(UPDATE: Very exciting news! "Kitsune" will appear as the cover art of a forthcoming fantasy novel by Eugie Foster. The book is called Returning My Sister's Face and Other Far Eastern Tales of Whimsy and Malice. It looks to be an awesome read, forthcoming from Norilana Books in 2009! Go check out her website! If you are a reader of fantasy (and especially if you enjoy tales with an Eastern spin), keep an eye out for it and be sure to pick up a copy!

Prints of this image will be available in March of 2010.

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Thank you so much to ~kargath64 for suggesting this piece for a DD and ^WilderWein77 for featuring it!

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Thought I would try an anthro piece.

This is a character whose name is writ in the heavens as Celestial Kitsune, a black fox (actually a half-fox, she has a human father) who attained divinity through her wisdom and compassion. Like all foxes, she is a trickster. While she is very young by fox spirit standards, she already has enough of a reputation to be known to Ninetails (who, not being disposed herself to the human trait of "virtue," looks down her nose at the halfbreed whose human side so strongly directs her nature). Recently she tricked the dragon god out of an ancient map, and she is in quite a lot of trouble for it. Though I suspect, wily creature that she is, that she'll be fine (so long as the dragon never catches her)

Like all kitsune she has powers of transformation. She is about to put on her mask and change to a human.

Thanks to for the lovely picture of the kimono.

Thanks to for the sky background (which is on his old account, )

Thanks to for the woman's face and arm.

Thanks to for the fox's lower jaw and great stock images that I looked at for reference.

I wanted my Celestial Kitsune to have dark skin as a human, and it's worth noting that I had incredible difficulty finding any stock images of black women. Just pages and pages of lily-white faces. This is a serious problem for fantasy artists who wish to include women of color in their work. No wonder all the fairies/nymphs/princesses/centaurs/etc. we see are white.

Next to come to the gallery: possibly a phoenix! Or else a western dragon.