Paige of Swords

Man, over... a year ago now i this piece in a Tarot themed show at The Hive gallery here in LA. The owner is a friend of Girls Drawin' Girls and invited us to participate in one of their non-pinup themed shows. Each one of us chose a card out of a standard Tarot deck. It was a nice opportunity to do something different.
This was my take on the Paige of Swords. Every now and again i'm afforded an opportunity to justify my gratuitous purchase of reference material. Finally, my book of samurai outfits and armor had it's time to shine!



The thin pencil border is where the painting would be framed, but i liked the raw edges of the watercolor.
Once again, i tried my best to properly research the kanji i used. I believe it may actually say "knife" instead of "sword", but he's not really holding a full sword anyway, sooo....

This is one of those pieces that I hated at the time i made it. It wasn't what i had in my head at all, but i put it in the show anyway. Fortunately, it sold and i didn't have to look at it anymore! But while recently browsing through old art scans on my hard drive i came upon it again and, looking at it with fresh eyes, i decided i liked it afterall! And now here it is!