Illustrating Saint Leaf

I'm having fun with my inks and gouache. When I'm not painting I like to draw and illustrate bright and colorful things, people, shapes and patterns. It's the doodle queen in me screaming to get out sometimes. Most times really, and especially on my "off days" when all I really want to do is have fun with my designs. Recently, I created a solitary character I like to refer to as Saint Leaf. I wanted to come up with an interesting face that fused into it an entire ecosystem of magical plants and wild patterns (that either come from nature, or my imagination....mostly a product of both). I've been really into anthropomorphic illustrations which combine human attributes with those from nature.

Here, I've posted three images which shows the progress I've been making with Saint Leaf. I am not yet done with him or her (I have not attributed a specific gender, as I'm not sure it needs one). I still have to polish up the face and add detail to the background (I'm thinking a dense jungle of wild ferns).

It began as a rough idea of a mysterious portrait.

Then I started to focus on the face with my usual lines and earthy tones.

A person with a penchant for face tattoos? A mythical character or deity? All of the above?