Jin: Human to Kirin

It's been a while since I've drawn my kirin character Jin, so I decided he could use some more attention.

Some backstory: I've been contemplating the nature of Jin's "shifting" ability lately, and so I figured he could stand to have a bit of a physical description to show the changes. Since his natural state is that of a kirin (obviously) he is more inclined to stay in said form whenever possible (ie. at home, whenever he's alone, after dark). It takes a considerable amount of energy and self control to keep the guise of a human, and whenever he loses some of that grasp, through either hunger, fatigue, or agitation, he will start to show subtle shifts, as indicated in the second sketch: Not only does he have a tendency to grow taller (Jin normally stands around 5 foot 8 inches), but his face will tend to lengthen and his ears will start to shift, also the scales will begin to emerge through the skin.

This can be a little uncomfortable, if not painful, so Jin has to be constantly aware of how he is, and that he is capable of holding the guise. If not, he'll lose control and transform into this kirin form. Depending on the situation, this transformation can either be very swift (if deliberate or agitated, or unconscious) or gradual. If he cannot stop the transformation, he must find solitude away from the public as quickly as possible. He finds it helpful to keep food with him at all times, as well as either strong tea/coffee to keep him alert.

Jin is very different from Mara in this respect, and these difficulties can be attributed to his choice to reside in our world, as opposed to Mara, who only visits for brief intervals, and thus has all her power intact. So you won't see Mara shifting back to her unicorn form at random. As Jin has resided in our world for so long, he has grown considerably weaker, and uses most of his energies in holding his human guise. That said, he is rather fragile, though considerable less so as a kirin, and, although respect for life prohibits kirin from eating meat, etc. Jin must do so in order to keep his life. It is this fact that has "reduced" him in a way, as he no longer holds the supposed purity of a kirin, and has as a result the ability to fight if needed, and may take a more active stance than a "pure" kirin in the struggle for balance.

tl;dr: Pretty pencil sketches of me attempting to take a somewhat normal human Jin and show the stages as he progresses to kirin form. Whether or not I succeeded is unknown right now. I suppose I'll look back on it later and see the failures, lol. Perhaps I'll get to do a full body shift at some point, but that would be a while! On another note, his kirin face is oh so serious. He sees what you did there.

Questions, comments, critiques, whatever have you are welcome. I'm certain I'll be as slow to reply as ever, though.

Jin and art (C) to me, April Schumacher.