The Process
This is one of the first images I drew where I rendered the image in the style of the painter. The flesh of the creature was satisfactory to my standards the large sphere of tungsten however was not. Reflections are hard to get right in the endevours of graphical engineering and art but yield great improvements in realism. The creature itself was inspired from the stone scholar character from the artbook Vermis.
The Lore
This is a mascot that promotes the consumption of dietary tungsten, deficiency of which causes the disease Ligma. He has features designed to appeal to the discerning youth of the world. The body is being crushed by a tungsten sphere which evokes the "Drop a Large Block of Ice on your Head" challenge that was popular on Vine back in 2016. The skin is colored to represent the creatures blood being replaced with microplastic laden water, relating to those who inhaled large quantities of microplastics from disposable vapes. The bowed legs and unflattering physique of the creature challenges beauty norms by making everyone else attractive in comparison.