A character design I made for a contest organized by an artist friend of mine. The theme of the contest is "Paradise apple"

Dude's fused to the tree. Roots, flowers and fruits sprouted through him, infused with his blood. These fruits he plucks from himself and gives to his loved ones to nourish them. It's a mix of the divine/angelic with the earthy, chthonic. The guy himself is sweet, kind, selfless. That's why "so fragrant, so ruddy-golden". "Blood poured" in two senses - literal blood and metaphorically - his strength, his attention.

In the process, I had a few options for what details I could add to the character's head:

Yeah, his gaze in the early stages of the process was quite sinister