Contemplative Oni Maker

Heaven’s Blessing sketch

So in about a half hour it’s my birthday. I don’t usually make a big deal out of it, but I saved this sketch for this day…  so here’s a special present specifically for you folks who enjoy L5R and especially this piece that came out in the Coils of Madness set. Here’s also a huge thank you to the fans, new and veteran, who keep this game going for all these years with your pride and enthusiasm. I especially love seeing how the Kotei championships dictate the story and the direction of the game itself, and how these things are being reflected in the game’s art (just WAIT till you see what’s coming down the pipe!!!!! Super excited). Working title on this was “The Bigger They Are”. I have no idea what that meant except that it was supposed to be a powerful vision of Yoritomo, the first Mantis Clan Champion, who passed out of song and tale long ago in the game’s lore. Adrian’s art guidance was, “Make it badass”. So I went with that. I spent an entire working day on his helmet, thinking… ok if he’s all transcended and all, he’s going to have an upgrade to that dented, banged up thing he wore back in the day. It’s gotta be something special. The helmet is actually a separate illustration, it’s own file, that once I had down, I then brought into the overall sketch for the illustration. My vision was this… He’s called the Son of Storms so I had this image of him transcending… or exploding… out from a storm over the sea, with a ship caught in the bedlam. Not sure if the ship is being destroyed by the storm or protected by Yoritomo. Maybe both or neither depending on your perspective. Either way, I knew it just had to be kinda badass.

Prints of the final painting can be purchased here:

Jason Behnke - Yoritomo

“And yet you choose a form that is meant to be comical. Perhaps it is intentional irony? Although that begs the question of why you turn to theft rather than plying a trade. Your words say that you are greedy, but your look says ‘pay attention to me.’ Do you fear people ignoring you?” 

❛ We all wear masks. Everyone, everyday. Sometimes we wear them so much we forget who we really are. ❜

❛ And sometimes, if we’re lucky, someone comes along and shows us who we really wanna be, who we should be. ❜

❛ Fighting this war on your own must be exhausting. ❜

❛ Are you going to let me go? ❜

❛ Before you pull the trigger, you should know my name. ❜

❛ A killer with a conscious; it’s no wonder they cut you loose. ❜

❛ The real gift isn’t freedom. It’s what we get to do with it. ❜

❛ Brute force will never be as powerful as deception. ❜

❛ I’m not a monster. I just wanted you to think I was. ❜

❛ I have nothing left. If you die, I die. ❜

❛ I was the first recruit to get out. I’m going to make certain I’m not the last. ❜

❛ Your life is over, _____. I’m here to offer you a new one. But you have to be willing to earn it. ❜

❛ She had a good run. Won’t be another one like her. ❜

❛ Did she say who she was working for? ❜

❛ Everything to make me the best killer I could be… till I broke one of their rules. ❜

❛ I thought I heard my name. ❜

❛ I want you to know I can get to you, and hit you where it hurts the most. ❜

❛ Just like old times, huh? ❜

❛ You were free. You had gotten out, you were gone. What the hell are you doing back here? ❜

❛ I know you’re in this for revenge.  ❜

❛ You know firsthand what it feels like. Have the thing you love most in life taken away from you. ❜

❛ It wasn’t your life. It was your cover. I warned you not to get emotionally attached. ❜

❛ I’ll give you a head start. ❜

❛ If we meet again I can’t promise what will happen. ❜

❛ I can only promise you one thing… It’s going to get worse before it gets better. ❜

❛ The last word they breathe before the end, will be my name. ❜

❛ Did you ever have feelings for her? ❜

❛ You put him in danger, _____. That’s not like you. ❜

❛ Pretty cool how you can hack into all these servers. ❜

❛ You said you didn’t want forgiveness, but you deserve it, _____. ❜

❛ What have you got behind your back? ❜

❛ I can’t believe I ever thought you were cute. ❜

❛ You’d follow him over a cliff, wouldn’t you? Just like that. ❜

❛ You don’t have a choice. ❜

❛ What do I want? What I want is to empty a clip into your face. ❜

❛ That’s the difference between you and me, _____. You’ll kill anyone, I don’t waste life. ❜

❛ The man could not keep it in his pants if it was tied to his zipper, you know what I’m saying? ❜

❛ I told myself if I could just find you and see if you were OK, that I would have done one good thing in my life. ❜

❛ I made the same mistake you did. The best mistake of my life. ❜

❛ I’ve got a plan. ❜

❛ Why don’t you just let me go? ❜

❛ I’m not gonna let them do anything to you. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you. I’m not gonna lose you too. ❜

❛ The truth is what we choose to believe. ❜

❛ Making friends isn’t hard. Losing them will be. Trust me. ❜

❛ Not everything has to be a video game. ❜

❛ You know what you’re going to do? You’re going to kill, and you’re going to kill, you’re going to kill some more. And one day, if you’re very lucky, you’re gonna remember what it was like to be a human being. ❜

❛ I don’t want you to go through what I did, _____. Wouldn’t wish that on anyone. ❜

❛ Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. ❜

❛ Thanks, my flight was lovely. How about yours? ❜

❛ I’m pretty sure that taxi driver ripped me off. ❜

❛ You picked the wrong mission to mess with. ❜

❛ Relax. I’m not here to stop you. ❜

❛ You may not believe this, but I’m glad you found me. I’ve often wondered how you fared. You probably don’t realize, but you changed my life as much as I changed yours. ❜

❛ Who would have thought you would have been the voice of reason? ❜

❛ Revenge is not the answer. ❜

❛ I’m not a spice girl, and I was never ever obscure. I was elusive, and a little dangerous. I was a legend. ❜

❛ I’m new at this hero stuff, you’ve been doing it a lot longer. ❜

❛ You make it sound like you’re my guardian angel. ❜

❛ It’s a kill job. I kill, or be killed, everyone knows that. ❜

❛ I like the sapphire dress too. ❜

❛ That would be very dangerous. ❜

❛ No risk, no reward. Isn’t that what you taught me? ❜

❛ She thinks you and I are, you know… Together. ❜