Nogitsune

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

So, last time, you may remember I took part in a competition on Deviant Art, and showed my entry for said competition. Weeeeeeell, while the submission date hasn't changed, there was a bit of an extension on when the results will be out, so as of yet, I don't know how well I have done. But once I know, I'll be sure to let you know how it went.

Meanwhile, apart from coming down with yet another cold (Honestly, I must have a horrible immune system or something), I have finished another of my projects, this time a character I once created a while ago, but have only recently drawn in order to see how it would look, and to test out my colouring style, as well as testing out ever so slight differences in angles. The character I drew was one based on legends of Nogitsune.

So, what are Nogitsune?

Basically, a Nogitsune is a form of supernatural fox, or Kitsune, from Japanese mythology. In said mythology, foxes are capable of shapeshifting to take on a human form (often female, but not always) in order to interact with humans. Nogitsune are the most malevolent version of the foxes (Also known as Yakou or 'field foxes'), as apposed to 'Zenko', which are foxes mostly linked to the deity Inari. Nogitsune are prone to playing tricks on humans, and not just the playful kind.

You can find more information on Nogitsune and their various counterparts on Wikipedia. It, along with other Japanese mythology, is rather interesting :)

The family I made essentially has the shapeshifting ability, though in this case it is at the cost of the users individuality. The shape shifters have fox shaped masks with individual and unique patterns on them in order to identify between themselves, no matter what shape they take. The character I drew is to a point that they have forgotten even their own gender, and as such refers to themselves in a non-binary manner (unless using someone else's appearance, when they take on that person's name and gender). As such, I hoped to be able to draw an androgynous figure. What I came up with was this:

I have to admit, my favourite part of this image was the hair. I know that in earlier pictures, hair tended to be fairly simple, but I'm hoping to make hair at least a little more interesting to look at. It was fun doing the waves in the hair - it reminds me a bit of Somnus' hair. Hopefully my practice will help me improve on characters like Somnus as well. I'm also quite happy with how the angles have been coming out as well. It's easy to draw characters facing the camera, and I'll admit that that was something I often did when I was younger, but it's nice to try things from different angles as well.

This character, who is named Nogitsune Nagisa (in the Japanese format of surname first and given name last) was created in a role-play, where I tested out the shapeshifting character, and fell in love with them. There is a lot of depth that such a character can have, not only with being able to explore how the character may win or fail at faking people's identities, but also looking at the psychological side of being everyone but yourself. The picture was inspired by a scene in which Nagisa was speaking with another character on the RP, named 'Bokudou', and a particular conversation that they had there. It stuck with me, somewhat, and thus this image was born in my mind.

To see the full sized image, check it out here and maybe even leave me a comment or two. :) Constructive criticism always helps to improve and that is something I hope to do as an artist. You never stop learning, after all.

Well, until next time!

Tara