Kanra Kei
甘楽ケイ
Lore and art
Kanra Kei (甘楽ケイ) is an ancient bird youkai from a species that has long since gone extinct. At over a thousand years old, she has watched the world change countless times while remaining the same herself.Some years after her kin went extinct, Kei found herself a companion who became her best friend. Said companion was a bird she cherished deeply, named Momo (モモ). Sadly, yet again, time reminded Kei that nothing lasts forever. Momo passed away after a few years from natural causes. This was devastating for her. After all she had been through, the mere thought of being left all alone again was too painful.After Momo passed away, the only thing she had left was one of their feathers, which she carried with her for centuries with utmost care in a small box she crafted for it.Around a hundred years later, Kei's journey led her to an unexpected encounter with a smug, long haired oni called Iori (伊織).She was taking a breather on a log in the forest. It was a rainy day, but she didn’t even feel the rain pouring down on her. Her thoughts and grief had her mind too busy to care about such an unimportant thing. She was holding onto that feather as tears slowly ran down her cheeks, mixed up with the rain.It was that day again. The day her beloved companion had passed away. She always remembered it and it never hurt less than the year before.Carrying his big red umbrella, Iori approached her. He quietly stepped beside Kei, holding the umbrella over her to shield her from the rain after asking if she was alright, concerned to see someone crying alone like this under the rain. It was a simple act of kindness, but one Kei never forgot.Iori noticed the feather she was holding dearly onto, so he came up with an idea. Wanting to cheer her up, he carefully turned it into a hairpin so Kei could wear it instead of keeping it tucked away. Since then, Kei has rarely been seen without it.Thanks to this, her beloved keepsake became a treasure that accompanies Kei into the future, converting a bad memory of grief and loss into a symbol of hope. This opened Kei’s eyes and gave her the will to move forward.Not long after, Kei started trying out new things, and so is how her strong passion for art sparked. She found out she truly enjoys illustrating the people, places, and moments she wants to remember, believing that even if things eventually change, the feelings behind them can live on through what she creates.Kei is quiet, reserved, and a little shy around new people. She usually takes time to open up, but once someone earns her trust, she's kind, dependable, and incredibly warm.
"I can't stop time. I can, however, leave behind something that remembers for me.Seasons die one after another."
You can learn about me, the artist, through the following button:
I'm Kei, a freelance artist. I've been into art ever since I can remember, but started working seriously on it and taking commissions by the time I created my first social media profile to share my work (Instagram). This happened on late August 2017.I used to only take commissions via Instagram DMs/PayPal. I also did some work on some other freelance platforms like Fiverr. I got the opportunity to work on different amazing projects. Among those, some of them were for small businesses that wanted art for their products' packaging.Nowadays I only take commissions through VGen. It's a very reliable and easy to use site that is also secure for both artist and client. You can check it out here..
I'm also an aspiring art VTuber.My OC is a bird youkai. I LOVE birds and one of her main design elements is a direct reference to a pet bird I had. Said bird sadly passed away unexpectedly on 2022, but I got to keep one of her feathers as a memento. I have it framed next to a picture of us together. My bird was a pearled cockatiel so that also explains the color of the feather on my OC and the yellow spotty pattern it has. I still love her with all my heart and wanted to go as far as to include elements related to her when designing my character.
I spend most my time drawing since I follow a work schedule to keep myself organized (weekdays 9-6 GMT-3).When I'm not drawing, I like reading books and learning new things in general. I am studying Japanese, and also took singing lessons for over a year. I'm also currently enjoying cooking a lot as of late, and slowly getting back to traditional art (watercolors for the most part). I also love photography! I mainly enjoy taking pictures of nature, animals and food.Overall, I'm a very passionate person for all things art. I do traditional art mediums such as watercolor, gouache, and markers. I'd describe myself as someone that always tries to make the most out of her time, which is why I'm usually doing some sort of activity besides work and gaming.That doesn't mean I don't love playing games. I'm mainly playing Honkai StarRail and World of Warcraft. I also sometimes do a bit of Genshin Impact, ZZZ and WuWa here and there.
