Mentor II - Revised

EDIT: Wow, I didn't realize how much my scanner messed up her skin until looking at it today. I've uploaded a newer version that's much closer to the original. It seems this image, both the ones from 2005 and today, do not want to be scanned correctly. Sorry for it popping up on your watches again, but I thought it was a pretty important change.

Some of you may think this painting looks familiar. I've always liked portions of my old drawing, Mentor, but there were always parts that bugged me, primarily anatomy and usage of the colored pencil. I also wasn't happy with her doe-eyed, soft appearance, as she was a powerful blacksmith.

I wanted to redo that drawing with watercolor, so here it is. This is Iolani's mentor, never named, never identified. She saved the young woman and shaped her skills into the blacksmith and warrior she is today.

You were there for me when everyone else turned their back on me.

You were so beautiful. That secret you showed me, a beautiful thing created by your hands but pulled straight from your soul. It made your wings shine as if caught by a rainbow, and you only showed it to me. "Someday you will create something like this...that beauty inside will reveal itself in a creation by your hands, and then you will feel beautiful forever."

Someday I will create one...and I will be beautiful like her.

_{Watercolor on cold-press Arches, 11X14 inches}