Kappa was my instant favorite. He reminded me of one of my girlfreind's characters, a phooka, and also of a character of mine in development, who is a female kelpie. I like elemental, supernatural creatures, especially the winged sort, and I understood a lot of Kappa's motivations.
It also didn't hurt that I'd read about kappas before in various books about myhtology and supernatural beings and creatures (They're also mentioned in the Harry Potter books, by the way. Snape mentions something about them being found mostly in Mongolia, though, which is absurd, because Mongolia's landlocked and also very arid, so I don't know where that came from. Okay, I'm done now. Tank you for reading my digression of the day.) I had read about the water jewel before, but I had never heard of kappas being winged, only shelled like turtles. I think the wings are more visually appealing for Diana's purposes, though.
Of course, the obvious medium for Kappa was watercolor. I chose to depict him in trueform and worked mostly in shades of green. I was tempted to draw hm naked or in just a loincloth, but I decided I wanted him to be wearing a belt with shells dangling from it, and that worked better with the toga-ish garment he's wearing here. The pose came from the same book that Kannon's poses came from. The photo is of a young African-American man with a very handsome face and one of the most wistful, evocative expressions I've ever seen. I wanted to draw it at the moment I saw it, and it seemed to fit Kappa somehow, particularly at the point where he is seperated from Aoi and her companions.
Kappa's is my favorite haiku. It's very short and simple, but it fits together well and fits the picture more than any of the others.
Just for the record, Diana, I really like the idea of a romance between Jinko and Kappa. At first glance they'd make a weird couple, but they have more in common than one would think.
Aoi
Character copyright Diana, 2002
Image copyright Bridgie, 2002
