"My design process for Vani and Jumana started out like many of my other characters and creative worlds: from a seed of inspiration. In this case, it was a headdress worn by a bellydancer in a photo I found on Pinterest. It was adorned with antlers and had an archaic, druidic vibe to it-- and I knew I had to build a character around it. Originally I thought Vani herself would be some sort of nature goddess or long-forgotten deity, so with that in mind I found a playlist of Pagan folk music and began to sketch. After several iterations though, I decided I wasn’t happy with how Vani was turning out and ended up starting over completely. At different points she was a goddess of nature, a nymph, and even closely resembled a classical faun. Her horns changed from being an ornate headdress, to being actual horns sprouting from her head. The trappings and decorations strung between them remained though, and helped me develop the rest of her aesthetic. Because I’m constantly developing a character’s personality alongside their aesthetic, I always find it hard to imagine them in a vacuum and isolated from the world I’ve inevitably ALSO created for them to exist in. So when I was finally happy with Vani’s design, I moved on to her wife, Jumana.Whereas Vani is slender and elegant, graceful and regal, I wanted her partner to be similar... yet different. Because of that juxtaposition, I had a bit more direction this time around and Jumana’s form came more or less unbeckoned. In the world I built (and am still building) around them, Jumana is the head chieftess of their people, and Vani is the high priest and spiritual guide to the Ibanni (eye-ba-nee). Their entire culture is based around harmony with nature and the rituals and magicks they use are meant to revolve around the concept of maintaining the balance between what is taken and what is given. Eventually I hope to turn this into a major project of some sort, but for now I’m just excited to know that you all are interested!" -@erinmcdowellart