#mantis head

Merry Christmas!

For the winter holidays, I've taken the blog's Mantis logo and tried to shine it up with the spirit of the season. Our Mantis friend now dons a Santa Claus fur hat that is decorated with a Bee logo pattern of green and red & gold and silver stars (intended to evoke tinsel). I suppose you can him "Mantis Claus" or "Mantis Claws". There were attempts to change the Mantis' color and to add decorations to the body, but the attempts made it look somewhat sinister so I abandoned the idea. Simplicity was the better choice this time, as was the necessity to have a bit of fun with this logo! One antennae is poking out just to keep things light and fun. Alongside the hat's pattern, the Bee Logo is included here in the form of red and green ornaments clutched in forearms of Mantis Claus. For future posts, this logo will be included in the text of Christmas related posts, and earlier posts have been updated to feature this bit of artwork. Even in the coldest winter, insects can always add a little touch to celebrate the season. Stay warm.

I give you all the rave mantis! A giant paper mache mantis mask that glows in the dark and under blacklight. I wanted this thing to be as eye catching as possible and I think I achieved that.

I’m waiting till the end of its display run to make it wearable, but as of now the mouth parts and mandibles are fully poseable and the head (minus the eyes) is about the width of my torso.

Ko-Fi gift animation for @toytulini ! With a bonus, because I've gone quite mad with power since figuring out how to make my animations transparent if I want to:

Send me $10 or more on ko-fi and see what kind of animation you'll get! Help me reach my goal before the 15th! <3

This logo will appear in all picture submissions that were sent to me by friends or family with permission to be featured on this blog. In terms of concept, I was aiming for something visually distinct from the Bee’s head, yet still in the realm of charming/evocative insects, a Mantis seemed to be a good fit. In terms of execution, it probably could’ve been more “cartoony”, but I had a lot of fun designing this one, even if the perspective on the claws is funny. I hope it is to your satisfaction as well. Furthermore, the more vigilant of you may have noticed that the primary mandibles of this Mantis are actually recycled from the Bee logo. They have been re-colored to cohere to the Mantis’ design and give the maxillary palps and labial palps more dimension.

Done in photoshop.