This character, dubbed "Sam", was inspired by the artistic stylings of @freshcake (Behance) who does the fun Happy Hour Livestreams in Adobe Fresco. I had been following along for some time, and this samurai sketch just happened to develop. The progress is shown below, starting with the sketch, outline, flat color and finally a shaded version.

The shaded illustration was placed on a neutral background with some typographic elements in English and Japanese to complete the composition.

Thanks for viewing! You can see more work at https://carbonshiftcreative.com, and follow me on Instagram or Facebook for all the freshest updates.