:: To Be Human

To be human is to err. But to err enables one to learn.

And if humans can learn, then to be human is to be wise.

-Vaenth, first Reaper of Twilight and advisor to the Reaper Council

About the piece:

This is a portrait of D-Z, or Lady North, in her human form. She is not usually depicted as such, but sometimes her job as a reaper requires her to do so, much as she dislikes the necessity. However, she would not have met her husband has she not been wearing this shape....

Because her race does not age as humans do, Lady North's human form appears slightly older than her normal, furred one. Most notably is the wide stripe of grey hair, which remains absent in her normal form because greying in imphs will not happen for her for another fifteen years.

Her markings also remain in her human form, though often she will refer to them as 'tattoos' or 'war-paint' because mentioning them as markings generally leads to uncomfortable situations among humans. They, like her red eyes and forehead gem, are an integral part of her, and cannot simply be dismissed for asthetic's sake.

In this illustration, she is depicted at sunset, because, as a reaper, this is when her job begins. She stands, watching the last rays of the sun fade before she dons the mantle of an inevitable force of life, and goes forth to ease the last moments of pain for many world-weary souls. It symbolizes not only the correlation between life and day, and death with night, but also that life begins anew, just as daylight will return after the night has passed.

About the process:

This painting originally started as a sketch loosely based off a tiny thumbnail of Tarja Turunen, one of my favorite singers, and, coincidentally, Lady North's unofficial voice actor, if I ever become famous enough to have one of my novels turned into a movie. While sketching, it turned from Tarja into Lady North, unintentionally. So, I decided to keep painting.

Through the process, the lovely and patient ~Dreamsprite put up with my constant wip shots and insecure whinings. She was kind enough to point out areas that needed improvement, and make suggestions on palates, proportions, and above all, provide gobs of encouragement when I needed it most. So a special shout-out to her.

The painting took about three days, working mostly at night with Tarja's My Winter Storm album and Hans Zimmer's Sherlock Holmes soundtrack playing the entire time. The background and hair were the most trouble, but in the end, I am happy with how it all came together.

ART, CHARACTER, AND CONCEPT (C) ME