A new piece following this creative exercise: I randomize 3 concepts from a previously prepared list and try to create a character based on them. For this, I use a simple spreadsheet with 3 lists (2 repeated + 1 additional one with complementary concepts).

Here we have Shadowyn Qliphoth, the result of combining the following concepts: Witch, Assassin & Bird.

At first I thought of just developing a witch that had control over multiple birds that she used as killing acolytes. But the global concept was, in the end, essentially a witch.

So I decided to mix two of the concepts: assassin and witch, and then introduced some bird-like attributes that could tie all the lore around the character.

Here’s the backstory, my favourite part:

“Shadowyn’s mother, a powerful witch, made an unholy pact with the demon Malphas. The fruit of that agreement was her own daughter, who is at once an avatar of the demon on earth, a witch by blood, and a ruthless protector of her entire clan. The ultimate combination of martial skill and dark magic.”

Some points:

• Her surname references the hermetic cabalistic term Qliphoth.

• Shadowyn uses two long daggers, one imbued with shadows, another smeared with poison.

• Her skin is covered with soft feathers, she has bird-like legs and wings, and a particularly long neck. She also has four ears (the inspiration for this coming from Yu Yu Hakusho’s demon Yomi).

• Although she doesn’t look human, her gaze can enchant anyone who looks at her, and she is as lethal with her weapons as with her spells.

The project

If you want to know more about the whole project and the characters created so far, please read this case study :-)

You can get Shadowyn's illustration as a fine art print, an acrylic print, a metal print or a Canvas print on InPrnt (8x8, 12x12 or 16x16 inches) __✍️

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