Cover art for She Hunts Demons Book One of Ashen Blades. commissioned by Owen Tyme (2024)
Art By Ryan Johnson (Digital – Charcoal – 2024)
It’s set in 1945, a matter of weeks before the first atomic bomb test, which does have some bearing on the story. Most of the story happens in New York city, so a background in a city or a rooftop would work well.
The main character uses a wakizashi a lot, if that helps for an actiony pose. Main character is rather short and slender. She’s about 48 years old, but looks 15. She’s half human, half demon. Brown hair, intensely blue eyes, bordering on the unnatural. She’s kind of a demon-killing vigilante, so there are some similarities to Batman, though the detective is actually her partner. She’s actually the muscle of the duo.
The main character wears a black dress. It’s old and worn. It was thrown away, but she rescued it from the trash and stitched it up. It would reach to just below the knees. Oh, right. It probably shouldn’t be visible in the image, since her skirt normally covers it, but she has a rat-like tail. It’s one of the big reasons she prefers a skirt. They just don’t tailor pants for tails.
If it helps, she’s actually inspired by the Japanese trope of Magical Girls, amusingly enough. She’s a witch, but she doesn’t learn anything about her witch powers until near the end of the book. She mostly uses her demon magic for fighting. And there’s no need to put the sword’s sheath anywhere in the scene, because she conjures it into her hand, magically.
The villain is actually a snake demon.
I watched several old Film Noir films as research material (film noir/black white/ grayscale art style), so looking at iconic black and white sense for inspiration might be useful. Double Indemnity (1944), Scarface, D.O.A.
Think you could do something batman-esque with her standing on the edge of a rooftop, with sword in hand? Maybe her skirt blowing in the wind?
Only MC in picture.
-Description of Commission Provided by Owen Tyme
