I used a photo from a movie scene for reference. I need to soften up the edges of some of the shadowing (I forgot to do it, while doing it elsewhere). The illustration is just needing tweeked, I wanted to post what I had so far. I did place a hard line on the swords, because they disappear into the background without them, which is something else I need to work on. I didn't need a background, as this is supposed to be an illustration of pathfinder class archetype for the product. I will look at the details you mentioned and see what I can do.

This illustration, like my Kawashi town map in the Finished Maps Forum, are for my upcoming Way of the Samurai supplement for Kaidan. It's still in editing, so I'm just creating some extra samurai pieces for the project. I need to create several more, at least two, if not four.

I'll lighten up that shadow on his torso. But the face is mostly facing forward, while the torso is turned slightly - that's why its more shadowy (too much however.)

Thanks for the critique, JFj!