What Avatar: The Last Airbender Taught Me About Being an Artist

Hey Past-me,

In 2008, Avatar: The Last Airbender would air its series finale…

…it would be playing in the background as I drew hundreds of character and prop thumbnails for a concept art class assignment. I wasn’t sure if what I was doing was any good, but I was praying my efforts would someday fool whoever was in charge to let me make cartoons.

🙃

Avatar was one of the main reasons I chose to become an artist.

Not just because of the incredible story of Aang and the world it took place in , but also because of the lessons it offered along the way.

I wanted to tell a story that inspired me like it did.

This week is a deep dive; I’ll show you how you can learn how to be an artist from what inspires you.

(Beware, some spoilers ahead.)

In the show, Aang is the Avatar, a being able to control all four elements. He must journey around the world, learning from masters of each element, and devise a plan to defeat the Fire Lord.

You will have your own “Fire Lord” to defeat. A dragon to slay. A heart to heal.

Being an artist starts with being a student of life.

1. An artist studies the world around them

In Avatar, the elements—water, earth, fire, air—are not just powers but philosophies, ways of living.

Artists, like benders, must study their world and how it works.

You will come across many facets of art: form, perspective, color, light, shadow. You’ll witness the way the leaves change through seasons, how the sky changes color throughout the day, how things in the distance seem to merge with the sky.

Perception is our craft.

We learn to translate vision through lines, colors, shapes, textures, etc., and to see beyond the seen. Just as benders master their elements, we must navigate the intricacies of our medium as well as the world around us.

As you learn to see, consider what each element has to teach us about the art of creating.

🌊 Water: Adaptability and Flow

Like water shapes to its space, artists must learn to bend.

Be open to new paths and ways. Art lives in breaking old rules and moving with the surprises that arise.

Water can overwhelm, but it can also nourish.

Art, like water, can heal.

It helps both the one who makes it and the one who sees it. Artists bring their feelings, good and bad, into what they make, offering a chance to mend.

Water teaches us the importance of flexibility and emotional strength.

Practice: Keep a "creative journal." Collect, draw, write, scribble whatever you think of, without worrying about it being good or bad. This helps you be more like water—flexible and flowing. It's a way to get past creative blocks by accepting that thoughts and ideas can change shape. Take note of ideas that move you. Ones that open your eyes or even pain your heart. Be water, my friend; see where your art flows.

⛰️ Earth: Foundation and Persistence

Earth tells us to draw strength from our inner core.

It shows artists the strength of basics and to build a firm foundation in their work.

Know your techniques and the rules of putting things together. A good base lets you do bigger things. Limitations can be overcome with honed creativity and perseverance.

Earth stands for persistence, even when it's hard or people don't get what you're doing. Stick with making your art better, little by little. That's how you grow.

Practice: Every week, put time into the basics. Practice mark-making, form shapes, study anatomy, or explore color theory. Reinforcing your foundation will make your art more resilient. Like cultivating the earth for growth, this practice ensures your skills are solid and fruitful.

🔥 Fire: Passion and Innovation

Fire is the fuel that moves artists to chase their ideas. It's the push behind their work, the urge to try new things and speak boldly.

Artists must learn to nurture their passions without letting themselves be consumed.

Create with care. Fire can either ruin or give warmth.

Harness your inner fire with responsibility and wisdom. Blend intensity with control and achieve a mindful balance. If you do, your creative fire fuels your inspiration rather than leading to burnout.

Practice: Once a week, schedule an “exploration day” for passion projects, new ideas, or exciting questions. Play with new tools, styles, or concepts that ignite your creativity. This regular infusion of passion will keep your creative fire burning and can lead you to artistic breakthroughs.

💨 Air: Freedom and Harmony

Let go. We get caught up in the hustle of the world.

Air shows us the way to freedom, pushing us to throw off chains and look beyond. It tells us to let our creativity loose, not to be pinned down by rules, flying wherever our ideas take us.

Air is peace and clear thought. It is present.

It reminds us to be still in our minds. In calmness, we catch inspiration and find quiet even when creating feels like a storm. This perspective shows us how to embrace change and seek harmony in our process.

We can approach challenges with a lightness and flexibility that opens up creative possibilities.

Practice: Before starting your work, take a “mindful minute”. Breathe in deep, clear out doubts or pressures. This act allows for new ideas and lets us begin with calm, open minds uncluttered by the day's goings, with a sense of peace and possibility. When you come to creative block, find a way around it, redirect the frustration towards a solution.

It took time for Aang to master all four elements (100+ years and 3 seasons 😉).

It will take time for you to feel comfortable in your craft. But you won’t always have to use a ruler. You won’t always need guidelines. You won’t always have to struggle to make what you see in your mind’s eye.

You will internalize what you learn, and with time and reflection, you will combine all the elements, and the act of creating will become second nature.

2. An artist studies themselves

Self-awareness is our compass.

As you examine the different parts of nature and how we perceive reality, it’ll help to start looking inward.

Study the human body and learn how it functions.

Study your own body, how it moves, how it’s shaped and proportioned.

Then, look further inward.

Down to the cells. See how this little universe inside you works together to keep you alive.

Then, focus your attention beyond the physical.

Go into your mind, your soul.

Discover your perspective and experience. What life have you led so far? What choices have you made consciously and unconsciously? What influences you, inspires you to pick up a pencil, and create things that only exist in your thoughts? What do you hope to achieve with your art?

Like the Avatar, we have a chance to learn from our past selves, or in this case, artists we admire who came before us.

Seek their wisdom wherever you can find it, in interviews or sketchbook scribbles. Learn from their work and their experiences making them. If they’re within reach, reach out. You never know who you’ll find a connection with.

Learn from your heroes and their heroes, too.

At one point Zuko’s fire was going out. Once it roared, fueled by rage and hurt, but standing alongside the Avatar, not against him, he found his flames weak and his anger gone.

He needed to understand what fire really meant.

Together they sought the ancient wisdom of the Sun Warriors and learned that fire wasn’t about anger, it was life itself. A force of creation, warmth, and passion.

There, Zuko faced himself. He saw that true strength isn't drawn from fury but from the quiet fire within—the will to do more, to be more. He understood then. To bend fire was to channel life’s energy. Not to destroy, but to create. Not to defeat, but to defend.

It was a rebirth. From the ashes of his past, a new Zuko emerged. A young man who understood that to master his flames, he first had to master himself. To bend fire, he had to bend not from anger, but from the heart.

Understanding derives from experiencing. To understand fire, Zuko had to understand himself.

Practice: Draw yourself regularly. Learn your shapes and proportions. Draw your moods, your actions, your dope outfits. Draw others, learn their shapes and proportions. See how similar we are and how different. Learn how our lines and shapes flow into one another and work together to capture the essence of someone. As your learn how the body moves, you learn how the universe moves. Pay attention and you’ll see how we’re all connected.

3. An artist creates to understand

She was trapped, locked in a cage of metal, a substance no earthbender could touch. But blind from birth, she never saw the world as others did. Instead, she felt it, through vibrations, through the soles of her feet. In that metal prison, she felt the absence of earth, felt her own powerlessness.

But in this moment, Toph Beifong did what no one had done before.

She discovered metalbending.

In that moment, locked away from the world, she created a new way to touch it, to understand it. She wasn’t just a master of earth, she was its student, always learning, pushing, growing. And in the depths of that cage, by creating a new path where none had seen one before, she taught herself—and the world—the true meaning of strength.

She dug deep. She listened closer than she ever had, found the earth within the metal, and freed herself.

Connection is the core of creation. Find many.

Every piece of art tells a story, from mundane to profound. Through creation, we map the unknown, confront our fears, and find peace within chaos. Art challenges us to be comfortable with discomfort.

Practice: Commit to a “creative challenge day” (regularly—you choose how often). Try something new or intimidating. Use a new medium, tackle a subject you haven't covered, or try a fresh technique. Write down what you do, how it feels, and what you discover in a journal or sketchbook. Reflect on these experiences later to see how they can improve your art. Doing this regularly helps you grow and understand your work better.

Aang's journey to master the elements is like our own to become the artists we want to be.

We’re always learning - from the world, from what we've done, and through what we make. Avatar teaches us about more than just art. It's about life.

You're the main character in your story.

The journey is long and filled with lessons only life can teach. It won’t be easy, and the weight can get heavy, but remember—you're not walking this path alone.

Thank you to everyone who brought Avatar: The Last Airbender to life.

Talk to you soon,

Future-you

Say 👋 on TwitterX/IG/LinkedIn