First, let's learn how to pronounce his name. "Keer-ahn" ... or something like that. :) Wrong little thingy above his name, too, but I couldn't find it on the character map.

He wants to go home to his wife :) He'd been thinking about her all day and he's absolutely exhausted. He is looking forward to a good, hot meal, whiskey, back and neck massage... and maybe a little "personal time" with his dearest before bed. Sadly, his work day is just half over. Poor dude!

Anyways, let me introduce Ciarān, a character I created for my "Halfway in Light" fanfic creativity exercise that I am writing through the form of art, based on Hayao Miyazaki's "Sherlock Hound" series! Ciarān is Tommy's best bud (an a friend of Marie's too!) and the husband to Josephine (although, everyone calls her Jo), another character I created. Ciarān was born on the outskirts of Dublin into an upper-middle-classed family. His father was fiercely strict, often requiring too much of his three sons and degrading his children when they did not succeed. Ever since he was a little boy, Ciarān counted the days until he could leave home, and as soon as he graduated from secondary school at the age of 15, he fled to London and pursued his dream in the world of aviation.

Ciarān is not only a pioneer aviator in the early 1910s, but he is also an engineer, designing and building planes. He is a fantastic artist and puts his talent and creativity towards his passion: aviation. Ciarān is a very open-minded fellow, especially for a man in Edwardian England, and is generally laid back and mellow. He has a hot temper, but it is hard to get him angry enough to show that stereotypical Irish man that lies beneath his cool surface (and yes, he generally has to be drunk). He also supports the suffragists (which was one of the things that won the stubborn and hot-headed Jo over) and has a good heart. Ciarān disdains conformist behavior and is seen as a "free thinker" within society, often to his misfortune. He is courageous, very intelligent (aren't all corgis? :)), playful and a bit boyish at times.

Now... about the picture. I'm not horribly pleased with the background, but I'm really trying to go more toony but that damned realist in me keeps wanting to put texture on everything. :) Even cartoons have beautiful backgrounds, but I dunno. I did hurry it a bit. As for Ciarān, I love how he came out and I love the toony look. The whole "Halfway in Light" series will be toony, so I'd better get used to painting like this! I also shoved a drafting pencil behind his ear, changed the bottle of port into a flask, and gave him a drawing compass. :) As for those black bands around his arm, what are those for? I just know they are sexy and I've seen them on men from that time period.

Ciarān and art © S. Henson 2009