Fall Samurai Panda 2009
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009I’ve been really wimpy this past week. It’s really not THAT cold here in the Bay Area, but I’m complaining about it. Yesterday I was working in my studio, and never warmed up…it was probably 70 degrees outside. Inside the studio it’s probably a few degrees cooler. Still, I thought about pulling out the space heater. (I already have the extra blanket back on the bed.)
Despite my wimpiness with the weather, it has been inspiring me to put my characters in fall scenes. Yesterday, I couldn’t concentrate on doing a regular Unemployed Pandas update, so did a Fall Ninja Panda picture instead.
Wherever there’s Ninja Panda, Samurai Panda is not far after, so here he is:
Personally, I really like the simplicity of this drawing. As I sketched it, I didn’t want to add any more colors or render it more thoroughly. In fact, my current artistic exploration is to create things that look simple but say so much more. (Not a new concept, I know, but it’s what I’m diggin’ right now.)
Also, I think everyone can see my strong influence from Stan Sakai. Samurai Panda is not exactly like Usagi Yojimbo per say, but they definitely do share their similarities. In my mind, Samurai Panda is not as skilled as Usagi, but still pretty skilled. Psychologically I guess I put Usagi on a pedestal, similar to the way I put Stan Sakai on a pedestal ^_^;
I’d like to turn this into a t-shirt design, but I have so much on my plate right now that we’ll just have to wait and see. We are trying to update the t-shirt store by Friday…will post when that’s done 
Hope everyone’s enjoying Fall, wherever you are.