HOME | DD
SingingFlames — :Avatar: Brothers
Published: 2006-05-04 15:51:21 +0000 UTC; Views: 4366; Favourites: 45; Downloads: 52
Redirect to original
Description
This is my third oekaki piece. It was done for the "Sibling Rivalry and Revelry" Oekaki Contest on AvatarSpirit.Net (great site, btw, check it out). The siblings in question are, obviously, Uncle Iroh and Fire Lord Ozai. Prince Zuko is only in the picture to help set the scene.This takes place right after Ozai scars Zuko for refusing to fight. I tried to capture Iroh's protectiveness (is that a word?) of Zuko and his frustration and anger at Ozai. There is a certain symbolism in the sunbeams and the characters. Iroh's fully in the light, Zuko is half in and half out, and Ozai - no surprise - is fully in shadow. Also, I drew Ozai covered in darkness, even tho it didn't agree with my light source, because he's always hidden on the show.
I would have liked to do more on Zuko (he's my fav character, after all), but he wasn't meant to be a focal point of this. So, I left him pushed to the bottom of the pic and kinda bland. I was gonna have him clutching his head, but I couldn't get his hands looking right. Might have been that had so little room left. That, or the fact I suck at hands.
I really don't do guys that well, so I kept deleting and redoing them. I'm still not to happy with Ozai's proportions, but I just couldn't seem to get him right. I tried, I really did.
Hmmm...I do like the distant crowd, and they were real easy too. I first did the entire crowd area with a medium grey (R/G/B 136 or so, I think). With the 'Pencil' brush at one pixel, I took a flesh tone and did short, random lines - almost scribbles - over the whole area. Then, figuring the crowd would mostly be wearing red (Fire Nation, after all), I did the same thing but not as much with a dull red, making sure a fair amount of the flesh tone showed thru. I did I few dots here and there with purple (which is close on the color scale to red), and then very few with green (which is opposite) for contrast. Seemed to worked well.
Avatar the Last Airbender, and all characters and images, yada yada yada are (c) of Nickelodeon.
Related content
Comments: 34
👍: 2 ⏩: 1
👍: 1 ⏩: 0
I may have looked away when the blow was delivered, but I did not look away for long. Through the cheers of the arena and the cruel cackle of my brother I heard something else. A quiet, almost silent sobbing of a 13 year old child. I looked to see my nephew on his hands and knees. Despite the rules, I rushed to the arena. Once there I slowly pulled Zuko close, comforting him as he continued to cry.
"All will be OK, Prince Zuko. No matter what, I will always be here for you."
Whilst I said this, though I may have been facing away from my younger brother, I did glance back in anger, a lone tear falling down my cheek.
"I promise."
👍: 1 ⏩: 0
he's able to see, but a permanent scar will be on the side of his face for life
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I can guess Iroh wish he could fight with Ozai right now.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I really like how the emotion shows in this! 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks, and thanks for the fav! I'm glad the emotion came thru. I really tried to get it right. It was a pain, but worth it. 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It's also one of my favs, too. I absolutely love that episode. It's so touching, and you get to see more of Zuko than just his "angry boy" side. And seeing him beg his father for mercy... 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Is it just a little weird that my favorite scene is when Zuko gets burnt? Because it's really sad, and he's begging for mercy and whatnot, but it's just such a good scene! Maybe it's so good because it's really sad...
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
My fav scene is when he's on his knees, and Ozai's coming at him. I don't think it's weird at all. There's a lot of emotion and anticipation in that scene. You really feel for Zuko as his innocence is stolen away. This is the turning moment in his life, where he became the bitter, obsessed young man he is. Man, I'm ready to put the DVD in and watch it again. I love that episode.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yeah, it IS a good scene...XD
I don't own that episode yet, because I want to buy the box set but I won't have enough money to do that until my birthday, which is conviently in September 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Happy (early) Birthday!!!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Bad, evil Ozai! *grabs another whip*
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
lol! (whips Ozai together with you)
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
OZAI MUST DIE
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ain't that the truth? What kind of @$$ does that to his own son? I can't wait to see Aang or Zuko take him down in season 3. I hope Zuko at least takes part in it. Death to Ozai! Death to Ozai! Death to Ozai!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
HECK YEAH
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Everything is absolutely wonderful!!!!
Although, the right eye looks strange to me...
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
He's supposed to be squinting.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I really like how you set the scene out, and I can see Iroh's protective over Zuko.
I know what you mean, hands aren't my best skill either.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks!
I absolutely hate hands. Especially on oekakis, where you have such a low resolution anyway.
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
Here is a Fanfiction story a friend of mine wrote on Fanfiction.net it explans why Ozai grew up to be the tyrant he is and why was a terrible Father .and I thought you might want to read it.
Ba Sing Sae
The word traitor had never really appeased to Iroh. To him it sounded like something disgusting or distasteful. He wasn’t a traitor and he knew that what he had done at the North Pole was not just for the sake of the Water tribe or for the fire nation it was for the entire world as well. He knew that the balance had to be kept. Without the balance everything would be thrown into chaos. “I wish I had some tea.” Iroh said, as he licked his lips longing for the taste of tea. He sat in the center of his cell. He had been in there since that fateful day in the crystal catacombs of old Ba sing sa. His cell was entirely made of special kind of metal. Making it impossible to melt with fire bending. There were Dai Lee agents posted outside of his cell door making sure he didn’t try anything. There was no light inside except from light emanating from the door. He didn’t exactly know what was going to happen to him. Most likely he would be taken back to his brother to answer for his crimes against the fire nation. Or maybe his brother would let Azula administer her own brand of justice on him. He really hoped it would be option one. He never regretted helping the avatar escape. He knew that the avatar was the only hope of saving the world from his brother. He believed that his brother had lost his mind and that this war was destroying his nation.
What bothered him most though was that Zuko, his own nephew, betrayed him. He didn’t blame Zuko for having hope that he might have a chance to redeem himself to his father. He was just disappointed in the decision he had made. He had put himself into a difficult position. He had no doubt that when he sided with Azula he would regret it. Azula was a person who, by her very nature, was evil. He was offered a chance at redemption but for all the wrong reasons. Azula only used him for her own twisted purpose. Iroh could see right through Azula’s offer when she told him that if he helped her father would welcome him back home. He could have easily told Zuko that she was manipulating him. But alas he knew that in the end it was Zuko who had to make his own choice. That day had changed everything. He cursed Zuko’s name under his breath. Because of Zuko Ba Sing Sae was now in the hands of Azula, because of Zuko he was in the prison hold. He didn’t blame Zuko he just knew that Zuko was going to regret every decision he made from that moment on.
A noise emanated from his cell door he disrupting his concentration. The little compartment on the bottom of the cell door opened. “ Dinner” said the guard coldly as he slid the tray of food in. Iroh looked at his meal with disgust. It was only a loaf of bread that looked stale and a cup of water that had weird little bugs swimming in it. He was a big man he needed good food. Good food and a great beverage to go with it.
He imagined his plate filled with appetizing morsels. Five silver platters plates one with a roasted fish, another one with a huge T –bone steak from a wolf bat, a small bowl of rice, steamed vegetables, mashed potatoes covered with gravy and a huge pot of tea “ I really wish I had some tea.”
Then a thought occurred to him grabbing his cup of water he rushed to the door. “Excuse me sir” he called to the guard. The guard stopped walking but still had his back to him. In an aggravated tone he replied “What?” Iroh smiled innocently. “Could I trade this cup of water in for a small pot of Jasmine tea please?” The guard turned his head around. His face was expressionless however his left eyebrow was raised. “Was that a serious question?” Iroh looked at him confused. “Ah…yeah I’m always series when it comes to tea?” The guard lowered his eyebrow, his face had gone stern. “No!” he turned and walked down hallway not looking back. Iroh let out a sigh of misery. He looked back at his bread in his dinner plate. He gave a small smile “At least it’s something.” He took the bread and took a small bite. It was so stale that he spat his contents out instantly.
He pushed his food tray aside then sat in his usual spot and began thinking again. He wondered what his brother might say to him when he returned. It wouldn’t be pleasant his brother never liked pleasantries. No with Ozai it was always straight and too the point. In the past he and his brother would always have interesting conversations. He remembered a time when he and Ozai actually got along with each other. They would play together, they would get into trouble together, and they were always there for each other. Ozai was always stronger than Iroh and Iroh was more intelligent than Ozai. The two of them were, at one point, very close. However fate had other plans for them. It wasn’t until Iroh turned eighteen when seeds of resentment took place in Ozai. Fire Lord Azulon spent a lot of time with Iroh after his eighteenth birthday. At the time no one could measure to his fathers power, skill, or methods in the arts of firebending. Azulon took it upon himself to train Iroh in the ways in fire bending. He learned a lot of powerful moves from his father’s teachings. While Iroh grew older the more distant he and Ozai became. They would meet occasionally during the day but other than that they were kept apart due to both Iroh’s extensive fire bending training and his military training that his father insisted that he took. Though it took him time Iroh excelled in both fields.
Ozai had also received training in fire bending and military. But Ozai’s training was not as demanding as his. Oazi grew more and more jealous of him. Ozai’s accomplishments always too a back seat to his. Their father hardly paid attention to Ozai. Soon Ozai confronted Iroh he demanded that Iroh instruct him in the fire bending ways that Azulon taught him. With much hesitation Iroh agreed. To his surprise Ozai excelled faster that he did. Just short of a year Ozai completed his training. Though there training was over Ozai continued to train profusely. Ozai continued his training until he was certain that he had reached his full potential. He sought Iroh out and challenged him to an Agni Kai in front of the entire kingdom. He told Iroh that this might be his last hope of ever proving himself to his father. Though Iroh knew he would be beaten severely, for Ozai was always stronger than him, he said he would do it for his brother’s sake.
When the day came everyone was excited. The Agni Kai had lasted all morning and it went as he had expected it. Though he was able to hold his own against his brother for the most of it in the end it was Ozai who emerged victories. After the dual Azulon approached the two of them. Instead of congratulating Ozai for his victory. Azulon congratulated him, Iroh, for lasting as long as he did. He then scolded at Ozai. He said that the only reason Ozai could have won was that he had spied on Iroh during his training sessions. Azulon even went as far as to call him a weak self centered person who should have never been born.
He and Ozai were shocked by what Azulon had said. He had never heard his father say such terrible things to Ozai. Azulon had spoken to Ozai as if he were a dog or a poor peasant begging for money on the street. When Ozai heard this it broke his heart. No matter what he did he would never get his fathers approval. When Azulon left the two of them he tried to talk to Ozai. Ozai just shoved him aside. Ozai said that he hated him and that never wanted to see him again.
Tears filled up in Iroh’s eyes as reality was coming back for him. From that point on Ozai had only seen Iroh during there war meetings. Other than that Ozai had kept away from him. Iroh snapped back into reality. He knew his brother had lost his mind and he knew that the Ozai he once knew was gone forever consumed by his jealousy, his hatred and by his power. He knew that his brother had to be stopped. That was probably one of the reasons why he helped Aang and his friends escape. “The Avatar is the only hope for the world now.” Fatigue began to take Iroh. He walked over to his cot, laid his head back on his pillow. “ I really wish I could have had some tea before bed.” Then he shut his eyes and began to dream the same dream he had had every night since he had returned home from the 600 day siege at Ba Sing Sae: Young Lu Ten and him running through the fields together playing happily.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Your welcome!
I share your hate for drawing hands.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0