Yeah, there is a house in New Orleans
They call the rising sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I'm one

---

I got inspired to draw this character after posting a concept for him in my most recent sketch dump. This is Kieran Ahern, an OC I've actually had for some time, but never really posted anything for. Kieran is really just a human being drawn as a dog, so his story does take place in the human world and with the characters acting as humans. I just like drawing dogs more.


Brief Backstory Synopsis

Kieran was born in early 1800s New Orleans to an Irish immigrant mother and a wealthy plantation owner, through a brief adulterous affair. His father never even knew he existed until Kieran was about twelve, when his mother contracted tuberculosis and wrote to his father before her death, begging him to take Kieran in so that he wouldn't starve. Kieran's father allowed him to come work on the plantation and made sure he was taken care of, but could never truly treat him as his son, for fear that his secret affair would come out and his reputation would be soiled. In a time when Irish immigrants were treated cruelly by society, Kieran was just happy to have a place to live and work. Things went on like this until Kieran was a young adult, and his world came crashing down. His younger half-sister enjoyed all the luxurious that he was denied, and so grew up demanding and spoiled. She resented her parents and the strict rules which had been imposed on her growing up. When she reached her teen years, she fell for a poor boy her parents didn't approve of, and was outraged when they prevented her from being with him. The boy, just looking to obtain wealth and a position of power, helped her formulate a plan to get her parents out of the picture. The boy brutally murdered the couple and planted the bodies so that Kieran would stumble upon the scene and be blamed for the crime. A society which already looked down upon people of Kieran's descent was all too ready to believe he was guilty. That night, as he sat in a jail cell, a lynch mob busted down the doors, dragged him outside, and hanged him from a massive cypress tree. That would have been the end of Kieran's story, if it hadn't been for a friend he had made while living on the plantation. A young man who had descended from a New Orleans voodoo queen and was determined to use this to repay Kieran for the kindness he had shown him. However, the young man had little experience with these practices, and didn't know what the spells could truly do. Kieran was resurrected, but somehow not complete. He was in essence a walking, talking corpse, frozen in time. Lifeless and without biological function, he came back with a sense of emptiness, as if his insides had been hollowed out. He awoke terrified, but when the memories came back to him he soon realized what he needed to do. His kindness in life had gotten him nowhere, so he was determined to have vengeance in death. He went after every person who had, had a hand in his death, until he was down to the murderous boy and his conniving half-sister. Once they were dead, he finally felt he could rest in peace. But that wasn't what happened. Kieran jumped from a cliff in an attempt to end his prolonged existence, but found it did nothing. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to die. Wounds that weren't inflicted before his death would disappear as soon as they were made. He was trapped somewhere between life and death, with no way to find peace. In a rage he killed the man responsible for resurrecting him, but it was of no consequence. Nothing could undo what had been done. Frozen in time and unable to die, Kieran still stalks the streets of New Orleans at night, forever somewhere between life and death.


I kind of put this on the back burner for awhile just based on the fact that it is really dark in a real world sort of way. I mean, if you take out the voodoo resurrection stuff. Kieran is drawn as an Irish wolfhound mix, though he's closer to a golden retriever in size. In life his eyes were golden-brown, while in his resurrected state they're icy blue with a black sclera. He has a scar around his neck from being hanged which he usually covers with a scarf or high-collared coat. He speaks with an Irish accent that gets heavier the more emotional he gets. When he's really worked up it gets so thick he might as well be speaking a different language. He knows a bit of Gaelic from his mother, and mostly uses it to insult people without them realizing. After hundreds of years he's no longer in a murderous, vengeful state, but does have a pretty bleak outlook, and prefers to keep to himself most of the time. He's become acquainted with other supernatural beings over the years, but is reluctant to form friendships or get close to people.

I thought of the scene in the picture taking place right after he's murdered his sister's lover and is ready to confront her. I used a photo I took of St. Louis cemetery for the background. I'm also really having fun with this more loose, sketchy style.

---

No critique desired. Please respect that.

The art and character are copyright © VexVamp, and you are not permitted to steal, trace, copy, reference, or otherwise redistribute them in any way. I also do not want to see this posted on RP sites, Facebook, YouTube, etc. That's still art theft.