I’ve mentioned before with some of my other drawings that, for whatever reason, I have a really hard time drawing insectoid creatures, and this guy right here was no exception due to the super-bizarre body shape and limb arrangement of the Preying Mantis it’s based on. That being said, I did manage to throw together this design which- while certainly far from perfect- is probably the best I could have made given what I was going for, and it ended up looking pretty cool so for now I’m sticking with it. I chose the Preying Mantis as the inspiration mostly because of many mantis species resembling plants in order to ambush their prey, which combined with their signature claws somewhat resembling scythes inspired me to create a design that embodied both living and decaying plant matter. After all, death is just as much a part of Nature as life, and representing both sides at once with this creature makes it the perfect Apex for this element. So with all that said and done, I hope you guys all enjoy this reaper of the woodlands and I’ll be back next week for the next element in the lineup: Metal!