A Portrait of Asami Sato

So, this piece takes a bit of explaining. Bear with me! 

Republic City is heavily based upon cities from the beginning of the 20th century. In our world, this period was dominated by lavish and decorative art styles, and this is reflected in the architecture of Republic City. This inspiration includes my own favourite art movement, the Art Nouveau movement. Art Nouveau works are opulent and over the top, relying heavily on complex patterns and luxurious decoration.  

Continuing on from this theme, I wanted to paint Asami in this style, as an artist from the Avatar Universe might have depicted one of the most wealthy and influential women of Republic City. Obviously this piece is heavily derivative of Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer  (a painting was briefly the most expensive artwork ever sold, which seems kind of fitting.) 

The medium is a pencil sketch, which I then painted digitally. I think I spent about 5 hours on it in total. Please enjoy!