Cherry Blossom grew beside a quiet farmhouse, providing shade for a boy during his childhood daydreams. When he went to war, he missed the tree and his aging parents.

After the war, he came home to the graves of his parents. In his grief, Cherry Blossom was granted a soul and human form so she could comfort him with her friendship and understanding.

When he died, she had to find her purpose as new owners took over the farm. Inquisitive children soon discovered her and had extraordinary adventures with their new, flowery governess.

Grace is a Peytonite, a race of wolf-deer people, stewarded by Peyton. When she met WoeNylVal, Grace wished to become the embodiment of loyalty. It is impossible for her to betray her friends or loved ones.

Peytonites have flaps on both sides of their torsos. When they marry, they wrap the flaps around their spouses to give and take traits from their spouses. Married couples look like mirror images of each other. The husband looks like a male version of his wife and vice versa.

#Art #Fantasy #Krita #NinePrincesses

Haiya started the contest as a child, so she was not allowed to participate until she emerged from her cocoon as an adult, with brilliant outer wings.
To help in the contest, Haiya wished to be the embodiment of health. She is still sickly, but can heal people with her antennae. She wears bright colors to match her hair and sunny personality.
She hopes that she'll become bipedal if she marries a human.
She is part-tapir and part-silkwing, so she adores WoeNylVal, who invented silkwings.
Tapirs have different anatomy from other centaurs and only need clothing on the front halves of their bodies.
#Art #Fantasy #Krita #NinePrincesses

Arrow is a pangolin, from a dangerous jungle. She was known for her arrogance and made her family and people hate her. They were relieved when WoeNylVal took her on a journey to find a husband. Brokenhearted by the chaos her pride caused, Arrow asked WoeNylVal to make her the embodiment of humility. She did not realize how painful the path to humility would be.

#Art #Fantasy #NinePrincesses #OC

Evynne is a feather-wolf, from the same world as River. She's not sure if she can trust WoeNylVal, who is too friendly with River. At least WoeNylVal made Evynne the embodiment of agility, which should help her get the attention of a warrior.

#Art #Fantasy #NinePrincesses #OC

CCH-32 is an herbdroid, whose family sent her away because of her emotional instability. She hopes that WoeNylVal can help her find a husband and more importantly, find a way to repair her faulty emotional logic.

WoeNylVal granted CCH-32's wish for intelligence to augment her existing genius.
#Art #Fantasy #Herbdroid #NinePrincesses #OC

River is an octophant, who left home to find a husband, with WoeNylVal's help. She finds WoeNylVal's mind-fortress a claustrophobic place to live.

As part of the matchmaking arrangement, River asked to be granted strength. She detests her rival, Evynne, who is a feather-wolf from the same world.
#Art #Fantasy #NinePrincesses #OC

Banou is a gelatinous, shapeshifting girl, entrusted to WoeNylVal's matchmaking abilities. Until Banou is married, she will live in the matchmakers' mind-fortress.

To help her in her quest to marry into power, Banou asked to become the physical embodiment of beauty. Her arrogance and snobbery mitigate her good looks.
#Art #Fantasy #NinePrincesses #OC

Nightmare and her sister Sadjoy are the queens of their world. They bear the snake curse, so they can free others from it.
#Art #ArtWithFreeSoftware #Fantasy #Krita

I used #inkscape to illustrate the cover for a new novel, The Woethief. You can pre-order the novel at https://nantucketebooks.com/order.
I've drawn more #fantasy illustrations for inside the novel too.
#art #artwithfreesoftware