What if someone made a video game version of Ramakien, the ancient Thai epic? All of its creatures, landscapes, and dramas would be solid source material for a game, even if it wasn’t a foundational text of a historic culture. If anyone’s ever thought deeply about the idea, it would have to be Narupiti Harunsong, a Thai illustrator fond of imagining those pages in a style that would be right at home with the Spider-Verse or Red Dead Redemption. That’s no coincidence, either. When he’s not recreating traditional Thai culture, he’s drawing some of the best fan art on the web, including those titles just mentioned, and sometimes even combining them with Thai literary figures. Why shouldn’t God Of War feature Asian mythology, anyway?
In one series, Harunsong fleshes out his version of Ramakien’s Underwater Kingdom, replete with dragonfruit homes and aquatic creatures. In another, he retells the book’s romance between Suphanmacha and Hanuman. He’s also drawn new versions of the Naga, Sang Prang, and Maiyarap (the mythological figure, not the rapper).
Harunsong doesn’t only draw on Thai culture for inspiration, and he’s looked abroad for similar features to recreate in a modern style. One of his best series is a collection of traditional dance styles from across Asia, including Japanese and Indian styles, all drawn in his characteristic styles of vivid colors and energetic motion. They that wouldn’t look out of place in a Street Fighter game at all, but are images rooted in cultural appreciation more than violence. He also did a fan version of “Jibaro,” one of the best animated shorts from the Netflix series Love Death + Robots, but rendered in Thai style rather than the vaguely South Asian original.
The majority of Harunsong’s work might possibly be fan art, pieces expressing pure adoration for the video games and animation that inspire him—and made him pick up the pencil as a child in the first place. There’s Chainsaw Man, Blackpink, and PUBJ. There’s even the rare original just based on daily experiences, like his school toilet. It depends on his mood and some of the drawings he sets to work on immediately after watching or reading something. Whatever it is that sparks his motivation, you can be sure the results will be vibrant and explosive.
