Drew Baker -Mirumoto Kenzo XP2 by artpox

Drew Baker -Mirumoto Kenzo XP2 by artpox

Another L5R piece. In this one I wanted to show how the burden of the shame swords had worn and aged Kenzo, show him fighting in the war, and show him resisting the swords. (He's striking with Ambition, while holding Fury back in defense.)

I also wanted people who don't know L5R to be able to like it.

steamflunky Featured By Owner Mar 29, 2017

Lovely painting.

RebellingLemming Featured By Owner Nov 5, 2015 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Gorgeous swift with power!

Passin Featured By Owner Oct 14, 2013

Really awesome

elijahwan Featured By Owner Feb 28, 2013

this is awesome. i love how the main guy pops so much!

Juliano-Pereira Featured By Owner Aug 29, 2012 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Nice work!!

MingotheMerciless Featured By Owner Apr 3, 2012

Dude. Awesome.

artpox Featured By Owner Apr 12, 2012

Thanks very much. I'm pretty happy with it.

Jhulls Featured By Owner May 28, 2011

Perfect, i love this!!!

rika195 Featured By Owner Feb 26, 2011

You did awesome!

TheMindgamer Featured By Owner Aug 13, 2010

I really like this piece, Drew. The attention to detail is well appreciated by this fan of L5R. Are the prints of this and his previous incarnation that you did available?

EnlightenedMadness Featured By Owner Jul 12, 2010

Thanks for doing this one, man. It's good to see Ol' Kenzo again.

trockn Featured By Owner Apr 7, 2010 Digital Artist

very nice colors

Faily-chan Featured By Owner Mar 20, 2010

The composition in this picture is so powerful without being too much.

The feeling of motion is stunning and the color-scheme works quite nicely.
I like how you really captured Kenzo's struggle with the swords (and that you aged him to show that it's really wearing on him).

MitsuYokuni Featured By Owner Mar 18, 2010 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

I love how you're holding Fury back in defense. It's even more incredible that you know so much about the character and setting, being an artist that does his research on the game and characters makes it cool. Do you play the L5R?

dagamush Featured By Owner Mar 17, 2010

A Dragon killing Lions? I like it.

allendouglasstudio Featured By Owner Mar 11, 2010

This is one of your stronger pieces... I don't know much about L5R but it's interesting to hear how you incorporated the specifics of the character and his weapons.

AaronMiller Featured By Owner Mar 3, 2010 Professional General Artist

great composition. and it works even better with a the narrative laid out.

artpox Featured By Owner Mar 4, 2010

Thanks, Aaron.

Tommi-75 Featured By Owner Mar 3, 2010

Er yes... I don't really know L5R and I LIKE it!
What do the Shame swords do?
I love the tension in the pose.
Very inspiring, I shall have to have another go at more Samurai dudes

Are you using some kind of reference for your paintings?

artpox Featured By Owner Mar 4, 2010

Thanks, Tom. The Shame Swords are basically demon-possessed, and corrupt anyone who carries them. So far he's been able to hold them off -- partly because the two swords don't like each other.

As for reference, the short answer is I used it for the good parts, not for the bad parts. Not using enough reference is probably my worst habit, but as a Ninja Mountain listener you already know that.

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I think that's basically it. The face was from a book, and the others are me. Yes, that's an Ethernet cable around my shoulders.

Koshindou Featured By Owner Mar 3, 2010

Very nice job, especially with Kenzo's face and neck - there's a mixture of strain and calm in him, which I think suits his struggle for control nicely.