Introducing Lady Hummingbird

Her wings are controlled by an unknown remote source. They take her to a destination unknown, where she is met by someone who is expecting her. She is told to kill whoever meets her at her next destination...what destination? What, she wonders, could possibly compel me to do such a thing? Her wings take flight again...where am I going, and what will I find there?

Last year I drew some sketches of a mysterious character I named Lady Hummingbird. "I need to come up with a story for her," I wrote in my blog post. My Dad responded with the paragraph above, and I thought it was pretty intriguing.

I decided to do a painting of this character. Dragging my basket of costumes down from the closet (so far it contains a long skirt, a sari, a corset, a cape, and a sword), I pulled out my long-neglected yukata. I dragged my husband away from FFXIII-2 and had him take some quick photo references. (He's gotten used to me appearing in strange costumes and handing him a camera.)

What's that, light switch? You want me to be an inter-dimensional assassin?

Using the photo reference was very helpful for getting the folds of the kimono and the hands right, and the reflection of the fingers on the blade of the sword was a nice surprise I wouldn't have thought of on my own.