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Mask of Creation


bonesiii

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artakha_s_mask_of_creation_by_bonesiii-d

 
 
Art made for 'The Destiny of Bionicle', a retelling of all of Bionicle history (link in sig).

Unlike most of the art for this story, this isn't yet associated with a particular chapter; it will be featured in one near the very end (there's 90 total chapters posted weekly, for now, so that'll be a long time out). I want to release SOME of the later art early, like I did with Tren Krom (but some is being saved for the reveal with the corresponding chapter), so here's one. There's another I'm thinking of releasing soon too, to go along with another project I'm working on. Anyways, this is the uncolored version, so it's sort of a WIP. I plan to eventually get around to coloring it (metallic, probably a mix of silver and Artakha's gray-green), so the color version will probably be saved for the chapter reveal. :)

The island of Artakha has been featured in the story already, but like in the canon, its ruler is remaining mysterious and behind the scenes. When I plan to feature him is during a special chapter in Part Nine in which the protagonist, who is on Bara Magna for 2009 plot and thus unable to witness events inside the Matoran Universe, will be given an update flashback of events from just before Teridax's takeover all the way up to present (the start of the final battle). Not yet entirely sure which number that chapter will be, but somewhere around 86.

Mask design is based on the canon description, and loosely on a Legendary mask I had planned for my Paracosmos fanfics but later decided not to include. I had noticed that there were very few attempts to portray it by other fans so far. I made this back in March. Prior to that, I hadn't seen a lot of interest in what the mask might look like, but since then it's come up a few times (coincidence? :P). I figure, why hold this one out so long? Besides, it's such an important mask, if on the off chance everybody hates it, there'll be time to attempt another, heh. (I had rejected a draft version of this myself... but I think I like this one.) Edited by bonesiii
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The Destiny of Bionicle (chronological retelling of Bionicle original series, 9 PDFs of 10 chapters each on Google Drive)Part 1 - Warring with Fate | Part 2 - Year of Change | Part 3 - The Exploration Trap | Part 4 - Rise of the Warlords | Part 5 - A Busy Matoran | Part 6 - The Dark Time | Part 7 - Proving Grounds | Part 8 - A Rude Awakening | Part 9 - The Battle of Giants

My Bionicle Fanfiction  (Google Drive folder, eventually planned to have PDFs of all of it)

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Well, you've got the ornate look from the description down, but I think it could use some improvements. You've got solid drawing skills though.

 

Those things hanging down around the bottom of the mask kinda ruin it for me. It just looks weird. Also, the way it expands near the bottom makes it look more like a samurai helm than a Kanohi.

 

I think a bit of a redesign would do it some good. As a drawing it's nice, though.

 

Just my opinion, of course. Don't take it to heart unless I've somehow made you think similarly, lol.

Pk57sNJ.jpg

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Looks great! Definitely my favorite interpretation of the Mask of Creation. It does have that "complicated and from a variety of styles" look while still appearing totally unique among Kanohi.

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AP -- Well, the Vahi looks more like a slice of swiss cheese coated in cheddar than a Kanohi, so go figure. :P I believe you if that's your preference, but "weird" is intentional here, so not sure if the criticism really works. You wouldn't really want a Legendary Mask to be "standard fare", and neither of the others are (the Ignika also has something unique to itself; the symbol of a humanoid figure, the giant robot, integrated into its face). And even Great and Noble masks usually have boldly unique features. :shrugs:

 

The parts extending from the mask (not just at the bottom, but all around) are meant to help give it that "wide variety" in the description. It's harder to do that and fit them all in the mask without the detail seeming to disappear unless you're really close to it. I wanted to give the sense that there's so much variety it's sort of spilling beyond the mask. As for the expanding/samurai thing, I guess I don't know what you mean. :lookaround:

 

Click -- Glad you like it! ^_^

 

Watcher -- Thanks. Not sure if you're aware, but parts not fitting with other parts is intentional as that's how it's described canonically; it's a fusion of many widely different styles. Basically it's supposed to be jarring, kind of like how the Vahi lacks a forehead, etc. And Karzahni's mask has that quality too although it's much simpler; I'm not the first to think that it makes sense for the "brother" of Artakha (and contest loser; he may have made his own mask look mismatched to console himself that he failed to win this one, inspired by this one being so varied).

The Destiny of Bionicle (chronological retelling of Bionicle original series, 9 PDFs of 10 chapters each on Google Drive)Part 1 - Warring with Fate | Part 2 - Year of Change | Part 3 - The Exploration Trap | Part 4 - Rise of the Warlords | Part 5 - A Busy Matoran | Part 6 - The Dark Time | Part 7 - Proving Grounds | Part 8 - A Rude Awakening | Part 9 - The Battle of Giants

My Bionicle Fanfiction  (Google Drive folder, eventually planned to have PDFs of all of it)

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This looks really good as the mask of creation!  All in all, I love how there's all these intricate symbols and things going on in the mask, but one thing that bothers me is the swirly parts on the brow and the chin.  All kanohi stick to variations of fairly basic geometric shapes in their design.  The swirly design seem a bit too "human" and organic to fit in with the rest of the MU, in my opinion.  Perhaps substitute them with complex patterns of circles?  

 

Anyway, everything else works for me.  The top crest is definitely a highlight, I think.  Looks like a powerful mask for a big guy. Great work!

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Problem is that if you do that, there's then less variety in the mask (as there are already patterns of circles in places on the mask), plus it wouldn't seem to fit "ornate" as much. No other mask is described that way. My original plan was to have a lot more such features based on that description, in fact, but decided much more would have the "zoom out" problem I mentioned above. Fact is, you could construct an "other masks don't have this" argument for every mask ever made, but that kind of argument misses the point; the unique feature is there precisely to differentiate the mask from other ones.

 

It's also based on subtly similar features on the Olisi, which has tapering, curving horns, and hints of a swirl-like shape around one eye. (Also, it's not really true that all mask shapes use basic geometry. The mask most used to symbolize Bionicle and Mata Nui, the Hau, goes beyond them, for example, as do a few others.) We don't know that swirls aren't part of the culture of one of the main places we haven't seen yet, so I felt it was valid. Greg also often likes to involve tendrils, as many have noticed, in plot, and those patterns are meant to invoke those, so it would make sense that somebody somewhere tends to use them in artistic design more than others.

 

Glad you like the top part; that's the main part borrowed from that unused Paracosmos mask. :)

The Destiny of Bionicle (chronological retelling of Bionicle original series, 9 PDFs of 10 chapters each on Google Drive)Part 1 - Warring with Fate | Part 2 - Year of Change | Part 3 - The Exploration Trap | Part 4 - Rise of the Warlords | Part 5 - A Busy Matoran | Part 6 - The Dark Time | Part 7 - Proving Grounds | Part 8 - A Rude Awakening | Part 9 - The Battle of Giants

My Bionicle Fanfiction  (Google Drive folder, eventually planned to have PDFs of all of it)

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You know, after taking another look at this mask, I thought I'd mention that your perspective is a bit off. The upper and left half (the mask's left, not our left) are pointed a different way than the lower and right half. Just so you know if you were to redraw it.

 

It would be really cool to 3D print this mask, but I lack the time to model it.

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I thought I'd mention that your perspective is a bit off

I thought this would be the first criticism people would bring up. :P I know -- that's part of the touching up I mentioned I'd like to do. GIMP should probably be able to stretch and shrink parts accordingly to make up for it. (If not I can always try to redraw, but then other parts that are good here might get messed up. :shrugs:)

 

And thanks, tokytot. :)

The Destiny of Bionicle (chronological retelling of Bionicle original series, 9 PDFs of 10 chapters each on Google Drive)Part 1 - Warring with Fate | Part 2 - Year of Change | Part 3 - The Exploration Trap | Part 4 - Rise of the Warlords | Part 5 - A Busy Matoran | Part 6 - The Dark Time | Part 7 - Proving Grounds | Part 8 - A Rude Awakening | Part 9 - The Battle of Giants

My Bionicle Fanfiction  (Google Drive folder, eventually planned to have PDFs of all of it)

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is kind of similar to how I always pictured it - though more symmetrical. I have a feeling my mental image (and perhaps yours) was inspired partially by the various visualisations of the Ignika - the general shape of the mask has a few similarities (the basic shape outline, the rectangular part of the pattern and the "horns") which is suitable given their kind of similar importance. I do agree the circle bits on the bottom looks a bit jarring, I think it'd look better to remove them and bring more focus t the kind of wispy beard looking bits. Just what I think though, looks great and very suitable for the mask. :)

photo-50441.gif

 

Credit to Pohuaki for the awesome banner! ^_^

 

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Nice :D

The shape is a little odd in my opinion but youve certainly captured the look of "styles from many different cultures" or whatever the quote is...

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                -Silo

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Kathok

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