh armour, but I don’t think anyone else really cares about that.
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It looks very good, I like the style.
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I mean, I do a little bit.
Nice art, always cool to see some physical art rather than digital art. Have you considered trying to scan it though? I mean, there’s certainly nothing wrong with the way did it, but if you scan it it comes out much better on the computer. Just an idea. Anyway, great art, good luck in the contest!
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Omg, I love the touch of Norik riding the ice pellet! 
I appreciate the setting of this, fighting the Fohrok, and the color distribution is nice. Good luck in the contest!
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Thanks so much!
I changed Pouks’ thigh armor to match the other Hagah, but yeah understandable if you preferred the original armor.
I would have scanned it but simply ran out of time (my fault, really lucky I was able to get it in the minute before the deadline). Did not have a scanner machine at hand, tried the scanner app on my phone but it worked poorly.
Here are some explanations and other pictures (I didn’t have time to post these before the deadline, and didn’t edit the first post to add them in case that was against the rules):
I gave Pouks’ mask the shape of the Kanohi Kadin (it’s not very clear in the art, drawn too small). I thought it matched well with his spiky armor.
After I drew it, I realized that Jovan’s team completed their mission before the Hagah became Hagah in the timeline, so, theoretically, Pouks’ mask shape could be in honor of Jovan. But that’s just an idea.
Gaaki’s mask was an original design inspired by the “Sea Star” Bionicle knock-off. I know at least one another contestant also did an original inspired by the Sea Star mask. It’s been used in MOCs too: it’s a popular design for a reason (looks really cool). And also I thought it matched well with the Pridak blade spear-tip.
Something really awesome about the winning Gaaki model by Doni was how so many details- the Kalmah armor on the shoulders, the Gahlok shield on the chest, the Pridak blade as the spear tip, and the tubes on the back- all contributed to an aquatic appearance. I tried to emphasize this further and make it my own by adding the gill-like slits on the cheeks. I thought it also might be reminiscent of the iconic Hau, but (nearly) vertical instead of horizontal. The texture of the slits was inspired by the Roborider head piece:
I knew I wanted a 2-2-2 metallic color ratio. I went back-and-forth on whether to make Kualus and Pouks metallic blue or gunmetal. Decided to do gunmetal using the rationale that some other art contestants used, gunmetal would involve fewer painted pieces for anyone trying to recreate the characters.
Since the Hagah armor is said to be forged of “precious metals,” I attempted to give the metallic parts a “sheen” unlike the other colors. It turned out better on Bomonga and Gaaki than on Kualus (white was not a good fit for a gunmetal sheen, but ran out of time to experiment otherwise). Pouks I found the sheen distracting so just decided not to do it.
For the alternate angles on Gaaki’s mask, I tried to instead just shade it with pencil to simulate the shaping. It was a rush job that could have been better but I thought it turned out pretty nicely.
“Fighting the Fohrok, at 11” was a reference to a reference. Reference to the South Park recreation of “Fighting the frizzies, at 11,” a local news report during the Star Wars Holiday Special’s originally airing and which ended up on some versions of the bootleg.
Black-and-white pictures:
I added some motion lines in the final drawing to make clear that Bomonga is bringing his foot down to stomp on the Fohrok, he’s not hesitating. In the color version, I tried to add a “shadow” underneath his foot, but not very visible unfortuntely. I also added some shattered remains of the other Fohrok he crushed underfoot
I thought it’d be cool to show Iruini using his healing spinner. I meant to give Pouks a cracked chest-plate but messed up and inked it before I added the injury, so I had to improvise with the right shoulder. Came out really poorly, especially in the color version (the idea was it was an acid attack by a Lehvak), but oh well.
The rock wall was created by Pouks, as a barrier to protect them from attack while Iruini was treating him. I tried to make this obvious by having it look “artificial,” smooth and a different color than the surrounding landscape. But the color job for this in particular was ridiculously rushed and sloppy.
The idea was that Fohrok at a higher level (like atop another cliff or mountain) are firing down at them, so Kualus is shooting an ice bolt to carry tiny-Norik upwards so he can take them out. The color version has the minimalist red-and-white “fire bolts.” I kind of liked how they turned out, reminds me of Sayger’s art (I was inspired by the cover of Ignition #4- I’d always guessed that it was supposed to depict what was mentioned in Legends Book 5, fire bolts from the Bohrok illusion in the Zone of Nightmares).
I opted not to have Kualus using his mask to control any Rahi. Since they were fighting Fohrok, I figured that most Rahi would not stand a chance so using them in the battle would be “animal abuse” by the Toa. The few Rahi that would be useful in the fight (e.g. catapult scorpion) were too large to fit cleanly into the composition; maybe there’s a way to do it but I couldn’t think of one.
I ran out of time to make it look decent or recognizable, but my original idea was to have Fohrok charging down the mountain like that shot of the Hun Army in Disney’s 1998 Mulan:
I know the coloring is really sloppy and amateurish (and unfortunately it covers up some of the drawn detail on the Toa, which is visible in the black-and-white pictures), and the background landscape and other Fohrok are really rushed and minimalist. Ideally I would have done a better job, added a lot more detail, but I draw way too slowly (took me 5 hours just to draw Bomonga without color, after I’d already figured out the pose). Hopefully, even though the execution is poor, fans will understand the composition and scene I was going for.
Good luck to all the other contestants! Your entries are amazing and I can’t wait to see the canon winner!
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I like that you depicted Norik’s mask power in a way where he’s still visible. Iruini healing Pouks was also a nice touch. My only suggestion would be to make the colors a bit more solid if possible. Great work!
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The line art is quite impressive!
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