Behind the Art: Avatar Roku
This piece was born as a result of rewatching Avatar the Last Airbender for the third time in my life. I watched once as a child, once as an adolescent, and again recently as an adult. Each time I watch, I’m struck by the thoughtfulness and beauty of the series. It’s one of my favorites for very good reason.
I’ve been wanting to do a series of art based on Avatar the Last Airbender for years now. I actually began a series back in the summer of 2018 but soon abandoned it. In hindsight, it’s because my skillset just wasn’t where I wanted it to be. I wanted the portraits to have a sense of realism and texture that wasn’t quite present in my work during that year. But this year proved to be the perfect time, especially after the show was added to Netflix, so I could watch it again for the fourth time and really study it. In just two years’ time, I think my work has grown enough that I’m now more suited for completing the art series I’ve daydreamed about making for so long.
So to start off my series based on the show, I, of course, watched the show again. But this time, I ordered the book of art, “Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Art of the Animated Series,” written by the creators Brian Konietzko and Michael DiMartino, and studied the pages. I spent days reading carefully about the inspiration behind each nation, each type of bending, and the creation of one of my favorite storylines to ever air on television.
The book is beautifully illustrated and well-written, and I only selfishly wish that it were longer so that I could really get into the heads of each creative behind this masterpiece.
Honestly, I haven’t even finished reading the book only because I want to save some of it for my future self when she goes to create more art based on the later seasons. I so look forward to learning more and more about the process behind those seasons. In all, this book proved to be a goldmine of creative energy that would fuel my series.
Book One: Water | Chapter 8: Winter Solstice, Part 2: Avatar Roku
“During the winter solstice, Aang must travel to the Fire Nation to communicate with his predecessor, Avatar Roku.”
I began the series randomly enough with a scene from an early episode. I began with “Winter Solstice, Part Two: Avatar Roku,” in which Aang meets one of his past avatar life spirits for the first time. I’m definitely a fire bender at heart, so seeing a positive portrayal of one - and an Avatar at that - was inspiring for me. I love Avatar Roku’s gentle influence on Aang throughout the series and he’s definitely my favorite predecessor that we get to meet. But the scene I chose to start my series with proved to be pretty challenging and I spent a few days going back and forth with it. Below is a screenshot of the exact scene that I hoped to recreate.
To start with the recreation of this scene, I scoured the internet for high quality photography of Tibetan culture and people. In the book on the art of the animated series, I was reminded of how much Tibetan and Burmese cultures influenced the Air Nation. I knew Aang had to be of this nationality and I wanted to find images of young monks to reference. I found myself on Pinterest and was surprised to learn that it would be a great place to find plenty of cultural photography. The image that stood out to me the most was taken by David Abram. I knew I had to use it for a scene of Aang speaking with one of his past lives. The decision to make that past life into Avatar Roku came later.
“During a research trip in 2013 I crossed paths with groups of red-robed novices most days and thought them always poised and dignified, and fabulously picturesque.”
David Abram
This image stood out to me not only because of its beauty, but because it really looked so much like Aang standing before his predecessor. I wanted to capture the light and spiritualism in the scene, along with depicting how small Aang really is in comparison with the pressure he has on his shoulders. The beams of light pouring in from the window was the perfect touch because it resembled the light coming into the temple during the solstice, which ultimately helped Aang meet Roku.
The tiny flame in the monk’s hands sparked my inspiration to make the statue before him into Avatar Roku, and to make the space into the Fire Nation temple on Crescent Island.
After finding this reference image, I began drawing the scene with no real sense of purpose. It was my first time recreating a scene and I just wanted to see if I could do it. I began with the shape of the boy, followed by the light beams surrounding him. After finishing these integral parts of the scene, and feeling happy about their outcome, I found myself stumped about how to draw in Roku. It had to be visually similar enough to the show to be recognizable but it also had to be lit correctly to match the space, and at the correct angle perspectively. I turned back to the book for ideas and even watched the episode again to screenshot the statue of Roku at different angles. I considered making Roku into more of a smoke cloud, but that didn’t give him enough visual power, so I used a screenshot from the episode to draw Roku exactly as he appeared. I played with the scale of the statue until I was satisfied with how big it was in comparison with Aang.
I’m incredibly happy with the outcome of this piece and am excited to delve into more of the series and the cultures that inspired the characters.
I think this was a great beginning to a series of art that I definitely won’t be abandoning this time.
