Character building 1.

 

In my first story which was titled ‘Learning to Fly’ (for no reason which I can remember) the central character was the 16 year old, Kasume Cansake or Kass for short. Kasume would go on to inspire ideas for both Keyanna and Tiana. The character of Kass first inspired the sensible, rational and well educated Tiana, who just like her predecessor had grown up in the thriving civilisation of Art, and who in an act of rebellion had defied her own government. Keyanna took on the adventurous character traits of Kass although Keyanna is not a natural born adventurer or hero she also takes on a great challenge for the betterment of the world.

From the days of my earliest ideas I knew that I wanted to write about a character with brown hair and eyes, as there are not enough stories about plain looking young women. Both Keyanna and Tiana were plain enough young women with brown hair, who went on to do extraordinary things due to their unwavering determination, and did not need to rely on blonde hair, green eyes or good looks.  Saying that, both of my characters undergo a transformation, robbing them of their plain appearance and leaving them looking a little otherworldly. I had already decided my main character would have unusual eyes, as you can see from this sketch, I had opted for vertical pupils as a distinctive feature. I’m not sure at what stage I decided to go for grey irises instead.

The clothing I drew Kasume wearing, was supposed to be a typical Arten outfit, and the use of white and grey clothes is still mentioned in my final stories. Although in my current stories the white and grey clothes of the Arten’s tend to be reserved for the higher levels of society, and for a few others on ceremonial occasions. It’s only common sense that white clothes and a white tabard would get unbearably dirty out on an adventure.

I watched too much anime such as Tenchi Muyo and The Slayers, as an impressionable teenager, to escape the attractive idea of the light swords, and of course the far more famous light sabres of Star Wars. I prefer the anime idea of the power of the blade coming from within, and the handle acting as a channelling aid. In this basic drawing you can see that I intended for Kasume to carry a broken sword, with the main part of the blade replaced with blue light. I revived this particular idea in the second book of the series called ‘Journey’, where it is used to get Keyanna out of a tight situation.