I'm Anna ā I am a digital artist creating original characters and species, currently fascinated by the world of Avatar.
My art here is character-driven above all else.
I mainly draw the main protagonists and key figures from the movies, exploring their emotions, expressions and presence through my own artistic interpretation.
Expect fanart, blue people, emotions, and way too much love for the Sully family ā with a special place reserved for Toruk Makto š
Iām less interested in copying movie frames. Itās about how these characters feel through my lens.
Youāll find here:
ā¢ character-focused fanart (Jake, Neytiri, and other canon characters)
ā¢ expressive portraits, dynamic scenes, and visual storytelling
ā¢ personal reinterpretations of canon designs
ā¢ original story concepts and narrative descriptions
ā¢ occasional drawings of other creatorsā characters
ā¢ SFW art ā no sexual or explicit content. Some posts may contain fictional fight scenes, mild violence, or blood.
šØ MY ART šØ
Art trades and commissions inspired by the Avatar universe are welcome!
š Main blog ā @aniutqa-artist
š My portfolio ā aniutqa.carrd.co
This concept has been sitting in the back of my mind for quite a while.
Not too long ago, the shadow hand bra trend was making the rounds among artists, and I also saw a few versions within the Avatar fandom. I wanted to make my own take on it, but with a male character.
Obviously, casting the shadow over a man's chest wouldn't have the same impact, so I changed the direction of the hands' shadows to fall across Jake's face instead. Considering his role as Toruk Makto, I felt it was a much more fitting choice.
The setting also ended up resembling a prison cell. It feels as if another soldier is shining a light down on Jake from above while he's standing against the wall. I really liked the atmosphere that created.
This concept has been sitting in the back of my mind for quite a while.
Not too long ago, the shadow hand bra trend was making the rounds among artists, and I also saw a few versions within the Avatar fandom. I wanted to make my own take on it, but with a male character.
Obviously, casting the shadow over a man's chest wouldn't have the same impact, so I changed the direction of the hands' shadows to fall across Jake's face instead. Considering his role as Toruk Makto, I felt it was a much more fitting choice.
The setting also ended up resembling a prison cell. It feels as if another soldier is shining a light down on Jake from above while he's standing against the wall. I really liked the atmosphere that created.
This is my first Procreate sketch š
Just a little test while I was getting used to the app and its brushes.
This is Jake with little Lily from my Avatar AU. I mentioned her briefly in a previous post, but here's a sketch of her.
I actually have two different versions of Lily's story. In one timeline, Neytiri loses her very early in pregnancy and Lilly ends up becoming part of Eywa's spirit world. In the other, she grows up normally and becomes the youngest Sully kid. In the version where she survives, she's usually around 3-4 years old in my head.
Fun fact: Lily is the only one of Jake and Neytiri's children whose name was chosen by Jake, and she's very much a daddy's girl š
Anyway, this was supposed to be a quick Procreate test and somehow turned into a whole drawing.
I came across an interesting discussion thread on Reddit that I would like to respond to, because I believe it highlights an important aspect of the story.
I may discuss some of the other points I touch on here at a later time, as I have not fully developed all of them yet.
In this scene, people usually sympathize with Neytiri and blame Jake for speaking to her so coldly. However, I see the situation quite differently ā but I think both perspectives actually complement each other.
I have the impression that Jake's reaction, the monologue he begins with, comes directly after his confrontation with Ronal and Tonowari. He is the only one who truly understands that the Na'vi stand no chance against human weapons. His decision to stockpile weapons and prepare for a possible attack is reasonable; he wants to be ready, he still wants to protect his family and his people. At that moment, however, nobody understands him. The Metkayina do not realize, as Jake points out, that they were simply lucky. Ronal harshly criticizes him, having rejected him from the very beginning and opposed taking his family in because of him. During that conversation, you can see the looks Neytiri gives Jake, she is clearly unhappy with his attitude, something she later brings up when they are alone.
Then, right after that confrontation, Jake shows Neytiri the arrow he modified for her. He wants to help prepare her for a future battle. He loves her deeply and shows respect by adapting modern technology to fit her traditional weapon. Yet Neytiri rejects the gesture. In a sense, she rejects who he is ā she rejects his human side. Her hostility is aimed most openly at Spider, but she does not realize that she is also hurting Jake because she does not fully accept him. Until to the scene where Neytiri saves him, and later when Jake attempts to kill Spider ā that moment is also a moment of reflection for Neytiri, where she witnesses her husband surrendering a part of himself and, in a way, admitting that she was right. If you watch the scene again, there is a great deal of emotion on both sides, even before the guys disappear into the forest.
Then comes the confrontation between husband and wife. After being rejected by Neytiri, Jake finally lets out some of his anger, hurt, and frustration and this is the only moment in which he truly opens up. He tells her how powerless he feels, how there is nothing he can do, and when he criticizes Eywa, he is not really attacking Neytiri's faith or expressing a loss of faith himself. Rather, he is lashing out against the judgment and criticism Ronal directed at him earlier that day in front of everyone: "Eywa will provide" (not your experience, Jake).
Neytiri then responds, but she shows little understanding for her husband. Instead, she unloads her own resentment, blaming him for their situation and for the fact that she had to leave her home because of his decisions ā she says the same thing explicitly during their second confrontation in the mauri, following the tulkun council. Jake is often criticized in this scene, but very few people criticize Neytiri. Even the Metkayina support her in her grief, while Jake receives no such support.
Because of this, I wonder whether his later words to Lo'ak are partly a consequence of everything that happened here. It feels like another eruption of the grief and frustration Jake has been carrying for a long time. We empathize with the suffering of the other characters, but rarely with Jake's suffering, which I find strange. He should never have said those things to his son, but his bitterness finally overflowed, and Lo'ak became the target of it. That is another major topic worth discussing later.
To me, the mauri scene symbolizes Neytiri's rejection of part of Jake's identity. She openly hates the "sky people" and directs that hatred toward Spider, but indirectly toward Jake as well. Jake supports his wife throughout the film, whereas Neytiri spends much of it criticizing him. She even sarcastically says: "Toruk Makto knows best".
On top of all that, there is also the issue of her shame regarding their mixed-race children....
That attitude changes after Lo'ak repairs her father's bow. In that moment, she recognizes strength in Lo'ak, the child who resembles Jake the most. Only then does she begin to truly accept Jake again. Later, she goes to the human city to save him, and by the end she accepts Spider as well, which can also be interpreted as her final acceptance of Jake's human nature.
First sketch in my new horizontal sketchbook ā and yeah, I actually used a pencil this time (which is rare for me, I usually go straight in with a pen). Iāll probably turn this into a digital version later.
Itās a thanator (palulukan) ā my favorite creature from the Avatar universe š
This is a fully finished version of a traditional ballpoint pen sketch that I slightly enhanced digitally. I didnāt focus much on heavy shading, since a lot of it was already done with pen strokes. Sometimes I imagine Jake as a helpless kitten, completely submissive to Neytiri.
Itās been a while since I last posted, but not because nothing was happening. Quite the opposite!
Hereās a small sketch ā a preview of a project Iāve been working on for quite some time.
Itās a continuation of a previous post, where I briefly described a story set after the events of A3 about Jake. Back then it was just a rough, descriptive idea, but now itās turned into a full story.
The whole thing grew out of the "Jake's fury" illustration and scenes that had been sitting in my head for a long time. I finally started organizing them and turning them into something concrete.
This is the most complex project Iāve done so far š¬
Itās something between a fanfic and a comic-like format. The story is combined with illustrations of specific scenes, kind of a visual storytelling approach where text and images work together to build the mood and carry the narrative. Iām not really a writer and storytelling isnāt my main thing, but I really wanted to show this story as clearly and in as much detail as possible, so please donāt expect anything mind-blowing on that front. You know...
Iāll write out the full lore below, because the scene needs some context to make sense, but Iāll just say that I like imagining Jake going into a rage against the RDA (Iād really love to see a wilder side of him in A4).
If you want to read the full story, click āread moreā, itās a long text.
As for Jakeās outfit, I darkened the colors a bit because he looks great in black, though I didnāt make it pure black. I also added his military dog tag and a camo ornament to his loincloth, as if he wanted to remember who he really is.
I was going to draw all the kids, but I couldnāt be bothered, so I chose Loāak instead š
Iām not the best at writing fanfics, I just donāt have a knack for it. I express my imagination through art and this is the best way for me, so the only thing I can really do is simply describe how I picture these stories in my head.
I started the lore a bit from the wrong end, because the scene I drew is the moment when, this time, itās not Quaritch but the RDA who kidnapped Neytiri and the kids to pressure Jake even further. He returns to the RDA city and unleashes total havoc, not caring about the consequences.
I have a lot of ideas and visions about this moment. In my version, Jake falls into a controlled fury ā heās ruthless.
Iāll explain briefly whatās going on, but itās still a long text.
Before these events, what is important, I imagined a situation where Jake gets shot in the spine and becomes disabled again. Heās in the forest with the kids, without Neytiri. They were fleeing from RDA recoms, they managed to escape partially, but Jake was wounded. He took it very hard, afraid that without functioning legs he would become useless, so he prayed to Eywa for help.
The village was far away, and the children refused to leave him, so they stayed by his side. At one point, countless atokirina appeared, and one of them settled on his wound, pressing its seed into it ā similar to what Kiri did for Spider in A3. This time, however, the seed didnāt form a structure in his lungs like it did with Spider. Instead, it fused his severed spinal cord back together, wrapping around the bullet lodged in his vertebra (and that bullet will never be removed).
The children comforted their father the entire time, especially Kiri. I see her connecting his kuru to the roots when he lies on the ground, instead of her own.
Jake felt an intense, burning pain and regained movement in the lower part of his body. Though he wasnāt fully strong yet, but finally they all managed to make their way back to the village. I imagine this scene as filled with pain, but also hope.
After that incident, the structure Spider carries in his body spread into Jakeās as well. In Jakeās case, however, it was directly connected to his nervous system, and after some time he began to feel the consequences. He became more attuned to Eywaās will and understood her more clearly. His power as Toruk Makto also grew ā as if it were preparing him for what is yet to come. The fights will be fiercer.
Now Eywa is directly connected to him, and that will be important for the rest of the story.
I originally planned to illustrate this scene first, but in the end I jumped ahead of the story and started from the battle instead, ehh.
From that point on, a few more things have happened, until we finally reach the point where his entire family is kidnapped, and thatās where things really take off. Before that happens, though, I should mention that I came up with another plot thread that takes place between Jakeās healing and the kidnapping of his family. I havenāt fully developed this thread yet, but generally it goes like this:
One day, in the Omatikaya clan, where the Sully family has been staying for a longer time, a conflict breaks out between Jake and several high-ranking warriors. One warrior in particular cannot stand Jake and openly blames him for Neteyam's death (Jake goes through something similar to what Loāak experiences in A3, when his father blamed him for his brotherās death). The difference is that Jake, unlike his son, does not protest. He stays silent and accepts the accusation.
The warrior doesnāt stop. He continues hurling accusations at him, even claiming that Jake is a threat to the community. Eventually, someone asks Jake whether he intends to defend himself against these charges. With tears in his eyes, Jake says no, because they are right. He still deeply blames himself for Neteyamās death. Then he walks away.
Influenced by the warriorās words, the clan decides to put Jake on trial and determine whether he should be exiled. Jake breaks down. It is the hardest moment he has faced so far. He falls into depression. Later, he apologizes to Loāak for those words, but his son does not hold it against him. The family shows him immense support, yet it does nothing to soothe his heart.
At this point, the story still needs refinement, because I have several possible outcomes regarding the councilās decision, for example:
1. This option is temporary banishment. Jake settles deep in the forest, but secretly keeps watch over his family. It is a very longing driven storyline, especially in relation to Neytiri.
2. Another possibility is that during the trial, Jake does not say a single word and accepts everything they say about him, even the lies. At a certain moment, Eywa gives a sign, similar to the one in A1 but stronger, with even more atokirina appearing. Moāat notices this and reminds everyone that Jake is Toruk Makto, whom the Great Mother did not reject, so why should they?
If I choose the first scenario, I imagine that in his depression Jake gains some weight. He becomes broader, visually more severe, almost intimidating/fierce. That is the physical version of him I see in the scene I illustrated. He is not dramatically heavier, but it is noticeable. He also begins wearing darker clothing, which is why I picture him dressed in black.
So weāre at the point in the story thatās shown in the illustration.
Jake breaks down. He knows he might never see them again, and feeling powerless, so he asks Eywa for help again (remember that he carries within his body the structure of an atokirina seed). During his attempt to breach the city, he is severely shot and begs her to keep him alive at least until he frees his family. He even promises to give his life for theirs, but only after he saves them.
Eywa answers his plea. She stops his heart from beating so he wonāt bleed out. In the meantime, she spreads her structures through his organs, taking over the function of circulation, drawing in oxygen and delivering it directly to his tissues, since his blood is halted and thickened, but Jake can still feel pain.
During the rescue attempt, he is mortally wounded several times, yet he does not die, Eywa sustains him. He is pierced by an arrow from an Ash Clan warrior ā the arrow enters from behind and strikes the lower part of his heart (as seen in the second version of the artwork), and he keeps fighting with it still lodged inside him. His knees get shots, he has a bullet in his head, and he suffers multiple additional gunshot wounds.
When he finds where his family is being held, a glass-walled room, he smashes the panes with his bare fists in a rage, arrogantly taunting the soldiers guarding his family before killing them. For a while, he doesnāt free his family, not wanting them to interfere with the fight. He takes down a large number of soldiers on his own, picking up various weapons and ammunition along the way.
The room is near a helicopter hangar, and thatās where most of the battle unfolds. Jake puts up overwhelming resistance. He is utterly determined. He treats it like the final battle of his life. He didnāt come to negotiate ā he sets the terms.
Sometimes I imagine Toruk fighting at his side, executing those Jake points out.
At one point he encounters Selfridge. After a brief exchange of words, the man of course dies ā I have several scenarios planned for both his death and their conversation. During this scene, they engage in an intense verbal confrontation. When Selfridge demands Jakeās death, Jake replies sarcastically that maybe heāll die later, but for now they canāt kill him anyway, because technically heās already dead, his heart isnāt beating. At one point, he throws a cold line at Selfridge: Today, I have no heart for you.
Here I need to briefly mention what happens in the second part of the battle ā this is very important for Lo'ak.
When Jake finds a moment to breathe, he frees his family and tells Toruk to fly the girls back to the forest and wait for him there. However, he wants Loāak to stay. He plans to rescue Garwin as well. Why? Jake intends to kill many of the people in the city, but he wants to spare the one who once saved his life (A3).
He knows he might die once he returns to the forest, Eywa may stop keeping him alive, so he offers Loāak a kind of gift ā tsaheylu! He wants to pass on all the knowledge he gained as a soldier ā about combat, strategy, and weapons. Loāak is shocked, but eventually agrees. They exchange memories and experience. The boy doesnāt fully feel it yet, but when the moment of direct confrontation comes, he will instinctively know what to do!
Here, itās obvious whatās happening ā the battle. Itās total chaos with the father-son dynamic!
In short, they carry out the plan, free Garwin, and take him with them when Toruk returns for Jake (though I still need to expand that part of the story). After everything is over, Jake returns to the forest with Loāak and Garwin, where he reunites with his wife and daughters. What happens next also has several possible scenarios.
Over time, Iāll be creating illustrations for this narrative. I have many scenarios in mind about Jake and his loved ones, especially his relationship with Loāak and Kiri.
BONUS
I can also reveal that I have a story about Jake and Neytiriās unborn daughter, whom he named Lily. She already resides in the spirit world, how she ended up there is something Iāll describe when I fully develop that storyline. She was meant to be born between Loāak and Tuk. She resembles her father, like Loāak does, but looks different because her body never fully formed (Neytiri miscarried).
Itās a compelling spiritual arc. Her siblings remain unaware of her existence for a long time, until one day Neteyam meets her in the spirit world. She shares a special bond with her parents and knows what is happening in the world of the living, what others carry in their hearts, and she explains many things to them. Jake has tender relationships with his daughters, including Lily. Neytiri, in turn, begins to see the world from an entirely different perspective.
I truly have a lot of these stories. I just donāt know when Iāll manage to illustrate them all š¶
Today at work I found a spare moment and quickly sketched Jake. Itās a tiny sketch, about the size of a finger. I usually draw with a pen, but this time I used a pencil for a change.
I used to enjoy digitally coloring traditional sketches.
