🎨Art: The Story
Primitive Abstract Expressionism
It was important for us to take our time when creating the art for Monsutā. We wanted to create something unique and innovative, as it was more than evident that teams across the board in the NFT climate were creating lo-fi art and easy derivatives, simply for the 'hell of it'. Quick and thoughtless cash grabs. When taking into account the 3 states/versions of a Monsutā (Monsutā, Soul Monsutā, Evolved Monsutā), we have created 26,664 pieces of artwork. It's also very important to state that these 26,664 variations make up 1 collection of 8,888 pieces. We focused on making Monsutās dynamic NFTs - to ensure we avoid project dilution with a clear and succinct focus on one collection. The art for Monsutā can be broken down into seven main trait categories:
Scene (16 variants)
Species (7 variants)
Skin (16 variants)
Eyes (16 variants)
Mouth (16 variants)
Markings (16 variants)
Ritual (16 variants)
16 x 7 x 16 x 16 x 16 x 16 x 16 = 117,440,512 There are 117,440,512 possible Monsutā variant combinations. Cherish the one you own! Part of the creative team consists of artists from the traditional world, meaning we have taken an extreme approach in ensuring our art is appropriately justified in its NFT/digital form. Each trait was hand drawn and applied across all other trait variations, meaning every Monsutā generated is a pleasantly terrifying piece of standalone art. This trait selection process was extremely rigorous, and in turn, resulted in over 140 traits not making the cut in the final collection.
The Artwork
Monsutās are presented in 940 x 1200 px format. Portrait painting orientation.
Minted Monsutā: The minted Monsutā is presented in the profile picture style format. A 3/4 turn right facing character. From a creative perspective, we wanted to express texture and age in each piece. We focused on the interaction between light and dark colors, and wanted our Monsutās to express feelings. The minted Monsutā traits establishes what your evolved Monsutā will look like as they are a 1:1 trait transformation. Each minted Monsutā is unique, and no two Monsutās are the same. There are a total of 8,888 unique Monsutās.
Soul Monsutā: The Soulbound Monsutā is similar to the minted Monsutā. It is a Monsutā that has been sacrificed in order for another Monsutā to evolve. From an art perspective, we wanted to express that the Soul Monsutā is 'no longer' or perceived as 'deceased'. This was achieved by:
1) Distressing and ageing the Monsutā artwork 2) Applying a gold leaf halo to the Monsutā 3) Ritual trait transformed into a skull The result is a clear distinction between a Minted Monsutā and Soul Monsutā, all on-chain.
Evolved Monsutā: The Evolved Monsutā is a Monsutā in its final art form. It is the completed artwork and presented in a way in which you could imagine a painting in an exhibition. We call our style of work primitive abstract expressionism. The Evolved Monsutā artwork presents a full bodied Monsutā with a complete view on the Scene trait (background). We emphasized heavily on the final texture of the piece, and invite users to zoom in on their piece to view this texture.
The Traits Explained
Scenery: There are 16 different scenes that range from greyscale/sepia settings to colorful engaging colored scenes. Some scenes focus more on ambience and space while others focus more on objects and composition. All in all, we are happy with the final range and outcome of the scenes. Scenes that did not make the final collection: 18
Species: The 7 species traits was probably the most time consuming trait to finalize. The species trait is the shape and style of your Monsutā. As a Minted Monsutā, this dictated the shape of your PFP character. As an Evolved Monsutā, the species trait required revealing the entire body shape of each species. Each species varies in shape and stature. Species that did not make the final collection: 12
Skin: There are 16 different skin types. Skin types are probably one of the most visually dominate Monsutā traits. The skin type overlays the species trait and comes in various colors and texture types. Like most collections, some skins are rarer than others, however, as we've seen in many collections at times this doesn't dictate its perceived desire. Skins that did not make the final collection: 22
Eyes: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." There are 16 different eye variations. Our main focus here was to create eyes that give the Monsutā emotion. This was expressed both in the shape and style of the eyes as well the colors used to create the eyes. Some eyes are abstract and erratic, while others are cool and deadly. Eyes that did not make the final collection: 17
Mouth: Mouth styles and colors also contribute to expressing emotion. We focused on creating 16 mouths that complimented the eyes we created whilst keeping in mind the Monsutā lore. We wanted the Monsutā mouths to be fierce and we wanted them to be ferocious. Mouths that did not make the final collection: 13
Markings: The markings trait transitions from Japanese text on the Minted Monsutā to hand drawn artwork in the Evolved Monsutā. This contributes to the overall evolution of the Monsutā and the artwork. There are 16 variations of the markings trait ranging from insects to animals and that all inevitably contribute to the Monsutā nightmare that we live. Markings that did not make the final collection: 22
Ritual: "Ritual is the passageway of the soul to the infinite." Each Monsutā is allocated a ritual. Some rituals are rarer than others. It is how we harness the power of this ritual that will dictate the future. Rituals range from Demonic to Hypnosis and everything in-between. Rituals that did not make the final collection: 16
All in all, we have spent alot of time refining what makes a Monsutā. There has been many design successes with just as many failures. However, we have always persisted and stayed true to ourselves when creating the artwork. The final result is 8,888 Monsutās with the ability to transform its physical state when you decide.
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