Greatly inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, I decided to depict the famous story of the samurai, Minamoto no Raiko, fighting the dreaded oni, Shuten Doji; of whom Minamoto decapitated. I had a good friend of mine (who is fluent in Japanese), help me write the characters for both the scene (bottom left) and my name (top right).

An extremely fascinating historical figure, I learned about Baron Ungern (The Bloody Baron) while doing research on the Russian Civil War. He grew up within an aristocratic household, thought to be descendants of the Teutonic Knights and Cossacks. He moved up the ranks within the Russian officer regiments, both during the Russo-Japan War and the First World War. During the civil war, he lead cavalry against the Bolsheviks in Mongolia - believing himself to be the reincarnation of the Buddhist War God (He was a Lutheran) and the second coming of Genghis Khan.

A friend of mine I used to play Dungeons and Dragons with commissioned me to create a cover page for his campaign manual - the story would bring players to the depths of an ancient Elven temple overrun by the Yuan-Ti.

An older piece I created for my grandmother. I wanted to make her something that I knew we both greatly adored: cats. I based this off of a painting I had seen in an antique shop. Interestingly, that painting was a recreation of another painting, of which I know not the name of. Suffice to say, while I do focus on many militaristic aspects in regards of art, I am quite happy I could step back and make something that I know brought a smile to a loved one’s face.

I chose to briefly experiment with a different drawing program known as FireAlpaca, as I do enjoy trying different programs with goals of mastering them (as per Musashi’s instructions with the Book of the Five Rings). St. Brendan is a particularly close saint to me personally - having grown up in a naval family and done activities from sailing to crew. I find his story and the songs that are tied to him very fascinating - as much of a history buff I consider myself, I would like to research more about the early middle ages.

Speaking of Musashi, I did a drawing of him while exploring my digital art style. While this depiction is based off the Vagabond appearance, I did want to add him here since he is an actual historical figure. Reading the Book of the Five Rings and studying more on the Zen philosophy of self-reliance has been quite an eye-opener for myself. It has genuinely help me in my work ethic and has motivated me to push myself to new heights.