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Tempest-in-Blue — Zutara: From This Day Forward
Published: 2007-03-23 06:05:08 +0000 UTC; Views: 5307; Favourites: 168; Downloads: 34
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Description
...until death do they part.Who doesn't love weddings?
A sketch, colored in photoshop.
After H/C Angsty Goodness [link] I kind of wanted to do something a bit more cheerful, so here's the result. Katara's dress is based on a Korean wedding dress in an illustration by Dong Ho Choi (a pic from which I also referenced Zuko's sleeves), but I did change it quite a bit. I was going to have all the white bits be fur, but then I realized/decided that they were getting married in the Fire Nation, and it would be much too warm for that. I also drew her in the style that I did because I just wanted her to be wearing something... differant. It's too bad it didn't scan well enough to make out the design on her necklace. It was a firey sun rising out of the water. oh well.
Zuko was a pain in the butt. I think he took about four or five times longer to draw than Katara did, and I had to ref at least six screen shots from three episodes to get him and his scar and his crown and his robes just right. ARGH! And I know it might look a bit odd to have the scar go up into his hair like that, but considering that hair doesn't grow on burn scars, it couldnt be helped unless I gave him bangs, and that just didn't look right with his hair style, and the occasion.
All in all, I don't even want to think about how long this thing took (it took me over an hour to find the right shade of red for his robes!). I'm kind of glad it's over. I do really like it though. and I want her dress.
I think next I may draw some Sukka, because I have the deplorable lack there of on this site, but I make no promises.
Edit: I think their heads may be a bit too small... pooh.
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Comments: 55
I really like your design for Katara's wedding dress. It feels like it BELONGS to that era and I love how... water tribe it is. Too many people make Fire Nation styled wedding dresses for Katara.
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Thank you very much.
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Now, first let me say this...I totally dispise Zutara. But! Katara's dress is really nice......And the art is good...
To fav, or not to fav....
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Hahahaha! I'm glad that you at least like the dress and the style, if not the actual content.
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Nice work. Their heads might be just a tadge too small, but better too small than a tadge too big (which makes human figures look childlike--and, Water Tribe marrying ages aside, child weddings are a bit off).
I love the quiet harmony of the colors here, and what you've done with Katara's outfit. Too many fan redesigns end up cluttered and overdetailed, but you've kept it simple and elegant, with just enough color variation to make it interesting. I love her draped white stole with the Water Tribe symbol, it grounds the whole picture solidly and adds a touch of ceremony.
Their expressions are great, too. Zuko looks wonderfully nervous. It makes me imagine them waiting behind some kind of ceremonial curtain for the rites to begin, listening to the bustle as the 'audience' files in, which makes me almost want to caption it, "Wait, exactly how many guests did my uncle and the council invite?" "Smile, dear heart, we're on in five minutes...!"
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Thanks. 
I know their heads a smidge too small, and it annoys me to no end. It's one of those things where it looked fine on paper in black and white, but then once it's scanned and half colored you realize it and think "aaaw, Shoot!!! Well, nothing I can really do at this point that would wind up looking decent, and it's better than their heads being too big, so I'll just leave it."
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what a fabulous fabulous picture!! 
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Thank you so much!
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I think it took me about 3 hours just to find the right shade of red for Zuko's robes. 
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This is really good. Their robes look...puffy...to me, as if they would be really hot, but if that's the way it was in the picture, then i say that the Koreans are crazy lol. Just kidding. Anyway. The heads do look a little off, but maybe that's just because of the robes. Who knows. Overally, very nice. I love how you had Katara's robes be partially purple--the product of red and blue! Great symbolism.
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Thank you.
Yeah, I agree, their clothes are very poofy, and it does make their heads look a bit funny. I don't know why traditional Korean clothes are so poofy, they just kinda...are (for another example, see Song; she wears a korean hanbok. Also, here's a korean wedding pic [link] [not the one I used] ). *shrugs*
And yeah, it could be rather hot, and I don't envy them that at all, but I still think her dress is pretty, and I'm very glad that you liked it, and my color choice.
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You're welcome. ...That is a very weird picture. He's wearing pink. But yeah, Katara's dress is still pretty, but poofy. XD
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Yeah, I know (no clue why he was wearing pink), and he didn't really look korean, but oddly, it was the best pic I could find online. lol.
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Lol Kinda sad, right there. But at least it was a pic, ya know?
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Yup. Weird pics are better than no pics at all.
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This is true. ...I wonder what a Japanese wedding dress looks like?
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I seem to recall it involving a white ornate/ beautiful kimono. Other than that, I don't recall. 
Aha! There you go ---> [link] Oooh, pretty...
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Nifty! I <3 kimonos. By the way. What made you choose a Korean wedding dress for Katara? Just curious.
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Well, first, I chose a korean wedding dress because I had noticed that even in fan art, Katara seems always to be drawn with very little stylistic variation in her clothes (which is understandable, but still...). She was always drawn in traditional Water Tribe clothes, Fire Nation robes, or a kimono type thing, and basicly, I was bored with that. I wanted something differant, but still clearly asian, and that wouldn't be too hard to water-tribe-ify, so I chose Korean. Also, I've always just really really liked them (my parents lived in Korea for a number of years before I was born, so our hose has always been full of Korean stuff. My sister and I even have hanboks).
Plus, I just plain didn't like the outfit that Whats-her-face wore in the avatar Kuruk thing on Nick.com. I thought the hat was kinda...blah.
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Ummi. Her name was Ummi. Yeah. I don't like hats. But all that really makes sense--it came out beautifully. I can understand your boredom with the same old outfits that she's always put in. ...Lucky. All I have is one of those Chinese dress things that I got from an Oriental store in the Greeley mall. I can never remember what they're called. If I could find a picture, I'd show it to you, but so far I'm not having any luck. Oh well.
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If it has the kind of chinese collar that goes across and then down (like the kind on Zuko's earth kingdom robes), and a mandarin collar, it's probably a Cheongsam (I have a cheongsam overcoat. Got it online. yeay for online shopping!). Granted, you probably have more occasion to wear a chinese dress than I do to wear a hanbok, since chinese dresses are more common in the west than korean ones are. Plus, my hanbok is embroidered silk, so it's pretty formal, so that gives me even less occasion to actually wear it.
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Mine is silk, too. I love that thing. Black, with Chinese dragons and pheonixes on it. <3 So pretty. Surprisingly comfortable, too. A Cheongsam? *looks it up* Yup, that's what it is. Cool.
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Ooh, that does sound pretty. My hanbok is pink, with pink and gold flowers and those geometric designs whose name escapes me. It's very pretty, and very very girly.
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Sounds like it. Pink isn't my favorite color in the world, by any means, but I bet your hanbok is absolutely lovely.
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I love Katara's dress. It sticks true to the asian feel the show seems to be surrounded by, but at the same time it's not like anything I've seen. Not to mention it's sweet, sweet Zutara. XD
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Thank you very much. I worked hard to make her dress appropriate to the show and the character, but differant from what she's generally drawn in. I'm glad that you like it; it means I must have done something right.
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love love love love!!
This is soooooo perfect!!!! i love the colors and the expressions
keep up the great work!!!
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You're so welcome.
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Wow...you actually colored one! That doesn't seem to happen often.
Very nice looking. I like the colors and designs on this.
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Thanks! and yeah, I know, I hardly ever color things, but now that I've finally got a tablet for my computer, I'm going to try to do it a bit more often. Not too often though, cause it takes forever.
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Ooooh, you got a tablet? Awesome. =o
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Yup. I got it for Christmas.
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Aww yay. XD Someday, I want a tablet too.
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The small heads on these figures is only an illusion, I think. Anyone who wears expansive, flowing robes like these will have his body look bigger as a result, and his head will look smaller by comparison. The Zuko and Katara in this picture are older and more mature-looking than the ones in the cartoon series, but they are not misproportioned. It looks as though this wedding is taking place a few years after the end of Avatar, season 3. It's a shame that the design on her necklace that you described could not be downloaded onto the computer. A curse on all scanners! Very nice work, no question.
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Thank you, both for the nice review, and for the reassurance about their heads.
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I may not be a Zutarian, but I DO know good artwork.
You put some serious thought into this, and I like it a lot!
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Thank you. And I appreciate reviews that actually say something, so thanks.
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Maizu! Hahaha....meh, not yet, methinks.
I'd say do the Sukka thing. I like comments that say something, too....
That's why I give 'em out.
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I promise I'll draw a Maizu for you eventually...as soon as I feel up to attempting His Royal Angstyness again.
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