Ama 海女

A pen and ink drawing colored with Copic markers. Ama (aka sea women) are Japanese divers who are most famous for collecting pearls, but also catch abalone and sea urchins. In Okinawa, they're called uminchu while in the Izu Peninsula, they're called kaito. An old tradition about 2,000 years old where the women free dive without any scuba gear or air tanks and they still practice this way in modern times. They dive about 30 feet deep and hold their breaths for around 2 minutes. I saw a drama called Amachan awhile back and it got me inspired to draw this piece.