CnD: What Might Have Been

This is the first finished piece in my Cinnamon & Demon Project, which I started last year as a challenge to experiment with style and other elements of my art to put me out of my comfort zone. All the pieces are of Kinbera and or Taa, two of my favorite and most versatile characters.
Self-challenges in this piece: interesting pose, multiple light sources, and stronger shading.

“What Might Have Been” is relevant to the beginning Kinbera and Taa’s story; Kin would have died if not for Taa’s intervention. She is supposed to be only days old, but I drew her older to show her natural markings, which she never grew into because of Taa.

SOME STORY DETAILS: Kinbera’s parents are both magic users, but their magics are very different and mixed in such a way that Kinbera would have died shortly after her birth if her father, Reivf, had not appealed to the demons (magic spirits, not evil ones) for help. Taa chose to help and bound himself to Kinbera and used his magic to balance hers.

Taa is a Shrike, a type of demon which typically interacts with physical world by possessing a person and taking over their body. Taa bound himself to Kin with a passive possession, which means he had intentionally tied himself to her mind/soul and allows her to retain awareness and control of her own body. Still, his presence significantly altered her physical appearance, and she ended up mostly dark purple instead of developing the natural markings shown in this picture. They aren’t sure what would happen if he left.
Her markings might appear. And she might die.

..I really like her original markings. <3

Kinbera, Taa, and story stoof (c) *kulapti