Way of the Samurai (Revised) |

It’s not often I get to take a holiday but when I do, it’s usually to visit families. Fortunately for me, my family lives in places where it’s known for its food so I can’t complain.

This time round, I went to see my mother in Taiwan, where she is meant to spend a few months. While I was there, I reconnected with an old kindergarten friend. We actually saw each other again while we were in college but that was a LONG time ago. In any case, she purchased an old set of dolls I painted over a decade ago because she’s a wonderful and supportive friend, but I could not in good conscience send her something when I know I can do a better job of.

The Samurai set had always been one of my favourite to paint, but I never got a chance to do it again…until now.

The previous version.

The new version.

I hadn’t meant to paint a cat as one of the samurais, but her cat is incredibly photogenic and adorable that it’s a no brainer. As long as there was an animal motif going on, I decided one of the masks should also reflect the theme. The “hair” on the main samurai is meant to be a lion’s mane. I’m pleased with the outcome although it took far longer for me to paint this set than anticipated.