#and coming up + drawing a reinterpretation of The Emperor was really fun

[nattravn-art]

Queer Expansive Tarot Project

"Reimagining Rider-Waite-Smith with the words, colors, and minds of the LGBTIQA+ community.

The Queer Expansive Tarot Project brings together queer artists from all over the world to build a beautiful and unique deck of completely redesigned cards. Each new design draws inspiration from a different queer pride flag, starting from the original Gilbert Baker flag and expanding outward to include identities like Vyrosexual and Xenogender."

I participated in @queerextarot's project! Featuring a full deck of the 78 tarot cards, featuring 78 pride flags illustrated by queer people!

I am very proud to show you this preview of my card for it! Major Arcana IV, formerly The Emperor, now The Father, represents the gay/MLM flag!

Preorders close on the 25th of july!

[sepublic]

Here’s my take on Barraki Mantax, prior to his mutations (and technically up-to-date with his current circumstances in canon)!

For reference, Mantax’s mutated appearance;

I know I wrote earlier about how Mantax could easily be a member of Sidorak’s species, but at the time I was also working on some concepts for Mantax’s own unique species that I ultimately fell in love with! The idea is that they’re some kind of mix between feline and gecko, with the ratio varying between individuals- In Mantax’s case, I wanted to make him have more of the vibes of a jackal. I guess this makes Mantax a catboy.

I hope my inspirations from the original set are fairly obvious, as is the visual connection- The big manta fins become shoulder armor, the crotch and thighs, some detailing on the forehead, etc. I wanted Mantax to come across as a lithe and stealthy assassin, while still befitting the look of a regal conqueror who made Toa look comparatively lowly- And in turn, his mutation more jarringly fleshy, alien, and hideous.

Ultimately, I recognized I was free to take plenty of artistic liberties here as well- A lot of characters really change between their regular and mutated versions, having used the Toa Hordika and Karzahni as a frame of reference, although between the Toa Hagah and the Rahaga, the sky really is the limit to how different a mutation can look.

Likewise, I didn’t want Mantax’s face to look too similar to his mutated one, otherwise I feel the weight of his mutations and how the Barraki feel about their own lessens- Especially when you remember how it was easy for the Matoran to mistake them for Rahi, and the Barraki’s insistence that without transforming back, they could never reach that originally glory and charisma befitting the emperors they once were.

On another note, I had fun with the idea that Mantax’s tail was always a thing and reinterpreted it as feline, like a sleek jet-black panther that stealthily stalks his prey. Mantax is characterized as an ambusher, so I wanted that ninja-esque look to him, and the eyebrow ridges were a happy surprise that I rolled with alongside his sunken eyes, to evoke that perpetual grimness of Mantax’s. His legs I made digitigrade like a reptile or feline, with the claw sticking out the back taking inspiration from the set’s foot pieces, while the paws form a curved and bulky shape- Also like the set!

Overall I’m pretty happy with this drawing, it was a cathartic return to drawing, and I hope I was able to convey that sleek and armored look, while layering it over a lithe yet buff physique, with mechanical bits in the gaps and joints to compliment the more organic shapes of Mantax- It’s fun balancing organic with mechanical to evoke the concept of ‘biomechanical’ to those without context, and I took some inspiration from the style of the movies as well! This was a really fun creative exercise, especially since Mantax was my first and one of only two Barraki, so it was very nostalgic at the same time!

For now, I guess this is my personal headcanon for what pre-mutated Mantax looks like, and it’s ‘canon’ within YaBr. Fun fact, I’ve also interpreted Lariska to be the same species as Mantax, albeit with just a bit more gecko in her feline/gecko ratio. Ultimately I also wanted each Barraki’s species to be able to be stand out in their own way, and inspire its own list of characters- Seeing as how they’re all members of Mata Nui’s six ‘prime species’, despite us never really seeing nor hearing about anyone else aside from Ehlek’s people.