Synnabar Hellcat: My personal online avatar (this pic from 1996). It started as a quick pencil sketch, then I scanned it, Streamlined it, and colored it in Adobe Illustrator. "Cinnabar" is a mineral (mercury sulfide), and can be cinnamon-to scarlet-to fiery red-orange in color, though sometimes it's the color of dried blood. It's often found around volcanoes (nice conditions for a shapeshifting pantherine Hell-Cat) and is the main ore of mercury- also known as quicksilver. *shrug* Well, the name seemed fitting, anyway. She's been "around" in one form or another for most of my life, and is not related to an RP game of the same name, or Red XIII - I created her years BEFORE he appeared (sometimes coincidences DO occur).

Synnabar, my beloved Eddie, and Pip & Squeak. Perhaps rabbits are "prey animals" to some, but if given lots of love, attention, room to run around & play, and "intellectual stimulation", bunnies can have very distinct, loving personalities and can be quite good at problem-solving! Same goes for 'keets :D Did you know pet bunnies can easily be litter-trained, and they are domesticated animals and will not survive in the wild. My first attempt at coloring in Pshop 6 since my "Lionpirate" guy with v 2.0, so forgive my crappy CG skills - with a mouse! :/

Synn at Rest: 2000, pencil. A shapeshifting Hell-Cat, Synnabar has many forms; often she appears as a black leopard with a fiery mane and tail. Here, she's lighter-furred, with black-tipped ears, some of her usual jewelery, and horns (she doesn't always have them - "change" is her nature). The anatomy's pretty bizarre; she's kinda mid-shift, between an anthro and a more fully pantherine form.

Yes, I'm cold; why do you ask? (I've taken to wearing huge lumpy sweaters to keep warm at work in the winter - we have drafty windows). Pencil on paper.

Synnabar as a Leopardess: 1996 woodburning on 4" x 6" pine board. Pyrography is fun - this was my first attempt. This is Synn in her spotted-leopard pelt, as opposed to her usual black-pantherine form. Actually, it's more of a jaguar-pelt, cuz the spots have spots in them but... *shrug*

Synnabar Hellcat on the prowl. Here she's just patrolling her territory, where everything apparently looks like petrified wood, and anatomy gets flattened... ;/ (actually, I did this while waiting for my fiance at the barber's; it was a long wait). Tinted in Photoshop.

Rockfire (Synnabar Hellcat): 1996, various pens & china-markers. I color-copied the original sketch and went over it with what drawing implements were at hand. Must... re-scan! Note her flexible, dextrous front paws with a thumb each; no matter what form, she usually retains hand-like use of her front paws.

Synnabar is not related to Red XIII - she is a personal symbol of mine, and she's been with me since I was little - decades before Red XIII was created. Note, however, that I do not hold copyright on hell-cats or fiery tails and manes or whatever! I don't think you can copyright things like that. Synn never looks the same way twice, anyway (notice she doesn't have horns here, but has sabre-like canine fangs).

Her anatomy is quite stylized here, though it is still a good example of her usual quadruped-form, complete with opposable thumbs.

Many people write to me and ask if she's based on someone else's character, or something from a video game or a book. Nope! Actually she is not really a "character" at all - she's a sort of visual code of things about me (I have blue eyes, blonde hair, 7 rings & 11 horn-segments for 7/11, my birthday) and things I love (leopards, lions, fire, the color red, cinnabar the mineral, horned things, etc.). She's... complicated! However, that doesn't mean you can't make up your OWN with your OWN personal symbolism!

Synn Signature: 2001, pencil & Photoshop. Everyone does a typical "tough girl/guy" arms-crossed pose eventually it seems, so here's mine. Her coloring's a little different than in other pics. Here I was trying to play around with curves and thick shapes; she's more anthro-than-usual (she's usually a quadruped), though she has her trademark earrings, 7 tail-rings, and curving horns with 11 segments each. A stylized alchemical symbol for the mineral cinnabar is next to her; sometimes she appears with it as a tattoo; but as a shapeshifter, she hardly ever manifests exactly the same way twice. The coloring is eye-bleedingly-bright here; I've since re-colored and toned it down.

Synnabar x 4: my late entry to the "draw your character as cartoony AND realistic" idea. Maybe it was a fad, but it was a good exercise nonetheless. The cheshire-type Synn has a face I've used elsewhere. Pencil on cardstock, touch-ups in Photoshop7. (it's been a while since I uploaded; stay tuned while I catch up in the next few days)

An older pic of Synnabar from, oh, 1997. This was going to be a tattoo, but I had my Avatar done instead. She's got "lucky 21" segments on her horns 'stead of the usual 11. Love those red RSVP pens!

Tense: 1995, pen. She can take on any form; here she looks rather like a black leopard. A more anthro-than-usual Synn, devoid of her usual jewelry, horns, and markings, but still meant to be "her".