Manga style samurai lion illustration

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THIS IS A PERSONAL PROJECT.
Please see the attachments for references/ inspiration.

GOAL:
The idea is to create an illustration of a japanese lion samurai in a manga style. This illustration will be later printed on a T-shirt.

STYLE:
- manga/ japanese,
- dark, gloomy
- powerful, impressive, angry appearance

THE LION:
Appearance:
- human like body
- standing up
- displayed from the front
- holding a sword (katana style) rested on the shoulder

Head:
- angry and firm look
- open mouth with sharp teeth
- red eyes
- visible mane
- headgear

Body:
- old japanese/ samurai amour + sandals

Colors:
-the lion should be illustrated in a dark yellow/ gold
-the amour and headgear should be illustrated in a dark green + red combination

BACKGROUND:
- simple, dark background
- big moon with some clouds
- mostly grey colored with some red and yellow shades
- be creative with the rest (for example: lion standing on some big rocks or a skyline of a distant village in the horizon)

TRY TO AVOID:
-bright colors
-childish style
-being too abstract with the lions face

MUST INCLUDE:
-Lion in samurai style with a sword (katana style)
-human like body, standing up
-a front view
-moon and clouds in the background

BE CREATIVE:
-headgear
-rest of the background