Okay, after this I think I'm finished playing with light sources and all of that in Sai. I just needed to get it out of my system and what better way than to color up a sketch I had of Kryst the rat enjoying his morning cigarette.

Rats in Kryst's world are normally nocturnal and they build apartment complexes underground specifically for species who feel more comfortable there. But Kryst is actually a bit of an oddball in that he has daylight working hours and got an apartment with a window. He's also not terribly social like most rats. It's a bit complicated to explain.

One thing many artists have are dozens of characters we made up for one project or another and then stashed away in our heads. The characters sit and wait and sometimes change as new projects are devised for them or they just happen to be an available character to use in something. Kryst is a character I created in 1990 or so when I studied mental disorders in high school psychology class. Originally he was a psychopath who somehow ended up with a poor hapless guy who felt responsible for him. It was a good concept, but as a story it had no point or resolution so I trunked him. Then as I started developing the Blood From a Stone universe I started digging out all of these trunked characters and trying to see if I could find a place for them all. Kryst ended up getting a full personality revamp and some character alterations (that hair flop used to be a Mohawk) and turned into my protagonist.

I mentioned in the 'woah' picture that he wears relics to boost magic ability. I'm trying to devise a story for the one around his neck. Maybe make it a relic created from a partner Kryst once had, or made from the person he replaced on the force. Policemen commonly will donate their bodies to be turned into relics in the event of their death, as will some military personnel. But civilians are restricted from doing so and if a civilian is caught with an unlicensed relic it will get confiscated. Humans as a whole also rarely donate their bodies as relics because it's considered a blasphemy for most human religions. Kryst, like most familiars, is an atheist. Although as his creator I am not, I do not create characters as carbon copies of myself. They have vices I do not, and they have beliefs I do not.

Anyway, Kryst also has a carton a week smoking habit and starts the day with a cigarette and coffee. I imagined him glaring out the window and watching the morning goings on outside with his typical dour viewpoint.

This was yet another excuse to play in Paint Tool Sai, this time trying to focus on a bright light source and conveying that it is there without actually showing it. I think I'm done playing with extreme light at the moment though. But man this is a fun program...